Dumbass Encounter

Venture

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Yesterday I'm out for a solo ride, and in 15 years of riding I experienced a new act of idiocy and figured I'd share.

It's 6:00PM in deer country (PA) and I'm leisurely strolling along at 45MPH (limit: 40MPH) as I'm about to enter the French Creek State Park are on RT 345. I'm positioned in the left of my lane on a straight stretch when suddenly I hear a loud VROOM VROOOOM. Instinctively I start to drift towards the middle of the lane while checking my left mirror to see what's going on behind me. At the exact same moment a guy on a sport bike flies by me, ON MY RIGHT, like I'm standing still. He flies by, t-shirt flapping in the breeze and is GONE. He probably was doing 80+ when he passed me and continued to accelerate. The other lane was completely clear, he could have passed safely on the left across the double yellow, but chose to put both of us in grave danger with this total act of stupidity. Unbelievable.

I don't know how everybody feels about it, but to me the right side of any rider is sacred. Never intrude on that space, except when riding in a group staggered and the group is stopping at a signal or sign. Otherwise, stay out.

Not much else to say except to educate on this as much as possible. This could have ended very badly.
 
B

ballisticexchris

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I'm just glad you are ok to tell the tale!! Thank you for the warning. We have those idiots that ride way past the limits on our local canyon roads. But passing on the right I have not seen. It's the head ons that I worry about. A lot of these young riders cut the apex on blind corners like they were track riding.

Not by no means topping your encounter but here is what happened to me some months months back:

This was a first time ever in my 35 years of street riding. I was on a local mountain road (138 South just past the 173) and decided to go into a pull out on my left. There was a left hand turning lane to enter, blind corner behind and in front of me. Put my signal on, head check, proceeded to turn. Then a car came around the curve behind me while I'm in the middle of my turn and crossed over the double line against traffic and missed taking out my front wheel by inches. No rhyme or reason why they did this. It was almost like it was a deliberate act to take me out. They had a full empty lane on the right.
 

moto.monk

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Aug 19, 2019
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1,090
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los angeles
Yesterday I'm out for a solo ride, and in 15 years of riding I experienced a new act of idiocy and figured I'd share.

It's 6:00PM in deer country (PA) and I'm leisurely strolling along at 45MPH (limit: 40MPH) as I'm about to enter the French Creek State Park are on RT 345. I'm positioned in the left of my lane on a straight stretch when suddenly I hear a loud VROOM VROOOOM. Instinctively I start to drift towards the middle of the lane while checking my left mirror to see what's going on behind me. At the exact same moment a guy on a sport bike flies by me, ON MY RIGHT, like I'm standing still. He flies by, t-shirt flapping in the breeze and is GONE. He probably was doing 80+ when he passed me and continued to accelerate. The other lane was completely clear, he could have passed safely on the left across the double yellow, but chose to put both of us in grave danger with this total act of stupidity. Unbelievable.

I don't know how everybody feels about it, but to me the right side of any rider is sacred. Never intrude on that space, except when riding in a group staggered and the group is stopping at a signal or sign. Otherwise, stay out.

Not much else to say except to educate on this as much as possible. This could have ended very badly.
Had lots of riders so that over the years. Had one do that on the freeway
 

Kurgan

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Dec 11, 2015
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372
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SE Michigan
Had that happen once decades ago. SInce that day if I'm riding alone I'm pretty much centered in the lane, leaving no room for idiots to try that crap.
 

Tenman

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Dec 7, 2013
Messages
2,102
Location
Natchez Ms USA
Probably a young squid. I had a buddy sideswiped like that. Broke his leg. His boot went out in a bean field. Never found it. The other guy didn’t crash.
 

Dirt_Dad

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A good example of how doing nothing was the best course of action you could have taken. Every situation is different, but so many times it turns out the safest thing is no action at all. Looking in your mirror and seeing a-hole approaching so close and so fast it would be tempting to make adjustments...which could have put you in even more danger.

Thankfully the dumbshit didn't hurt anyone. Hopefully this goes onto his list of things he realizes he should stop doing. I know I have a mental list like that. Added a couple of items just yesterday. Glad you're safe, Venture.
 
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PhilPhilippines

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Jun 20, 2020
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952
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Philippines
Yesterday I'm out for a solo ride, and in 15 years of riding I experienced a new act of idiocy and figured I'd share.

It's 6:00PM in deer country (PA) and I'm leisurely strolling along at 45MPH (limit: 40MPH) as I'm about to enter the French Creek State Park are on RT 345. I'm positioned in the left of my lane on a straight stretch when suddenly I hear a loud VROOM VROOOOM. Instinctively I start to drift towards the middle of the lane while checking my left mirror to see what's going on behind me. At the exact same moment a guy on a sport bike flies by me, ON MY RIGHT, like I'm standing still. He flies by, t-shirt flapping in the breeze and is GONE. He probably was doing 80+ when he passed me and continued to accelerate. The other lane was completely clear, he could have passed safely on the left across the double yellow, but chose to put both of us in grave danger with this total act of stupidity. Unbelievable.

I don't know how everybody feels about it, but to me the right side of any rider is sacred. Never intrude on that space, except when riding in a group staggered and the group is stopping at a signal or sign. Otherwise, stay out.

Not much else to say except to educate on this as much as possible. This could have ended very badly.
Sadly, there have always been idiots speeding. The first idiot created the need for a ''maximum speed limit" sign. A sign that wasn't warranted for others - sensible riders - who realised what the safe maximum speed was, so as to not court danger.

I would have checked before moving from the straight line though...
 

Arkyrider

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Joined
Oct 12, 2011
Messages
274
Location
Van Buren, Arkansas
I had a Harley rider do that to me on the Interstate. I saw him in the rear view mirror and the next thing I know he blew past me on the shoulder of the road. There was not any traffic around me, no reason to pass on the right side. Scared the sh!! out of me.
 

Cycledude

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Jan 29, 2016
Messages
3,998
Location
Rib lake wi
All kinds of crazy crap out there that’s for sure !
Little over a week ago a friend got killed on his way home from a RTE ride to eat, a semi truck made a left turn, he managed to avoid hitting the semi Head on but he hit something else, 17 broken ribs and lots of other stuff, they turned off life support the next day. So far the Ohio state patrol has not released the accident report because they say it’s an ongoing investigation.
 

Sierra1

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Joined
Nov 7, 2016
Messages
14,819
Location
Joshua TX
There's a "T" intersection in town that sucks pretty bad for semis. Story 1) I'm making a left on to the intersecting road. Semi is at a stop sign on the road I'm turning onto. I'm over half way through the turn, and the semi start moving. I swerved to avoid, but he still got my back left fender flare. Story 2) Same intersection. I'm riding an ST 1300 in the thru traffic lane(s) at about 40mph. Semi is stopped at a stop sign, waiting to turn left. He stops waiting and pull out in front of me. One of the few time that the ABS kicked in. I was close enough to see the driver say "oh shit", as he realized that this Honda had red/blue lights. We spoke at length about how bad the intersection was for semis, but that he still wasn't allowed to pull out in front of traffic. At no time did he apologize or accept responsibility.

I get that it has to be a pain in the ass to drive one of the monsters, but some of those drivers know that a car or bike will do everything they can to avoid a crash, and let the truck do what it wants. And, they take advantage of their size to get away with it.
 
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