Well Controlled Or Could It Have Been Avoided?

Well you should never rely on the person in front. I try to always make sure I am far enough back to see the traffic ahead, even if that means I'm further behind than normal.
 
WOW! to be honest all the vans fault. Biker could of moved lanes to get a better view ahead but other than that he wasn't really at fault. But then the can had no choice. You don't know what was happening ahead of the van for all the traffic to suddenly stop
 
I'd say that he had an ok gap in front of him, I personally would have been a little further back. But saying that I'd say well avoided. When riding/driving on motorways I alway brake when the cars in front brake regardless of how far away they are and tail gaiting is the thing I hate most!
 
Lucky to maintain control on both counts, very much could have been avoided. The van was not to blame for the bike having to take evasive action at all, you need to position to see ahead as @SwissMotard suggested, and you need to be able to stop in the distance you can see to be clear ahead of you. So both guilty of the last one, van driver guilty of poor observation and fortunate he had an empty lane to move to. Bike rider should really have known better than to leave himself in a position where he couldn't make decent observations.

Ride your own ride, don't follow the guy in front, you'll just make the same cock up as him.
 
Close call indeed! The van swerving seemed quite a dangerous move, but it isn't very apparent if the car ahead slammed the brakes forcing it to do so. I tend to follow either the left or right tyre of the vehicle ahead. This gives you a partial view further ahead, keeps you visible in the driver's mirror, and ensures you don't encounter bad patches of road that they let pass between their wheels.
 
i honestly think the person in the van was on the phone or something to have to avoid that. Just my 2.
Ans sure the bike should have been further back. That being said, good job on the bike!!!
 
Well controlled. The only thing, though, is that the van is not at fault... he didn't get in any accident. He probably wasn't paying attention to the road, but that is not punishable unless he actually violates the law.

Similar to the van, the motorcycle swerved to avoid getting into an accident. He didn't which was very lucky, but if he would have rear ended the car in front of him (and the van), he would have been at fault... following too closely or something along those lines.

All in all, it all ended good :p ... motorcyclist lives to see another day ;) .
 
The van drive clearly sits higher up and I believe could easily see over the car in front of him, therefor seeing the backed up traffic for hundreds of meters in front of him, if the van driver was paying attention to the road he wouldn't have had to swerve.
 
Bike needs some maintenance. Rider needs some training. never rely on the abilities of others.

See it so much, bikers unable to stop in the distance they can see. Totally blocked view of what is going on up ahead.

Funny how all the other cars had been able to stop safely
 
Van driver doesn't deserve to have gotten out of that, though I'm glad no one got rear ended. Good reaction time by the biker, but I've noticed I'm use to looking over the car ahead of me, but the way that vanned swerved out the way it would have been a completely unplanned stop regardless of how far you were behind it.
 
I will try to focus even more on seeing over or around the car in front, especially if I cannot see around it like in this video, after watching this video. In certain circumstances I stick to the outside of lanes to give me somewhere to spear off incase of situations like this
 
No denying his reactions worked - this time.

Better to be proactive and do the observations to have seen the queue ahead earlier and slow down gently.

Let's assume the bike could have stopped before the queue, what's to say the vehicle behind the bike would have stopped or rear ended the bike? That would have been mitigated if the bike had plenty of time to slow down and also offered the biker a chouce of avoidance not a snap decision.
 
Well controlled, but definitely could have been avoided, that's if we assume his view is the same as his camera
 
Lucky, very lucky is all I can say. To attribute blame here is a hard call.

Yes you can blame the van driver for not watching the road but you can also blame the biker for not leaving enough braking distance then we call all blame ourselves because that is probable the distance most of us ride from the car / van in front.

Bit in the UK I don't let myself get stuck behind a high car/van/truck for this reason and filtering is your friend!
 
Yeah. I'd be shitting bricks after I got off the bike and re evaluate my riding skills after an incident like this. While the van almost caused an accident, I believe that it was mostly on the bikers fault for putting himself in this situation. He is the one to pay the price if the accident had happened and his safety is his own responsibility.

I did have to commend the biker on his reaction though, he did not lock up the tires.
 
It's easy to call the play after the game is over, but I'd say BOTH; well controlled and it could have been avoided.

Rider might have been too close to the white van for a sudden stop but I did not feel he was tailgating considering he was on a freeway which has no intersections and should have no stops. If traffic thickens then he should ride slower in case of stops yes, but it wasn't obvious behind the van.

I see the real problem as Lane Position; he could not see up ahead (at least the camera couldn't and based on his little stunt riding I'd say that was unplanned). I generally ride near the tire tracks or even the dividing line itself (sort of splitting without passing) so I can see traffic ahead of the vehicle in front of me. He does take a peek at around 00:33. I also avoid riding behind big blank walls like this. I always make sure I have a way out from behind what's in front.

I kept wanting to pass on the right long before the van braked. I then would have seen the lane ahead and been able to move past the white van. If you have no idea what's ahead and suddenly come up on parked cars, then what happened is correct. He swerved into the left shoulder (his only option at that point) where he had room to decelerate.

He might have had room to brake. It's hard to tell. However moving onto the left shoulder as he did means he has only one row of cars to deal with and the person behind him can not rear end him.

That sounds good to me.
Made it home safe? Good job. That's how I see it.

Thanks for posting it.
I appreciate a chance to think and learn without having to go through that experience.
 
Instances like these happen often especially on highways coming up on splits people suddenly stop and you need to remain far enough back to recognize this and be able to react. You were extremely lucky that the car ahead of van didn't swerve to avoid van. That being said nice job stopping and adjusting back into traffic without panic.

Not blaming anyone here just saying these are things that need to be though about when riding. Always be prepared.
 
Forward observation is one of the most vital safety needs of a motorcyclist. Tailgating (yes he WAS tailgating, I timed the following distance at between 0.6 and 1.3 seconds, and the legal following distance varies between countries but 2 seconds is about the legal minimum.)
There is no benefit to tailgating that exists, you completely lose any forward observation (especially with a van...) and get no where faster.
The bikes stayed slap bang in the middle of the lane, even a few weaves around the lane would have given a little more forward view. He also had plenty of opportunities to move to anther lane and get a better view ahead.
Great reactions or dead lucky... probably the former, but he's going to need both if he keeps riding like that!!

I don't mention the van driver's blame in this because that is outside of what the rider can control and we should expect every other road user to be an idiot anyway.
 
Yes.
I generally put the blame on myself as a rider.
I see it as my job to know what's going on, what is nearby (including behind me), and what is happening up ahead.

I see blaming other drivers for "causing" accidents as simply shifting blame. They might have been driving stupid, maybe they even crashed into me, but it's my job to see them coming and get out of the way. Or in this case, not be so close that a cute little surprise pops up. Just being mindful and alert can make a big difference. Yes all the time. Just like a properly maintained bike, it's one of the prices of riding safely.

One should not really be surprised at this point by just about anything. Right?
As I've said before, my safety is my responsibility, not the other drivers on the road.
 
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