Photo by James ShippI hear it all the time: “Cars are trying to kill you!” or a vehicle driver after a crash saying “I didn’t see them!” In motorcycle circles it is a common thing to blame other drivers/factors for near misses in most cases. What I rarely hear is a motorcyclist saying “I put myself in a bad situation.”
There is a predominant anonymity as people pass each other on the road, never knowing the other drivers/riders names or backgrounds. It is easy within that environment to immediately blame others for situations that causes distress or injury. It is convenient to identify the other person as the offender of driving/riding rights. In the aftermath, rarely does a motorcyclist take the time to analyze their own contributing factors and then voice their faults as a method to engage others on what NOT to do. Ego is a strong deterrent to sharing lessons learned.
Recently an experienced rider friend of mine had the proverbial run in with a squirrel – who decided to make himself an obstacle in the path of a very large motorcycle. Needless to say the motorcycle was the winner in a battle of physics; however, the distraction of the moment caused a crash which my friend walked away from with only minor injuries. Instead of blaming the squirrel or motorcycle for the crash, this astute rider immediately talked about the factors that led up to the mishap describing it the causation as rider error and sharing it with others. This is the type of paradigm shift that needs to happen within the motorcycle community to address complacency and rider responsibilities.
Afterward, in our post-crash discussions, the rider explained to me how the crash has changed his riding style in a desire to anticipate more the critical factors of the moment in his hyper vigilant state evoked by the crash. It has been previously been explained to me in a focus of “what’s important now” versus “what just happened?” The time for reflection is not immediately after the moment of distraction but after the ride when other factors are not overlooked stacking up to cause higher risk. This is best illustrated when there is a near miss and the rider takes time to turn and berate the offending driver that just passed when instead he/she should be concentrating on the hazards ahead.
It is time we have these type of frank discussions within our community. Share the experiences with others and ask ourselves the hard questions after each ride.
- What happened on the ride?
- What factors were in my direct control?
- How can “I” improve my survivability?
- Who can I help by sharing this information?
Originally Published on
© 2017, Donald L. Green, Rider Choices
