| |
Motorcycle accident reports come at us from a variety of media at a much higher rate than any of us want to see. Due to a 25 year history in motorcycle safety activities, I suspect I tend to dwell on these reports and their follow-on more than many of us. One of the things that I find revealing is the path that many of these stories/reports/anecdotes often follow.
Immediately following the crash, inevitability is often the message. “There was absolutely nothing I could do”, “the car turned left about 20’ in front of me”, “it flew off the truck directly into my path”, “there was absolutely no warning of the treacherous traction”, and etc, etc. I never probe these reports when they are fresh as, after the indignity of a crash, who wants some “know it all” querying and second-guessing. I do try to understand the full circumstances of the incident to the degree possible.
Interestingly, these same tales 6 months, a year, or two years or more after the fact seem to have a different flavor. I see and hear a great deal of this in my MSF classes, and most often the message is “what I could have done differently” or “what you should avoid.” I think this change in message is natural, and I suspect if I had a similar anecdote to share that it would follow a similar evolution. I think it’s natural.
What do I learn from this? I think if I paid a lot of attention to “fresh” accident reports I would be influenced that accidents are inevitable and, depending upon the alignment of the planets or some other divine force, today may or may not be my day. However, as these reports age, time suggests that perhaps I have more control over my riding situation. I know there are truths to each of these extremes, but what I want to learn is that if I accept the “alignment of the planets” theory, there’s a good likelihood that I will not be doing my part in managing my riding situation. OTOH, if I believe that the vast majority of all accidents are avoidable, depending upon my actions, I should defer the “alignment of planets” situation to the day when the planets actually align.
So….., rightly or wrongly, I like to head out on each ride with the firm belief that it’s ALL IN MY HANDS! I would also add anecdotally that, at least in the case of this one rider to date, it has worked – knock wood. And I firmly believe that “believing it” has played a role in tilting the balance.
So, if you’re still with me, what do we do once we believe it’s, All In Our Hands. For me, I have to keep things simple if it’s going to have any chance of working. There are just a few things that I think contribute to keeping as much as possible in my hands. My top three are Observation Skills, Leaving Myself an Out, and Never Giving Up.
My favorite safety promotion tool is MTF members sharing their experiences in the threads of the forum. In that regards, I enjoyed André’s recent thread titled, “Observe, don't panic, hope for dumb luck.” In the first situation André shared, his keen observation skills saw a situation coming well before it was upon him. This is a key to observation so that our actions can be planned and reasoned. I suspect if any of us made our living by panic reactions to late observations there wouldn’t be much in our saving account. In the situation André shared, the motor home got it back under control so there was no action necessary on André’s part. However, had André not made the observation early, he may well have made some inappropriate, panic reaction at the sight of the sliding motor home. His keen observation gave him a chance to keep the situation In His Hands. Observation probably is an excellent subject for a future newsletter on it’s own, but for these purposes I would say that observation must be aggressive, all-encompassing, 24/7, questioning, challenging, anticipative, purposeful, and early. We can’t deal with it if we don’t see it!
Leaving an out, riding within ourselves, not pushing it to the limit – whatever we choose to call it, when coupled with effective, early observation moves us well along the road to keeping it In Our Hands. The vagaries of the street are inevitable, and they come at us in so many ways that it does no good to delineate a few. Yet, the thrill of the throttle, that push back into the seat, the thrill as we lean further and further – all of these produce an intoxication that too often leaves reason in it’s wake. Let’s make a pledge. Look deeply into the mirror and tell that rider on the other side, “I will never ever say there was nothing I could have done when I leave myself little or no out.” There clearly was something I could have done. I chose not to. Again, back to André’s post. He saw the motor home early, he slowed to give himself more out, and when the motor home began to lose it André was reasoning and acting. He was keeping it In His Hands. Rydnfool in his recent thread titled,
“Some things I've learned about riding !!”
listed some items that speak very well to this paragraph. Tim offered: Most motorcycle problems are caused by the nut that connects the handlebars to the saddle. You start the game of life with a full pot o' luck and an empty pot o'experience. .. The object is to fill the pot of experience before you empty the pot of luck. Never be afraid to slow down. Never be ashamed to unlearn an old habit. If you ride like there's no tomorrow, there may not be. Nuff said!
I have a German friend who is another riding fool. He’s a 4th place Iron Butt finisher, and one of the hardest riders I’ve known. Martin saves his hardest riding for days on the track, and he’s found many ways to crash there. One of Martin’s pet peeves in regards to riders in “sticky situations” is that we give up. We’ve all heard the expression regarding dire situations that it’s time to “put your head between your legs and kiss your a$$ goodbye.” Martin doesn’t believe this. He believes that you should ride the bike until the bike has been removed from you. I don’t want to be Martin, but I do believe in his message. André in his thread said, “don’t panic.” I think the message is the same. Don’t give up. Keep after it until it’s removed from you. André went on to say and “hope for dumb luck.” I’ve often said I’d rather be lucky than smart (others say for good reason!), but, I think we all know that we make much of our own luck. The point here is to keep thinking, reasoning, acting, and then doing it some more as long as we’ve got the ability to do it. If we couple this with aggressive, early observation and leaving ourselves an out, I think we’ll find many situations that might have been inevitable can actually be In Our Hands. STFJR & Ride Safe.
|