Way too close for me

Seeing as how I work the early shift and have to be clocked in at 03:30 in the morning, I always have to ride in the dark on my way there. With that said, I know on my way to work there are many dangers out there from animals running out in front of you, road kill, and countless other things. I am always very attentive to my surroundings any time I ride but much more on my way to work due to the conditions. I know that the biggest danger at that time of the night though is the notorious drunk driver. I have been very forunate to have never had a close call with one of these inconsiderate people until this past Saturday. On my way to work on a 2 lane road just cruising along when it happened. A car came over the hill just ahead of me. I noticed that they started coming over into my lane so I started moving over to the right hand side of the lane and flashed my high beams at them. This did not help as they kept coming. I have 3 choices now as I am already as far right as I can go without going into the ditch. I can hit my brakes and hope they veer back over into their lane, hit the gas and try to get past them before we make contact, or go off the road into the ditch and wipe out for sure. I chose to hit the gas and get past them. Maybe not the right decision and I really did not have that much time to think about it but it worked. We were so close that if I had hit my brakes I would have been going over their car in a head on collison and the ditch option would have been about as bad. After the car passed and I got stopped I just sat there for a moment in utter amazement. Took a second but got myself collected and turned around and caught up the them so I could get a tag number. The car was all over the road. I got the tag number and turned back around and headed for work. In hindsight I should have followed the car until they stopped somewhere. I know, probably not a good choice but at least I would have known that they were not on the road any longer trying to kill someone else. I felt better at least being able to turn in the tag number and description of the car to the LEO's that I work with but like they said, there is not much they could do about it without actually being able to pull the person over. Anyway, just want to remind everyone to be safe out there and watch out for the cages.

:wacko:   WHEW!  Glad you didn't meet them in person!

"I chose to hit the gas and get past them. Maybe not the right decision..."

In this case it was the "right decision" because you were able to avoid an accident.  As you said, not much time to figure out what to do.  Glad you did what needed to be done.

Geez, glad you're okay Fred.

Close calls aren't fun... I feel you about the drunks out and about that time of day.  One of the many curses of working nights.

Deer or Drunks, it's pretty much a toss-up as to which one is the most dangerous for us motorcyclists...

Glad you are OK!!!

Glad you made the right call with the information you had.   :fing02:

Get that GoPro out and video them next time.  The police can use that as evidence but under any circumstance do this from a safe distance so you are not in harm's way.

Good job Fred...you lived to tell the tale and didn't become another victim of this terrible crime and sickness.  Alcoholism kills in many ways.  Last Tuesday I celebrated my 20th year of sobriety...I am grateful I am not still part of the problem.

And good on you for being aware and attentive.  This will help remind us: Stay aware, stay alive.

Glad your choice worked for you. I'm usually at home at night, but I'm finding a lot more cars coming into my lane from cell/or other gadget users.
Thanks for the reminder to watch out for the idiots..........

If you avoided the accident you made the right decision and reacted properly. A civilian on a motorcycle should never attempt to pull over a moving vehicle especially if drunk driving is suspected. I'll bet you keep that license plate number in your wallet in case you meet that numb nuts again or hear of a hit and run accident on that road in the future. Hopefully the police keep a data base of these reports for the same purpose. Basically a drunk will continue to drink and drive until they are caught several times usually after an accident. Scary moment for you. I'm not much for driving in the dark but my early morning starts and long days usually have me doing it fairly often too.

[image: View Post]2thdr, on 22 October 2012 - 09:54 AM, said:

Good job Fred...you lived to tell the tale and didn't become another victim of this terrible crime and sickness.  Alcoholism kills in many ways.  Last Tuesday I celebrated my 20th year of sobriety...I am grateful I am not still part of the problem.
Happy Belated Birthday sir!

Thanks!  One day at a time...

How much does a 50 cal weigh?
Just thinking...

Glad you dodged the problem... close calls are no good... Now, just a thought, what if you had been hit and the driver had run away? Would anyone have found you in the ditch? When you ride at night and by yourself, would a Spot be a good idea?? Just saying, if you need help in an emergency situation.

C

Yeah I have to travel to Oaklahoma City  4 or 5 time a year. Not to make fun of it BUT you have to be literally driving on the sidewalks to get pulled over for DUI in Oak City.  Glad your OK.

[image: View Post]Switchblade, on 22 October 2012 - 05:31 PM, said:

Yeah I have to travel to Oaklahoma City  4 or 5 time a year. Not to make fun of it BUT you have to be literally driving on the sidewalks to get pulled over for DUI in Oak City.  Glad your OK.

I'm curious as to what your experience is to base your comment?  I have not looked at DUI statistics at all, and I'm not contesting your comment,  I am just truly curious (obviously because I live in the area).

P.S.  It's spelled Oklahoma, not Oak-lahoma.  Didn't know if it was intended to be a pun?

[image: View Post]2thdr, on 22 October 2012 - 06:34 PM, said:

[image: View Post]Switchblade, on 22 October 2012 - 05:31 PM, said:

Yeah I have to travel to Oaklahoma City  4 or 5 time a year. Not to make fun of it BUT you have to be literally driving on the sidewalks to get pulled over for DUI in Oak City.  Glad your OK.

I'm curious as to what your experience is to base your comment?  I have not looked at DUI statistics at all, and I'm not contesting your comment,  I am just truly curious (obviously because I live in the area).

P.S.  It's spelled Oklahoma, not Oak-lahoma.  Didn't know if it was intended to be a pun?

22 years of traveling to Oak City. Sorry about the bad spelling sometimes I type faster then I can spell.

Ops did it again.

And a lot of late night returns from brick town to meridian street to the hotel room.

Dont miss understand I like Oklahoma and Oklahoma City (Oak City) but  I  have seen a lot drunk driving late at night. I have also seen it other big cities.

Well, we've definitely got the redneck element and attitude here.  I moved away to Spokane, WA for about 12 years and just moved back to OKC area last summer.  Although Washington is a "nanny state" with lots of government, taxes, and laws, the people there seemed to generally follow social rules better than here in Oklahoma.  I'm with you...drunk driving is hienious, dangerous and I think needs to be stopped with better enforcement and even worse consequences than presently in force.

Well done!!!




I will pour one in your honor now   :laugh:





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