Quoted from EricHadley:I used to have 2 Harley's until last summer when I saw so many accidents involving motorcycles. Many drivers these days are so discourteous, they speed, cut people off, talk and text on their phone. It's more dangerous than ever out there for motorcycles. I finally had enough of it and decided it wasn't worth the risk anymore. Sold them and never looked back.
Quoted from zr11990:I went to get on the freeway one day and a guy would not let me on. I sped up and so did he, I slowed down and so did he. I had to ride on the side with all the bumps. I happened to have a pinball in my pocket and I introduced him to it via his windshield. He stopped in the middle of the freeway when it destroyed his windshield. Yes I was a dick for that but he could have caused me to have a big time accident.
So far, in my 5 years of riding, I've only had 2 incidents that could have ended up very badly. For the most part, I feel that people seem to be very aware of me. I get people riding my tail, and cutting me off in my car on a daily basis. But it seems people are afraid to get close to me when I'm on my motorcycle. But I primarily ride in the city. Probably very different on the highway.
But just last week was my closest encounter. Lady was pulling out of a parking lot, turning left on a 4 lane road with a center turn lane. I was going her direction, and was in the right-most lane. She obviously never saw me, and obviously doesn't understand the rules of the road as she shot over directly into me. I locked up the breaks doing 45mph, and came inches from hitting the curb. I had my horn on the entire time. And instead of correcting, and moving back over to the left lane, she came to a stop, leaving me no more room. Luckily, all ended well, except for my heart-rate.
So after we got going again, she did move over to the left lane. I was really afraid to get in front of her. But decided to anyways, just to let her know that she was "Number 1." And of course she acknowledged that by pulling in behind me, and holding her horn for a good solid minute as we waited at the stoplight. Took every bit of effort to take the high road (safer road) and stay seated on my bike.