Stop lights are dangerous!

[See-Three]

A friend of my brothers was Hit by a car today while sitting at a red light. There are 4 lanes to this intersection, two left and two straight. He was sitting in the far right lane while a laddie "aka" lady who had fallen asleep  at the wheel drifted from lane two into the side / rear of his bike. His ankle and foot got pretty smashed up from literally being crushed by the car. he's going in for surgery asap. On top of that he was thrown 20 feet and got his legs pretty torn of because he was only wearing jeans. his jacket saved his torso from any damage and his ff helmet Possibly saved his life, The visor was smashed on impact. his excuse for not wearing ATGATT was he had just gotten out of work...So no excuses  

All and all he got pretty lucky, although his new Triumph is totaled.

On my ride this evening i was sure to give myself a little extra room while sitting at lights to bolt from any of the unexpected!

[Option13]

laddie

Got a wee bit o' the Irish in ya?

Sorry to hear about that. Yeah, I always try to keep it in first until the person behind me comes to a stop, then I go into neutral. I also try to leave room to dart around the car in front of me, but sometimes it's just not possible in heavy traffic.

[See-Three]

Got a wee bit o' the Irish in ya?

Dammit, spell check haha

[drdubb]

Sorry to hear about your brother. Hope he has a successful recovery.
A rider was recently killed like that in our area. I tryto be diligent ar stops and leave an escape routopen,but I do occasionally find myself not paying attention.

[ariwhiteboy]

Hate to hear that...hope he has a speedy recovery, then stick him in ATGATT and put him on a Hawk. 

[Poligrafovich]

I always try to keep it in first until the person behind me comes to a stop, then I go into neutral.

AFGATT (All First Gear All The Time) here.

[TDodge7]

That sucks , gotta be careful at those lights (and everywhere else) when I'm sitting at lights I never take my eyes off the mirrors and keep the bike in gear in case I need to get out of the way . I've also made it a habit to flash my brake lights a few times whenever I see someone coming up behind me . I don't like to ever assume they see me , even if we're looking each other in the eyes.

[Bumblebee]

AFGATT (All First Gear All The Time) here.

And make damned certain that you stop a good distance back and it's aimed at the escape hole. I watch riders pull up inches from the cage bumper in front of them and a good bit of them keep watching their mirrors...which is pointless when they've eliminated their only means of escape.

[JordanA]

I am always nervous when I see a car barrelling down upon me at a stop light.  Until they come to a stop, I don't stop looking at them with my hand ready to pop that clutch lever at a moments' notice.

[LOKi]

laddie

Got a wee bit o' the Irish in ya?

Sorry to hear about that. Yeah, I always try to keep it in first until the person behind me comes to a stop, then I go into neutral. I also try to leave room to dart around the car in front of me, but sometimes it's just not possible in heavy traffic.

So what if someone rear ends the cars stopped directly behind you? Or there is a crash in the intersection in front of you where the car is spun around and is hurling towards you? Better to leave that thing in gear. Be ready to move and have more than one way out if possible.

Sorry to hear about your brothers friend. Hope he fully recovers.

Really crash paints aren't going to help THAT much. Yes a little but nothing is stopping 2 tons of metal crashing into you. The torn UP (not of) legs might be somewhat reduced as long as the damage was from hitting the ground 20 feet away. Crash paints only do so much.

[Bumblebee]

I am always nervous when I see a car barrelling down upon me at a stop light.  Until they come to a stop, I don't stop looking at them with my hand ready to pop that clutch lever at a moments' notice.

You want at least 2-3 solid higher mass vehicles stopped behind you before relaxing even a little bit.

Somewhere a few months back is my post about a nutjob who tried to make a motorcycle sandwich out of me in Phoenix and I wasn't being very cooperative.

Be extremely paranoid. Always make your escape early. If you wait to the last second, the energy and inertia puts you inside the impact zone before you can get away.

[See-Three]

Bumblebee could you find that post of yours? I was looking for it for a friend to read.

[Bumblebee]

Bumblebee could you find that post of yours? I was looking for it for a friend to read.

http://nighthawk-forums.com/index.php/topic,4036.3777.html
Post #3777 (third from the top on page 152 of the thread)

[BabyHawk250]

I"m sorry to hear the bad news about a fellow rider! I hope he recovers well and fast! 

I've also made it a habit to flash my brake lights a few times whenever I see someone coming up behind me . I don't like to ever assume they see me , even if we're looking each other in the eyes.

This is too true.  Until I get the brake modulator, I always do the same: tap the brakes a few times as the first car pulls up behind me, and always in first!   

At first it was annoying having to sit in first with the hand on the clutch, waiting for the cars with an eye on the mirror.... now it's second nature. 

[hockeyhawk]

Always need to be on the ready. I always keep bike in 1st gear ready to go at lights and learned from this forum about the escape route and leaving plenty of room in front of me.