Quote Originally Posted by dewsnap View Post
....It kind of worries me a bit because cos there's absolutely nothing you can do to protect yourself from an incident like that....
I think you'd be wrong in coming to that conclusion, young dewsnap. We can't see everything that the rider saw, or didn't see, but riders have eyes and swivel joints called necks, and bikes have mirrors. Seeing only what we could see, this rider was maybe doing a bit of daydreaming himself, following too closely to the car in front, slowing too slowly, and probably paying no heed at all to what was going on behind him. Or perhaps he was able to see the car behind him bearing down because its driver was doing her lipstick, but he saw too late, or responded too late. Bottom line, he was in a situation that an experienced rider would not likely find himself in -- sandwiched in between vehicles at a speed that was too fast to be safe given the distance available in front and behind. Given the height of the car in front, he was unable to see what was ahead, yet allowed himself to assume that the driver in front of him was also paying attention.

Others may have different views, but I think we can safely say this rider was not riding defensively. He was not alert enough to the conditions around him, both in front and behind. You can feel how tardily his reactions came. He placed way too much trust in the drivers around him. You cannot do that on a motorcycle.

Ask yourself: Would you have allowed yourself to be in that untenable situation? As a newb rider, you MUST ask yourself that question all the time. Eyes in back of your head as well as in front. Focused on what's happening many cars ahead and many cars behind.

Spend some time with the MSF riders guide that I posted in another thread. MSF spends a lot of time on reading traffic. There's a LOT you can do to protect yourself from an incident like that.

cheers