Humans Behaving Properly: A Near Miss And Respectful Conversation
All too often we post videos of people doing stupid things. They are usually good for a laugh. Other times, we post examples of what not to do. So, we have to wonder: Shouldn’t we also post instances of a rider and an automobile driver both doing the right thing?
Humans Behaving Badly: This Is Why You Don’t Engage With Road Ragers
This video starts out the way so many terrible ones do. A rider is cruising down a suburban road towards an intersection with a car waiting to turn left. Yeah, warning bells should be going off. Then the driver becomes an instant cliché by pulling out in front of the rider. The good news is that the rider uses crash avoidance techniques and swerves to narrowly miss the car’s rear bumper. We can’t say for sure, but it looks to us like the rider has had some training.
Regardless, after avoiding the accident, something strange happens when both vehicles stop. The car driver jumps out of the car and asks the biker to turn around, and the rider does. The car driver is clearly upset, apologizing profusely to the rider. In response to this show of regret, the rider does what many of us would have a hard time doing in a time of maximum adrenaline flow. He responds with grace and civility. He even acknowledges his speed’s role in the almost accident.
Chew on that for a second. If they had collided, the accident would’ve clearly been the car driver’s fault. Still, this rider says to the distressed driver, “It’s OK,” in an attempt to assuage his upset. Then they both wish each other well before going on their separate ways.
Sir, we at Motorcycle.com would like to offer a tip of the helmet to you for your graciousness at a time when most people would lash out. Thanks for being a good example for riders everywhere.
Like most of the best happenings in his life, Evans stumbled into his motojournalism career. While on his way to a planned life in academia, he applied for a job at a motorcycle magazine, thinking he’d get the opportunity to write some freelance articles. Instead, he was offered a full-time job in which he discovered he could actually get paid to ride other people’s motorcycles – and he’s never looked back. Over the 25 years he’s been in the motorcycle industry, Evans has written two books, 101 Sportbike Performance Projects and How to Modify Your Metric Cruiser, and has ridden just about every production motorcycle manufactured. Evans has a deep love of motorcycles and believes they are a force for good in the world.
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It is nice to see that there is still sense and sensibility in this world.
A. The rider was definitely booking it
B. Looks like he totally scared the crap out of the guy driving the van
C. Good they were both apologetic, since they basically both dodged a bullet
D. Can’t be 100% certain but motorcyclist appears to actually understand their role in this, based on their audio after leaving.
As we used to tell our students, even if it’s “not your fault” you’re still going to lose something. Both the driver and the rider may suffer damage to their vehicles and themselves, particularly in this scenario.