[nicko]

I was on my way to uni tonight and came up to the intersection of Ballarat rd and moore st. its a two way right turn. As i approached the intersection i saw a b-double taking up the two lanes so he could make the turn without cutting the corner. The light was red at this point.

I made the decision to come up the inside lane so i could get in front of him before the light turned green. As i approached the front of the truck he started moving inwards to cut me off. At this point i slowed down. I was already pretty much to the front of the truck, so the only way out from here was to keep going and to get in front of him.

Then! as i was passing the cabin, he opened the driver door right in front of me! Luckily, my superman style reaction skills were put in to place and i only just ducked under the door!!

Then he continued to yell out the window to me " hey cunt, hey cunt, next time ill hit ya... fucken this, cunt that" I just looked at him weighing up my options. In the end i decided just to ignore him and get on with it.

I was thinking of getting of the bike and putting some carbon fiber knuckles in between his teeth or punching out his headlights. I wish now that i did, but at the time the bike was sitting in a vulnerable position to get run over by some rubber higher than the bike itself, so i decided not to go ahead with it.

Anyway, im all good, just wish now that i could have put the cock head in his place. Too bad i wasn't on my way to work. I would of had a nice sharp leatherman to carve up his tyres a bit.

/rant

What would you have done?

 

[fitzy]

well done for keeping ya cool mate, bit shit he opened the door though. bike will never win vs truck so best to ignore him. How long until the light went green?

 

[Aduro]

cool story lad.
No really what the fuck is with that? :S
Doubt i would have risked my little cibby getttin monster truck rolled over either but would def have the shits, enough fuckwits on the road let alone 24Tonne fuckwits.
If he had knocked you off your bike you could have at least dragged him out of the truck justifiably and scored new fairings to.
You get a plate number or anything?

 

[fitzy]

Turning onto clevland street a rider died doing this, truck turning left using both lanes, rider went uner...didnt make it before truck. He went under the wheels and died. Risky riding i say..b doubles are huge also...

 

[nicko]

well done for keeping ya cool mate, bit shit he opened the door though. bike will never win vs truck so best to ignore him. How long until the light went green?

It was a good 30 seconds till the light went green. I was shittin myself a little bit, i have to admit. I thought he would try and run me down while i was waiting there.

I travel this road ALL the time. This is why i made the decision i did. I know the intersection pretty well. I cant say i'd do it in an area i wasn't familiar with.

 

[sir.b]

I was thinking of getting of the bike and putting some carbon fiber knuckles in between his teeth or punching out his headlights. I wish now that i did, but at the time the bike was sitting in a vulnerable position to get run over by some rubber higher than the bike itself, so i decided not to go ahead with it.

Better to be in the position of wishing you did, than in the position of wishing you didn't.

There's always a meaner dog, and this one will bark at the wrong dog one day. NICE DUCK.

Justin.

 

[nicko]

cool story lad.
No really what the fuck is with that? :S
Doubt i would have risked my little cibby getttin monster truck rolled over either but would def have the shits, enough fuckwits on the road let alone 24Tonne fuckwits.
If he had knocked you off your bike you could have at least dragged him out of the truck justifiably and scored new fairings to.
You get a plate number or anything?

Nah mate, I just took off to get out of his way. I looked in the rear vision mirror but he was to far behind me at that point. I recon he was on speed or something, he was going fucking mental.[hr]
Also, is what i did illegal? or is it just 'the thing to do' to leave room for the truckie? I wouldn't think it is illegal, technically i wasnt lane splitting. Just curious.

 

[Stavros]

The sticker that says 'DO NOT OVERTAKE TURNING VEHICLE' is there for a reason. Articulated vehicles take up a lot of road when they are turning.

I am sure he didn't want to pick bits of you out from between his duals just as much as you didn't want to be roadkill. That doesn't excuse the abuse or the attitude, but consider for a second that he knows that he needs a lot of road to make the turn and he sees the road as his to use, just as you do. There are two sides to every story. See the truckie's side for a second and give them room when they need it.

 

[Hessian]

The sticker that says 'DO NOT OVERTAKE TURNING VEHICLE' is there for a reason. Articulated vehicles take up a lot of road when they are turning.

I am sure he didn't want to pick bits of you out from between his duals just as much as you didn't want to be roadkill. That doesn't excuse the abuse or the attitude, but consider for a second that he knows that he needs a lot of road to make the turn and he sees the road as his to use, just as you do. There are two sides to every story. See the truckie's side for a second and give them room when they need it.

Damn you, beat me to it. YEah that dont overtake turning vehicle is there for a reason. He took up two lanes because he wanted space then some moron on an eggbeater with wheels tries to kill himself by undertaking the truck.

The bloke could have been just off his L's or under a lot of stress moving the B double etc. He probably shouldnt have opened the door tho

 

[Blazzer]

Im sorry but did you not see the "DO NOT OVERTAKE TURNING VEHICLE" signs along the back? he is taking up both lanes for a reason he needs them both to turn. and once you have made you way to the front, depending on the truck you probably in one of the many massive blind spots. and what if you stalled? the B trailer would of flattened you.

granted he shouldn't have opened the door but i would of told you your a fuckwitt too.

 

[nicko]

The sticker that says 'DO NOT OVERTAKE TURNING VEHICLE' is there for a reason. Articulated vehicles take up a lot of road when they are turning.

I am sure he didn't want to pick bits of you out from between his duals just as much as you didn't want to be roadkill. That doesn't excuse the abuse or the attitude, but consider for a second that he knows that he needs a lot of road to make the turn and he sees the road as his to use, just as you do. There are two sides to every story. See the truckie's side for a second and give them room when they need it.

Damn you, beat me to it. YEah that dont overtake turning vehicle is there for a reason. He took up two lanes because he wanted space then some moron on an eggbeater with wheels tries to kill himself by undertaking the truck.

The bloke could have been just off his L's or under a lot of stress moving the B double etc. He probably shouldnt have opened the door tho

I completely understand what you guys are talking about. And i considered this before i made the move. When i did it, the light had only just turned red, and i know that it takes about a minute for the turn light to go green again. Hence why i did what i did. I understand his point of view, but his reaction was completely out of line, and therefore i have no sympathy for him. A simple toot of the horn would have sufficed.

The other thing that pissed me off a little is that ive taken that turn before with b doubles in the lane next to me. The intersection is EASILY big enough so as that you don't need to take up the two lanes to make the turn. Its a main truck route to the docklands.

But yeah, i know there are two sides to every story, and what i did was a little risky, but at the time, i assessed the situation and decided that it was safe to make the move.[hr]

Im sorry but did you not see the "DO NOT OVERTAKE TURNING VEHICLE" signs along the back? he is taking up both lanes for a reason he needs them both to turn. and once you have made you way to the front, depending on the truck you probably in one of the many massive blind spots. and what if you stalled? the B trailer would of flattened you.

granted he shouldn't have opened the door but i would of told you your a fuckwitt too.

The truck was stationary at the time. And i had plenty of time to make my way in front of him. I'm not insisting that i was completely in the right, im just saying that the conditions were right to pull of the maneuver safely.

 

[isRR]

The truck was stationary at the time. And i had plenty of time to make my way in front of him.I'm not insisting that i was completely in the right, im just saying that the conditions were right to pull of the maneuver safely.

obviously not.... you're getting a flaming here 'cos you did something very stupid. And to see that you had the time to consider the situation before making the move and ending up worse for it... just shows that you made the wrong decision.

Bank this in your experience file and learn from it... consider yourself very luck that you came off with only a mouthful from the truckie and a flaming from the forums.

 

[nicko]

The truck was stationary at the time. And i had plenty of time to make my way in front of him.I'm not insisting that i was completely in the right, im just saying that the conditions were right to pull of the maneuver safely.

obviously not.... you're getting a flaming here 'cos you did something very stupid. And to see that you had the time to consider the situation before making the move and ending up worse for it... just shows that you made the wrong decision.

Bank this in your experience file and learn from it... consider yourself very luck that you came off with only a mouthful from the truckie and a flaming from the forums.

I know, i expected a bit of a flaming, and in hind sight, i was in the wrong.
The only thing that made the conditions not right is the fact that i had a door shoved in my face. He knew i was coming, that's why he opened the door. The truck was stationary, I knew for a fact that the light wasnt going to turn green while i was moving up. It was flat out road rage. Fuck me, anyone that intentionally tries to inflict that sort of damage to someone (potentially) should be locked up and given a bar of soap.

 

[Wally]

Few harsh replies here! Red light, stationary truck, ride up along side it to get to the front coz it won't be green for a good 30 seconds? What the hell is wrong with what nicko did?!?!?!?!??!!?

I would NEVER think of overtaking a turning truck, or even trying to get to the front of one if the lights are a chance of changing to green, but would always go past him otherwise. Far too many blind spots and yes they take up HEAPS of room when turning. Sounds like nicko is in the same boat .. lighten up people.[hr]
^^ posted while I was typing Glad what you said didn't totally contradict my assumptions

 

[Smiley]

I travel this road ALL the time. This is why i made the decision i did. I know the intersection pretty well. I cant say i'd do it in an area i wasn't familiar with.

In 1986 my driving instructor told me this quote and it's stuck with me ever since: "Familiarity breeds conceit". He said this after I turned into my parents street and accelerated more than I had in streets I was unfamiliar with.

That's the reason that statistically you have a far higher risk of having an accident within 5kms of you home. People drop their guard when in familiar surroundings.

But there's just as much chance of some dumb c**t pulling out/turning in front of you or a child or animal running on the road in familiar streets as there is when you're in an area your not familiar with.

 

[K916]

This forum is very balanced in its approach.

Very rare to find a motorcycle forum that tells off fellow bikers when they are at fault

 

[Hessian]

We just like whaling on people we know

 

[shane]

hang on, let me get this straight.

all the flamers: does this mean you don't condone lane splitting? the truck was stationary at a red light. if you say that lane splitting is ok but what nicko did isnt, your a fucking hypocrite.

i personally, would have done the same thing as nicko, after weighting up the options and making sure that it was safe to do, then damn straight.

 

[juxt]

Whether nicko did the right thing or not, the truckie opening his door to deliberatly (spelling?) hurt him is downright stupid.
I'd be pretty pissed too.

 

[Merudo]

i could be wrong but it doesnt seem nicko is upset that the truck driver was upset, moreso that he is upset that the truck driver reacted the way he did.

given the reaction and the fact that the truck had enough time to turn across in front of him and then the crazy driver had enough time to open the door and almost hit nicko, i feel like we're not getting the whole story here though


edit: yeah what juxt said