A rider who hit the back of a car that cut in front of him without looking has posted the crash video to call for motorists to look for bikes before changing lanes.
We’ve probably all experienced drivers moving across on us on multi-lane roads without indicating or checking for motorcycles.
This video was posted on YouTube by HD2 as a warning to “raise motorcycle awareness”.
It begins with the message: “It only takes one second to look before changing lanes … please us that one second, you could save someone’s life.”
“There were a lot of things wrong in this situation, this whole event could have been diverted if the driver had simply looked before illegally crossing the double yellow into the Carpool (HOV) lane,” the rider says on the YouTube post.
“The driver that cut me off was in a rental and had bypassed the insurance paperwork. Always have proper coverage.”
While we sympathise with the rider of the Harley-Davidson Dyna and join him in his call for motorists to watch for riders, he is not totally blameless.
He is legally riding in the carpool lane of an LA freeway, however his speed is substantially above that of the traffic in the other lanes.
It is a recipe for disaster with impatient drivers likely to suddenly – and illegally – cut across the double yellow lines as happens in this case.
The rider is lucky he was not badly injured, miraculously landing on the boot of the Toyota Camry sedan where he shouts “stop, stop, stop” and pounding on the back window as the motorist continues to driver down the freeway.
“I can’t believe you right now dude,” he says.
When the car stops, the rider then confronts the driver: “Are you joking me?
“Bro are you kidding me? I almost just died. I was on top of your car.”
After the driver seems to utter an apology, the rider replies: “You are not sorry. You almost killed me. My leg is f***ed right now dude.
“What are you thinking there is a yellow line for a reason. Pull the f*** over. I don’t even know if my bike can move right now. What are you doing?”
Fatality Free Friday
With the road safety initiative of Fatality Free Friday this Friday, riders should remember that their safety starts with self-preservation.
Fatality Free Friday is about pledging to stay safe and not relying on others to do the right thing.
Riders should remember they are almost invisible among multiple lanes of traffic.
Try not to ride in the blind spots of cars and don’t ride substantially faster or slower than the prevailing traffic.