Way back when I had put this video on the internet so that the police and insurance could see it - this is back when I used a bulletcam connected to a tape cassette video recorder. No one else did this and no one else had footage like this. The situation is unique, and it's the first time people this from a first person perspective. This was so new that most people thought it was faked. I think that was the first reason it is used in motorcycle safety. You get to see something no one else had seen of a very unique situation that should never have happened.
Safety wise - there are a lot of lessons that can be taken from this.
1. Wear proper safety gear because it's not always possible to just not crash. In life, there is always ups and downs. To expect to Never go down is pretty unrealistic.
2. From when the smoke comes from the tires (the first clue something is wrong) to impact was 2 seconds. I actually bought 1 second by swerving to the other lane, otherwise impact would have been in 1 second - the time it took for him to cross into my lane and I not swerved out of the way. Some people find that very interesting. Most people's reaction time is 1.5-2 seconds.
3. We analyze what were the other alternatives. Swerve left? Why would you swerve INto the direction that a car is swerving away from? What if he was swerving away because of actual debris?
a. Just brake - on my R1 I can outbrake any car. True. And after I land, you see which car was behind me in my lane. It is a black Hummer. Sure. I can outbrake that Hummer and promptly get run over by it. Or do I outbrake him and hope that he can brake in time to not squish me?
b. Swerve MORE to the right. There was that car there that kept blocking me. To not ride over your allocated traction - if I'm swerving 80%, I can brake 20%. If I'm braking more - I'm swerving less. The amount I did was the angle I deemed appropriate to shoot through that gap. I did not expect him to continue the 180 degree spin on the fwy. The odds was greater that he would somehow regain some kind of control of his car before that happened.
Unfortunately, the odds were wrong in this case. But I had 2 seconds of live time to analyze, react, and choose a path of action - not too bad. 2 seconds if faster than most people can comprehend. Do some exercises to prove to yourself how fast 2 seconds is. This video's greatest gift is to prove how fast it is - yet show how much can also be done. So the point is, run scenarios in your head and practice. Muscle memory and reaction time by instinct will save your life. Running scenarios like this can save your life. Do not succumb to problems of panic like:
1. Target Fixation
2. Giving up
3. Tuck the front by grabbing too much front brake
4. Slide out the rear with too much rear brake
5. Overall losing control of your mind and your bike and therefore defeating yourself.
Then there is what happened when I realized impact was inevitable. I had posted pictures of my bike which was t-boned on the left side from the left front panel of his car (you see his light is broken and hanging). He hit my left side frame slider and would have actually crushed my left leg. I actually stab the front brake at the very last minute to drop the front end and then I let go to let my momentum carry me straight up and over the impact. You see the somersault in the video. Therefore, the only impact I suffered from was the impact of being thrown off my bike at that speed - speed which I had taken 2 seconds to scrub down quite significantly from freeway speeds. The car never touched me. He took out my poor R1 - but I was saved. Many people get scared and have a death grip on the handles - you can tell who these people are because they'll always have broken wrists and broken arms. Impact force will travel through your bike and onto you - same in car accidents too - this force will break bones. This is fact.
Just things like that. Was this accident avoidable?
Hmmm...Yes...if I was a better psychic.
You will see that very beginning, I'm passing cars. At one point I stop and actually slow down (you can hear engine slow down too). You see that I stopped passing cars and I hover. Why? Spidey sense. I sense something is wrong, but don't know what and from what direction. As soon as spidey sense came on - should I have sped up instead of slowed down? Should I have started swerving around? Should I have stopped on the freeway? I slowed down and waited to see what was going to happen - then I reacted the best way I could. To me, that's the best I could have done. If I was a better psychic or better rider, maybe yes, I could have pulled off something more fancy with the 1 second I had. But as it is, all I did with my 1 second was:
1. double it
2. scrubbed off speed
3. minimized damage (bike isn't totalled)
4. stayed alive...and actually, no real injuries on this one.
You want more than that? LOL I think some people expect too much without having any real life skill or ability to back up those wishes with. I'm a realist. For me to leave this scene with what I've got - hey, I'll take it - I'm not the best rider in the world and I'm not a lucky person - so to me, I probably should have just died. And now I have very valuable footage that has helped many, many other riders across the whole world (this video when viral). Pretty cool. If interested, you can look at the YouTube video "TLC - That's gotta hurt" that I posted.
Anyways. I in no way claim that what I did is the ONLY way. There is never just 1 way, that's the beauty of life. That's the beauty of this video. Watch it and play all your what if's. Then think of other scenarios and run them all in your head so your body and mind have an understanding before hand of how you want to react when the shit hits the fan. Practice what 1 second feels like. What does 2 second feel like? Do you panic? Learn to control it. If you can control your panic, you can slow down time. People go - "there's no way you thought all this in the 2 seconds before impact and had all this planned out". You're right, I didn't. Most was already built in - the rest, yes, time slowed down - thought sped up and I did have choice.
It's not game over just because you cannot avoid going down completely. That is naive to think in such black and white manner. There are many shades of grey. Reduce/minimize damage.
Anyways, I write too much already and most all this you all already know. My apologies. I stop boring you all now.
Cuz it definitely deserved a finger.