Just a little wake up call. Motorcycle Safety Discuss Just a little wake up call. in the Other Topics forums; Yesterday when I left work I entered Hwy 90 right at the office. It's a four lane, 65 mph speed limit, with a mixture of intersections and overpasses. I only ...

[Tbone]

Yesterday when I left work I entered Hwy 90 right at the office. It's a four lane, 65 mph speed limit, with a mixture of intersections and overpasses. I only have to go about 3 miles before I exit. I got behind an 18 wheeler to follow to my exit. I like to follow them because idiots are less likely to try to cross or pull out in front of them at the intersections.
I always keep my distance if the semi's are traveling at highway speed. This is very important.
All of a sudden the truck I was following put into emergency braking mode. I could smell his hot brakes. The pickup in the left lane was doing the same. I have no clue what is going on and clamp down on the brakes myself. So far there is no problem. I have plenty of room to stop. I immediately began checking my six in the rearviews for any unattentive drivers that might be bearing down on me from behind and might possibly rearend me. I looked at the grass ditch on the right to check for culverts in case I had to take the ditch. I couldn't go left because the left lane was now occupied by a string of braking vehicles behind the pickup.
Then the 18 wheeler pulled off the road and was spraying a cloud of dust and gravel from the emergency lane. I though he was taking the ditch. He got it stopped without going into the ditch but now I had ridden through the cloud of dust and could see what was causing all of the panic.
Some hero was hauling an aluminum flat boat in the back of an S-10 sized pickup truck and it had blown out and was sitting across both lanes of the highway. Two vehicles as well as the boat hauler had stopped on the emergency lane to pull the boat off the road. I stopped in the emergency lane behind the 18 wheeler. I didn't like this position so I pulled on past the truck and into the grass and went around him. After I went around the truck, I pulled back into the lane and took off leaving all the commotion behind.
My message is DON'T EVER TAILGATE.
If someone is tailgating you, back way off the vehicle in front of you. Even on a four lane. This could have been disastrous. If that 18 wheeler had taken the ditch and I was tailgating, I would not have had time to stop before hitting the boat. Many other things might have happened.

[Hammerhead Pat]

Totally agree with you and glad to hear you didn't have an incident! The two closest calls I've had were following too closely .Those happened within the first year after I got back on the bike and I learned my lesson

[unfknblvbl]

Glad to hear you made it through incident free Tbone.

I'd rather ride on the interstate vice Hwy 90 here in MS. I thought California drivers were bad until I got out here. I'm come to realize that turn signals must be an option when you buy a car out here and you have to come to a complete stop before turning a corner.

[JCourneyaP]

I have no issues with freeway riding. I am ustavit! However you will not see me riding behind an 18 wheeler. You just cant see nothing. I go around as soon as possible. $hit falling out the back of peoples rigs suxs......Empty out the trash or tie it down.

[HDDon]

Learned my lesson behind an 18 wheeler about 20 years ago when one of the tires seperated and flew out the back, missing me by about 2 feet. At 65/70mph the carcus sounded like a 55 howetzer going by. Now I wave at the truckers as I pass!