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Close call and biker dead

scrinch

Active Member
Heading South on US 1 near Waldoboro Maine I was distracted for a second giving a wave to fellow bikers coming in the opposite direction. We were doing the speed limit of 55 and when I looked back I noticed that the cars in front of me were stopped. Gave it a very quick stop, and the pickup truck behind me ended up beside me in the break down lane to avoid going up my backside. My wife said there was a construction sign saying Flagman Ahead that I guess I missed while waving. The Red Pickup truck behind me missed it also.

We were watching the local news when we heard that about 5 minutes after we went through there a biker was killed at that spot. We always hate to hear of a fellow biker that has died but this hit especially close to home and made me wonder if a little better signage by DOT would have saved his life . Another reminder that any small distraction can kill you out there.
 
In the old day's you only passed 4 or 5 bikes a day and waving was OK. Now there are so many bikes on the road that I am thinking of getting a little sping mounted hand that shakes back and forth like a bobble head or Hula girl and mout it on my handlebars. I saw one go by me a few years ago that some guy had on his bike and I had to laugh. I have never seen one since, I guess somebody sells them some where.
 
I have to agree with the reply that mentioned waving is OK in the boonies. I wave constantly at other riders, because, I do 90% of my riding on back roads. In traffic, that's another story. The road ahead demands your utmost attention. Most DOT warning postings are adequate, IMO, but the road changes, and we have to adapt to it. I used to ride the back roads and take in the scenery. Now, I find that I spend most of my time paying attention to the road. If I miss a beautifully forrested area, so be it. I'll catch it some other time.....
 
I waved the other day with a motion very much like giving a directional signal and the car in the lane beside me slowed to let me change lanes, very courteous I thought, at which time I decided to change my waving habits so as to not cause other drivers confusion. Most drivers probable don't know what the wave is about so it can be misunderstood. It's more important to know what is going on in traffic than give a wave. Stay safe out there.
 
I waved the other day with a motion very much like giving a directional signal and the car in the lane beside me slowed to let me change lanes, very courteous I thought, at which time I decided to change my waving habits so as to not cause other drivers confusion. Most drivers probable don't know what the wave is about so it can be misunderstood. It's more important to know what is going on in traffic than give a wave. Stay safe out there.


When my wife is on the bike she does the arm signals for me and almost every time we're going to make a right turn we get oncoming traffic waving back. :bigsmiley22:
 
It always baffles me I've seen guys pulling away from stop lights throw up there hand to wave when they should be up shifting. Trust me people you ain't going to hurt anyones feelings if you don't wave everytime.
 
Where I live they move the flagman ahead warning sign back if they are getting long lines so you usualy have at least a quarter mile warning. I think everyone has a good point and maybe the company doing the road work could do better but I would also think if you only took your eyes off the road long enough to wave you should have seen the traffic stopped ahead. this is a reason that I wont wave on tight or blind curves also.
Thank God you werent hit by the pickup
 
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