Good article. Spring always seems to bring out the worst drivers out here. Just inattentive. Compound that with sand, gravel, etc. Where I live, the worst isn't snow removal type stuff, it's washed out driveways from heavy spring rains. Gravel driveways are common and they get washed out all over the road. I tend to stay away from my favorite twisties until after spring, just because, inevitably, one of those washed out driveways is just past the apex of a corner!
Here's a little screenshot (sort of. I was too lazy to take an actual screenshot so I just took a pic with my phone) of my excitement the other day. And it was the third incident of the day. Incident one was a woman on a John Deere Gator who thought that vehicles that are illegal on public roads are apparently exempt from road laws. I was crossing railroad tracks, she had a stop sign. She decided that there was no need to brake or slow down or anything coming through that stop sign. Incident two was a guy turning right through an intersection in a small pickup and swinging way, way wide all the way into my lane. And number three was this moron who was driving down the road on the wrong side. Here in the snip you can see me on the brakes, about to be on the horn, and him swerving over into his lane. No clue if he was just distracted, or just stupid, or both. Oh, and he flipped me off and honked at me when he went by. It's a 55MPH road; thank God for strong brakes!
Honestly I think what was really happening, you can see that's a corner, and it's not uncommon for guys to just cut the corners. But he really, really, REALLY cut it. In the MSF course they teach inside-outside-inside. I don't do that. I pretend like about 3 feet from the yellow line is the actual yellow line because it's so common for cars to be over it around corners on these roads with little traffic. What is especially bad are the big trucks who can't be bothered to slow down and make the curve. And, sorry, I don't care how essential trucks are, if you can't make the curve, you can't be on that road. Nothing you're carrying is worth ending someones life. These companies need to be using smaller trucks or alternative routes.
That's a pretty scary scenario, and it happens often where I live as well. I'm a new rider with only about 400 miles under my belt and I've experienced drivers going over the double yellow, nothing as bad as what you experienced but bad enough to get my heart going. It's as if they don't even begin to think about what could be around the bend until it's right in front of their faces. BTW, big fan of the you tube channel, glad to see you back at it in that beautiful new ride!
Just this morning on my way to work, I crossed over I-70 (a major interstate that goes through Kansas City) on my way to work like I always do and a semi started to pull out and turn left right in front of me. Just flat right in front of me - no excuse at all. I was going 45MPH, so I did a bit of unintentional autocross to avoid t-boning the semi truck. I learned that my van handles reasonably well (for a van), but its lateral grip is pretty terrible. Seriously though, inattentive morons are everywhere and drive everything, so it definitely pays to keep your eyes out and know what's around you.
Sheesh, it's becoming a daily thing! Uploaded the video footage this time. This video is proof-positive of why I think that "Watch for eye contact" is pure bull. She began to inch out, looked at me, we made eye contact, then she pulled out. I don't know if she just totally misjudged where I was, just didn't care, or the very possible scenario that she looked right at me but didn't "see" me. Didn't register in her brain that she needed to stop.
Obviously, low speed road, plenty of room, plenty of time. Hardly a scenario worth batting an eye over. Horn was just to keep her 'still' while I went around her. But, it still illustrates what we have to watch for! Eyes on a swivel, and always have a plan.
Oh, and because I ALWAYS get the comment; I was in the middle of the lane. The wide angle lens, mounted on the right side of the helmet, makes it look like I'm farther to the left than I actually am.
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Seriously though, inattentive morons are everywhere and drive everything, so it definitely pays to keep your eyes out and know what's around you.
