Top Four Gotcha Moves
Oct 7th, 2008 by Leo
When the MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi was asked what the difference was between riding some of the fastest motorcycles in the world to driving the fastest cars (Formula 1), he said the difference was you had much more braking power in the car. Most sportbikes can (theoretically) brake harder than the typical minivan or SUV, but effective emergency braking takes a great amount of skill and is hard to pull off in sudden real world situations. When it comes to acceleration a motorcycle, any motorcycle, is a rocket, but when it comes to braking you are, at best, a Toyota Corolla. Don’t just take my word for it, here’s a good article from one of the authors of the Hurt Report. What this means is that the key to real world riding is that you probably shouldn’t rely on emergency braking, but on keeping yourself out of those situations where you’ll need to brake that hard.
Driving around in NY I notice there are a handful of common “moves” cars make that we need to look out for. I call them “gotcha” moves. Stupid things drivers sometimes do that are likely to catch unwary motorcyclists in a no win situation. None of these “gotcha” moves are intentional ways to hurt motorcyclists, and they probably make sense to the driver of the car, but they tend to put motorcyclists (and other drivers) at risk. Here are my top 4, feel free to add to it, make it a top 5 or 10.
#4 – The Lane Pop
This happens when traffic is stopped in one lane, but moving freely in others…cars pop out of the stopped lane into the freely moving lane. No warning, no signaling…gotcha. A slight variation of this is when there are more than one free lanes, a car in a stopped lane pulls out abruptly and crosses two free lanes. All you need is a swift motorcyclist minding his own business in a free lane…
#3 – The U-Turn
A car gradually slows in front of you and may even pull over to the right (slowly) only to make a sudden move into your lane as it makes an illegal u-turn in front of you. What makes this a “gotcha” move is that the slow pace of the vehicle lulls you into thinking you know what the driver will do, or makes you think the driver sees you when he doesn’t. I know at least one person who landed in the hospital because of this.
#2 – The Fake Out
A car slows and gradually moves to the left only to make a right turn, or vice versa. This happens a lot at intersections and entrances to driveways. It’s tempting for motorcyclists to try to pass a car as it slows to make a turn, especially when it clearly begins to move in one direction… then gotcha! The fakeout can get even seasoned riders who are travelling at legal speeds.
#1 – The Oncoming Left Turn
This sounds like the least surprising of the “gotcha’s” but it’s the one that actually gets the most motorcyclists nationwide. You’re approaching an intersection and there’s a car in the oncoming lane waiting to make a left. It seems to be waiting for you to pass, then…”gotcha” it turns right in front of you. You might have thought the driver was waiting because he saw you coming, but chances are the driver was texting a message on his cel phone, reaching for cigarettes or something else not driving related while totally oblivious to your presence on the road. Some drivers have a tough time estimating your speed (if you’re going fast) so even if they see you, they might still turn right in front of you.
Related posts:
These are all valid things to look out for. #1 is especially true for me. I’ve been hit in a car, no less, by someone making a left turn into my door at a VERY green light. I’d hate to think what that would be like riding my bike. Here’s a tip I learned somewhere: when you’re approaching an intersection with a green light and there’s someone preparing to make a left turn coming from the opposite direction, swerve your bike back and forth about a foot on each side. The idea being your headlight “waving” in their direction gives you that much more potential visibility to that person. It could all be for nothing but cheaper and easier than a headlight modulator.
In NYC, I’d say most of those “gotchas” apply to pedestrians too! Just the other day I was cruising down a street a reasonable-but-not-excessive following distance behind the car in front of me and a lady tried to run across the street right in front of me! There’s no question in my mind that had I been in a car she wouldn’t have tried it…I think she just couldn’t judge my speed until it was ALMOST too late. Luckily, between my braking and her jumping back, disaster was averted. In any case, pedestrians are constantly running across streets, popping out from behind cars, etc…and can easily make a motorcyclist dodge into a parked car or even oncoming car when they instinctually try to avoid them.
I’d also add another “gotcha” – the “Sudden Double-Parker”. Especially on the wide avenues, cars will put on its brakes in one of the side lanes, and you may think it is just slowing down, but suddenly it stops all the way. That can be a problem if you’re behind them, but also if you’re beside them…since it can cause whoever is behind the stopping car to pull a sudden “Lane Pop”.
+1 on the “Sudden Double Parker” – it might be mainly a NY thing though… It hasn’t happened to me anywhere else…even Boston or Philly.
I like the headlight waving idea too. It reminds me a little of what a vlogger said once…when cars drive too close, he shakes the bars a bit and cars (get scared and) back off. They’re both useful techniques to have on hand to make inattentive drivers more attentive.
I agree with all those points. Up here in western canada, drivers seem to like weaving left before turning right and vice versa. Damn unnerving even in a car.
Excellent Points. Here’s another–The Stopped Car Behind/In Front of You
This happened to me last night in Brooklyn (turning from Atlantic onto Bedford). I was the third vehicle back waiting in the left hand turn lane for the signal. The car in front of me was a good four to five feet in front of me. Since I knew the light was long, I put the bike in neutral and stood there with my arms crossed (not on the bars). After about a minute the driver in front of me suddenly decided he did not want to wait any longer for the turn, threw his car in reverse and started backing up straight for me.
Of course it took me a few moments to get my hand on the bars to signal the horn, but by then I was already backing up as fast as I could. He never heard or paid attention to the horn. Luckily I was in the left hand part of the lane and his (soft, rubbery, modern) bumper just contacted my cylinder head (1995 bmw r100 airhead) deforming his bumper. Then he pulled forward.
After much yelling and getting his attention, “Sorry, I didn’t see you”.
Could have been much worse. I always keep on guard when waiting at a light until a car pulls in behind me an stops–now I have to remember that the car in front could still do something unpredictable.
Hey Kai that was quick thinking on your part.
I try to line up right behind that driver’s side view mirror to see what they’re doing…not for safety really, I’m just nosey.