[bastiphan]

I had my first near miss yesterday.....on the Garden State Parway in NJ near the Newark area. I was cruising along at about 70MPH in the second to left lane keeping with the flow of traffic. There is a fairly blind turn followed by a quick hill and dip on the highway. All of a sudden the car in front of my slams on his brakes and tries to swerve to avoid rear ending the car in front of him. It turns out there was a pretty bad accident up ahead that just happened, and traffic went from 70 to 0 very quickly...and I couldn't see this ahead of time given the blind curve.

Anyway, I reacted as quickly as I could, sqeezed the front brake as hard as I could and stepped on the rear. As the bumper of the car in front of me apprached quickly, i started to hear my tires chirp just before their breaking point. Slowed with some space between the guy ahead and me, got off the brakes and swerved onto the dashed lane marker so the guy behind me wouldn't ride up my ass.

Let me tell you...this being the first time I had to emergency brake to that extent, I was AMAZED at how fast the bike stops and how it handles in situations like that. I was also amazed at how every single thing that I practiced in MSF, at parking lots, and drilled into my head by repeatedly reading Proficient Motorcycling came back that day. I am sure without that training, I would have hit that car yesterday. And I had NO time to think...it was all habit and instinct.....

Moral of the story, read Proficient Motorcyling over and over and over.... and take your bike to a lot and practice emergency braking. See what it feels like right before your tires break from the asphalt....see how hard you actually can stop...and make it a habit to always use both brakes. In a situation like mine, you don't think....you do whatever you are in the habit of doing.

 

[RayOSV]

Good job avoiding the mess. Practicing emergency braking in a large, clean parking lot or deserted road is a must. If you don't have a feel for the brakes and when they'll lock, you won't be able to apply maximum braking power when needed. This is also a reminder to look far ahead in traffic even on the freeways to better anticipate traffic situations. Glad you were able to write about it.

 

[bittersweetryan]

As George Carlin would say it was a "near hit". A near miss means you nearly missed hitting it but you did

Good job on the emergency break though, reminds me that I need to get out there and freshen up my skills on my new bike.

 

[kcallahan]

On a side note
+1 to cagers and bikes alike that use hazards to warn aproaching vehicles that they are stopped or slowed on road. (thank you green subura I-5 Marysville 3-15-06).