Question:
I have a question, I was recently involved in a motorcycle accident. My motorcycle rear ended a bakkie that was hogging both lanes. The vehicle came to a stop while I was Lane splitting in busy traffic and I tried to perform an emergency swerve to the left but didn’t have enough space because of the lane hogging. I rear ended the left-hand indicator (turn signal). The driver immediately removed his vehicle from the
The driver immediately removed his vehicle from the scene without marking where is vehicle stood during the accident. There is police station near the accident scene and police arrived within minutes. I sustained several injuries even though I was wearing full motorcycle gear. I know I am also responsible, but to what extent?
Answer:
I’m sorry to hear about your unfortunate incident. There are a few elements at play here, like:
- How fast were you riding?
- Were you in complete control of your situation?
- Could you ascertain why the bakkie stopped?
- Was your safety buffer compromised by lane splitting?
You have to ask yourself, could you have avoided the incident if you braked, or if you were riding slower, given the busy traffic you were in?
I’m not saying that what you were doing, was illegal, but it could be that the bulk of the blame here could rest on you and your assessment of the situation or conditions you were riding in.
Stay vigilant out there! Ride to Live!
Regards,
HEIN JONKER | Founder & Chief Instructor
Website: www.msi.org.za