Posted by WDO on August 30, 2000 at 18:34:26:
Picture this:
A two-lane rural road, traffic congestion because I just went through a school zone. I am NOT following the truck ahead of me too closely; traffic is accelerating to the speed limit.
Without warning, some numb-nuts in the line decides he's going to stop. In the road. For no apparent reason. The whole line of traffic brakes sharply; the truck ahead of the truck ahead of me must've been following too closely because, to avoid a rear-end collision he yanks his truck off the road to the right (no ditch, thank goodness for him). The truck in front of me has, as I recall, NO BRAKE LIGHTS. So when he slammed on HIS brakes, the first I knew of it was when the back end of his truck got real big real fast.
I locked up the brakes on the Intruder, went into a slide, realized I was going to hit him --- so I did the instinctive (stupid) thing. I let off the brakes, out on the clutch and whipped the bike into the oncoming traffic lane.
Yes, there was a car in that lane. Fortunately, it was a little car and driving very close to the shoulder so I had room to go between him and the truck. I then whipped the bike back into my lane, next to the guy who had pulled off into the ditch.
All this took about 5 seconds to happen, if that long.
I spent the remaining 15 miles to school thanking every deity I whose name I could think of, and the rest in general, for saving my life.
If that car had been a little closer to the center line, I'd be dead right now.
Not even leathers would have saved me (though I was wearing jeans and my leather vest).
I plan to live every day of the rest of my life as if it were the last, and to hell with anyone who wants to rain on my parade.
Y'all keep safe,
Lisa