I have handled many motorcycle accident cases where Cagers (people in cars) cut right into a biker. (person on motorcycle) In this video courtesy of youtube.com you will get a first hand look from the biker’s point of view how fast an accident can happen. You will notice that the traffic on the right was slowing, and the traffic in front of the biker was slowing, as well as the traffic to the left. This accident could have been prevented if the biker slowed down and left herself an out.
If you are on a motorcycle you just cannot ignore traffic. You must watch your surroundings and other traffic and try to anticipate the cagers moves. There is no way this accident was in anyway the fault of the biker. However, if she was watching her surroundings and slowed down, she may have been able to either swerve out of the way or even stop. Only god really knows. The point of this article is; SLOW DOWN, ANTICIPATE, and maybe you will you will keep both wheels on the road instead of ending up in the emergency room.
You will also notice that this biker was wearing full leathers, helmet, and gloves. It probably saved her life! Click on the arrow button to start the video.
by Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. Copyright 2006.
Welcome, my name is 
Watching this video over and over it is hard to imagine she could have done something in the 3 seconds she had to react, or perhaps to anticipate from the beginning. I understand the traffic was slowing down ahead, but what was the Honda driver doing swerving so erraticly? The car most certainly had about 3 car lengths ahead of clear road.
She has a website, where she gives her views on this accident:
http://www.smoothcurvesracing.com/home.php
She’s very competent on her bikes and a safety advocate. Consider how much cushion she had before the cager locked up and spun in front of her.
I agree with you that it seems like there is not much she could have done. Accidents happen in a matter of seconds and it is easy in hindsight to be an arm chair quarterback. However, if you notice the traffic on the right and in front that was slowing down, she could have anticipated that someone may shoot out into her lane from the right at anytime. Therefore the solution would have been to slow down. If she would have been going slower there is a chance she could have stopped or laid down her bike. We will never know.
The accident was in no way her fault.
Norm
Thanks for the link John. You and I both know that it is easy to be an arm chair quarterback. It’s another thing actually being faced with a life threatening situation.
I have been in a few bad situations that could have resulted in disaster and have gone down twice. Luckily I was not seriously injured.
I think that these kinds of videos and the sharing of experiences will help all motorcyclist to be more cautious and exercise offensive and defensive tactics to help us all keep both wheels on the road.
Thanks Again,
Norm