This is one situation that I am overly conscious about....traveling on a four lane road with two lanes of traffic in both directions. If I am in the right lane and there is a vehicle ahead of me in the left lane, I am always looking for oncoming vehicles that are waiting to turn left. If I see one waiting, I either speed up next to the vehicle in the left lane, or I slow down and move to the far left side of my lane. This gives me protection and/or extra visibility so that the car waiting to turn left sees me and doesn't turn into me right after the vehicle in the left lanes clears the intersection.My mishap didn't result in any damage to me or the bike but figured I'd post it none-the-less. Riding this morning, dry roads / good visibility, when I came upon an intersection doing around 40 mph. Oncoming traffic at the stoplight for a left turn. Saw him and didn't think much of it as I had a truck slightly in front of me in the left lane. Needless to say, once the truck cleared the oncoming truck's line, he turned and cut me off. I immediately went to downshift / full brakes. Unfortunately this led me into a rear-wheel skid which I had only practiced in the MSF class last year at around 20mph. Needless to say it's a bit different at 40 plus but I rode it out and came off the breaks as soon as I could. Ended up missing the tailgate of the truck by about a foot or so.
Definitely could have been a lot worse and my hat's off to the instructors of the MSF course. I've had people pull out in front of me before but this was the closest I've come to a wreck (knock on wood). I have now decided that all cagers making left turns are evil and should be avoided / given a wide berth. I did manage to track down the driver of the truck and had some really nice things to say to him. He claimed he didn't see me which is totally understandable considering his cell phone was attached to his skull while driving.....
Situational awareness and preparedness to take action are a biker's best friend (life saver).