Quote:
Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps
Merges are the worst, I found drivers in WA to be among the most incompetent mergers in the country. They see me and my giant truck and RV coming down the road and logic would dictate maybe I should speed up and get ahead of this death trap or maybe I'll slow down and let it pass. Especially since I'm in a small nimble car and they're in a freight train.
Nahhhh.... let's match it's speed precisely so by the time I run out of road I will be right smack next to the death trap and I'll freak out and have to smash the brakes or go for a little off-roading excursion... yeah that sounds like much more fun!
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Continuing on the "WA drivers are the most inept in the country" theme, because you are 10,000% correct....
Came closer to certain death today than I have even been in nearly 30 years of motorcycle riding.
Was in the right lane of I-5 South heading into downtown at about 6:45 AM. My lane is exiting so I need to get over to the left 1 lane. Traffic is heavy and all lanes are moving at about 45 MPH. I put my blinker on and check my mirror. There's a white SUV in the lane I want to merge into but he's way back there. Hard to judge in the mirror but it's like 10+ car lengths. Crazy, there's rarely a gap that big. Cant sit and stare at the mirror too long as the car in front of me has a 50/50 chance of locking up the brakes for no reason as
dreamingat30fps correctly pointed out. Check my gap between me and the car in front. All good. I turn to the left and do a physical head check for that white SUV. Nothing. Cant twist far enough back to even see him so all's good. I start my merge into the next lane over and right about the time I hit the painted lane stripes that white SUV absolutely blows past me doing at least 20 MPH more than the rest of traffic.
There's a very faint "tick" on my helmet like a little pebble hit it. I seriously think it was his mirror just ever so slightly clipping me. He continued on to tailgate the car he ended up behind and then aggressively change over 3 lanes without signaling or looking. Worst of all, he was in a BMW X4 or X6. Way to live up to the stereotype, dick.
So my PSA is two-fold. For the 4 wheel crowd: Don't drive 20+ MPH faster than everyone else in heavy traffic and put yourself in a position to kill a motorcyclist who is changing lanes. For the 2 wheel crowd: Never assume typical closing speed.