Doug 55 Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 I hope things are OK wherever you call home and ride but it is getting increasingly crazy on PNW interstates. Weekends find me riding north of Seattle on I-5 to access our beautiful country and wilderness areas. Unfortunately about one out of four trips up I-5 I see pile-ups and shudder to think of being a bike in that ugly sandwich. I give up speed and zoom to fall back and get following distance i.e. safety margin. I can wick it on in open country - no need to be jelly in an I-5 PBJ A tragedy that seems to occur every 6-12 months is X-bound traffic getting into the Y-bound lane. Each to Their Own but please consider chunking out "boring" miles in the RH lane *with* following distance to avoid some idjit as per below: PORTLAND, Ore. - A wild and dangerous ride down Interstate 5 this week left a man dead when the car he was in smashed head-on into a semi truck. That car was going the wrong way on I-5 and now police have released the 911 calls from the people who were on the interstate and could not believe what they were seeing. "You got a Camaro going southbound at the 249 on the northbound side of I-5. He's going about a hundred miles an hour." "There is a car going the wrong way on I-5 just south of Keubler Boulevard." "They were heading straight at me and they went by me and I went by them." Police say for at least six miles, 45-year-old Kevin Renfrow drove the wrong way on I-5, passing at least 18 other drivers. The incident happened around 3:30 a.m. Friday, south of Salem. Some had to swerve to get out of his way, but one big rig could not react in time and Renfrow slammed into the semi head-on. Renfrow's car was demolished and he was killed in the crash. The driver of the semi, 45-year-old Mark W. Presley of Albany, was not injured. Renfrow was from Aberdeen, Washington and had been visiting relatives in Oregon. Troopers are not sure why he was on the wrong side of the interstate. Tests are planned to see if alcohol was involved. On another note, due to budget cuts there were no Oregon State Police troopers on duty at the time of the crash. Several had to be called at home to report to duty. About Wrong-Way Drivers Who are wrong-way drivers? Someone who is intoxicated. Older drivers who easily get confused. Intentional drivers (example - trying to avoid traffic jams/congestion caused by crashes) Inattentive drivers who mistake an off-ramp for an on-ramp. Police say wrong-way drivers usually drive in the inside lane or inside shoulder, believing they are actually on a two-lane highway. The most common types of wrong-way, driver-involved crashes are head-on or sideswipe crashes. Tips to avoid a wrong-way driver Watch far ahead for signs of a possible wrong-way driver. Look for signs of problems or developing emergency situations, such as other traffic braking or swerving to avoid something, or the obvious - headlights coming in the opposite direction. Try not to drive long periods in the inside lane on freeways, especially on curves. Link to comment
Paul Mihalka Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 In high traffic conditions the inside lane is the safest because you get crowded only from one side and you don't get the ones who cut from inside to the exit ramp the last moment - and in high traffic wrong-way drivers don't make it. Just drive a bit faster than the next lane if traffic lets you. In low traffic conditions I don't ride/drive in the inside lane anyways. Link to comment
Eckhard Grohe Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 Inside Lane? Paul is that the left or the rightmost lane??? Link to comment
Bud Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 "On another note, due to budget cuts there were no Oregon State Police troopers on duty at the time of the crash. Several had to be called at home to report to duty." What the heck? This was datelined "Portland". Are they saying there were no troopers on duty in the Portland area? Who is providing law enforcement? Link to comment
philbytx Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 Eckhard, That would be the "innermost lane" of a multi-lane highway. The one nearest the centre divider. Which, in heavy traffic, is alway my favourite Link to comment
casticus Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 Good question...Not to hijack, and I don't know anything about Oregon's financial woes but here in Michigan there are 1500 fewer LEO's than there were prior to 9/11. MSP is laying of 30 more and Ann Arbor PD is laying off Police and Fire personnel. But there is Homeland Security grant money for "stuff" so I hope everyone feels safe at home with far fewer LEO's than before.... Link to comment
philbytx Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 But we ARE employing lots of screeners at airports though! Don't we all feel safer now Link to comment
Agent_Orange Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 Not according to the March issue of Conde Nast. Exclusive investigation: 'My Life As An Airport Screener'. Link to comment
lawnchairboy Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 The incident happened around 3:30 a.m. uh-huh.. I really try and not be on the road then... Link to comment
Quinn Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 A guy stops off on his way home from work for a couple of beers with his buddies. While driving home, his wife calls him on his cell phone. "Honey, you need to be careful out there. I just saw on the news that some idiot is driving the wrong way on the interstate." "Hell," he responds, "it ain't just one guy. There must be hundreds on them!" Link to comment
sgendler Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 I've ridden the wrong way on the 101 north of Sants Maria, once. There was a wildfire in the area generating a ton of smoke at ground level, combined with foggy conditions. I went from unlimited visibility to unable to see my front tire in about 100 meters or less. I tried to creep along the white line on the right hand side, but gave it up for unsafe quite rapidly (I was also concerned about just being able to breathe if I penetrated any deeper). I took a chance and made a U turn across the highway in order to go back the way I came. The only problem was that I had forgotten that I was in a spot where the highway was completely divided, with the lanes in the other direction separated by several hundred yards of green space and elevation change. So I wound up just creeping the wrong way up the white line on the left hand side. It wasn't until the 2nd car passed me (also creeping along at about 5mph, fortunately) that I figured it out. I honestly thought the first car was on the wrong side of the road. It was quite a shock when I figured it out. Link to comment
stubble! Posted March 3, 2007 Share Posted March 3, 2007 A guy stops off on his way home from work for a couple of beers with his buddies. While driving home, his wife calls him on his cell phone. "Honey, you need to be careful out there. I just saw on the news that some idiot is driving the wrong way on the interstate." "Hell," he responds, "it ain't just one guy. There must be hundreds on them!" Nice Link to comment
Stan Walker Posted March 3, 2007 Share Posted March 3, 2007 Tonight, just a few blocks from home on a two lane street in the middle of a sub-division, a car on the wrong side of the road was headed right at my RT. Lots of horn honking by me, all while swerving into the parking area near the curb, and happily no collision. The driver woke up? and returned back to his own side of the road. I wonder what was going through his/her head? Stan Link to comment
4wheeldog Posted March 3, 2007 Share Posted March 3, 2007 Here in New Mexico, we have wrong way head ons about every 2 weeks......Always alcohol related. The consensus is to drive in the right hand lane, because drunks always drive in the right hand lane, and when they are going the wrong way, they are in your left lane. The counter intuitive advice is that if you see one coming, turn off your lights and pull over......Drunks are very prone to target fixation, and will drive right at you. Good Luck! Link to comment
Stan Walker Posted March 3, 2007 Share Posted March 3, 2007 I had just finished a left hand turn onto the street, lifted my sight line up, and saw the car coming at me on the wrong side of the road. I would guess I had a total of 3 or 4 seconds to make decisions and to get me and RT out of the way. Of that time I probably wasted 1 second with a "what the **** is he doing?????". That doesn't leave a lot of time to think about anything except where to hide. It's only now that I am thinking a lot about what other options I had. Turning off the lights to avoid target fixation by the car driver isn't one of them. A recent little incident (involved a left turning driver from a parking lot) I tried stopping and honking, the driver came on and hit me anyway. <sigh> Lesson learned, a stopped bike is just another easy target! I could have tried swerving left and driving on the wrong side of the street, but if the car driver wakes up, returns to the correct side of the street, and hits me there, it would look like I was the one at fault. Stan Link to comment
Irish1 Posted March 4, 2007 Share Posted March 4, 2007 Very true, and very sad. When I drove trucks long-haul many years ago the trucker rule was never to drive through New Mexico on Saturday nights: all the drunks were out. Still true, due to Court incompetence and wrongheaded record-keeping. I try to stay off the roads here in the evenings: Deer and Drunks are a deadly hazard. Here in New Mexico, we have wrong way head ons about every 2 weeks......Always alcohol related. The consensus is to drive in the right hand lane, because drunks always drive in the right hand lane, and when they are going the wrong way, they are in your left lane. The counter intuitive advice is that if you see one coming, turn off your lights and pull over......Drunks are very prone to target fixation, and will drive right at you. Good Luck! Link to comment
Rider1200RT Posted March 5, 2007 Share Posted March 5, 2007 Nothing, as it is an empty space...... Link to comment
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