Re: Crash Analysis: What did you learn?
I'll add one more. Not a crash but really close to one.
Brief recap of the crash
I was fairly new to riding and was on a highway near Boston. There was a small pickup with about 8 pieces of 4 inch by 8 foot PVC pipe in the bed. I was behind the truck and one lane over. The truck hits a bump in the road and all of the PVC pipe flies out of the bed (it was unsecured) and starts rolling around the highway, right in front of me. Somehow I got through it all. No skill involved, just dumb luck.
What you did right
Nothing. I had a helmet and non-moto leather jacket. Had I gone down, either the impact or a car behind me would have finished me off. I guess my best move was to pull over after the incident and wait for the shakes to stop.
What you did wrong
As a new rider I was not really thinking about the potential dangers out there, not doing the rider "what if" thing. I was just putting along using a car driver mindset.
Thoughts on how it might have been avoided
Now I never, ever, ride behind pickup trucks with anything in the bed. I've seen trashcans fly out, ladders come off, and lots of yard waste and branches. I don't even ride in the lane next to the truck. Just get by 'em as quickly as I can.
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No longer hanging out here, sorry.
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