Safety Article,“ THAT GUY CUT ME OFF !”

+OFF THE WIRE
“ THAT GUY CUT ME OFF !”

by John Del Santo

We have heard stories told recently about someone crashing their motorcycles because someone “cut them off” and they were forced to swerve and crash to avoid being hit by the car.

Some of us who ride together kicked this scenario around, and came up with these thoughts. “If a car in the next lane starts to move towards my lane, and if I am still there when that car crosses into my lane, then I wasn’t paying attention…..or I made the wrong decision. Too many times, Riders just blow their horn, or worse, stand their ground because they assume that they “Have the Right of Way.”

If we see someone in the next lane who is driving or riding erratically, or looks a little squirrely, or who snaps a quick look into their inside mirror, or someone who moves just an inch towards our lane, then we need to be taking appropriate precautions. We need to be doing SOMETHING with our throttle and/or horn and/or brakes so when that car enters our lane…..We are no longer there ! We need to ride with the attitude that just because someone makes a stupid move….It is NOT necessary for us to be a victim of their stupid move.

Someday someone might make a really dramatic move…..and maybe you will get caught in it….but “He cut me off” is not an immediate ‘cop-out’. When I was young, there was another ‘cop out’ saying like that one. If someone hit a car in the rear, the immediate claim was “That guy Stopped-Short on me”. Now that we have a better understanding of following distance, we don’t hear that term anymore because we understand that if we have enough space…enough following distance….We’re not going to run into the back of anyone’s vehicle. By the same token, we need to readjust our defensive techniques so that we hear more of WOW ! THAT WAS CLOSE ! and less of “The Accident wasn’t MY fault…..That guy CUT ME OFF !

As Kent Saxton was fond of writing: The superior rider observes, predicts, and uses superior knowledge to avoid situations which require superior skills.

John Del Santo