Target Fixation

[Rams]

See the sequence of pictures and note where rider #1 helmet is pointed.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=9918425718175287&set=pcb.9918431594841366

Rams

[Clarkcelt]

Noted - never left the other rider. I also noticed the body lean.

As noted in the comments, the other driver did not appear to swerve either, though. Must've been surprised to find another bike in his lane.

No matter how you slice it, this was no bueno.

[old2soon]

     Target Fixation PLUS loss of S A-Situational Awareness. Definitely an Oh crappers moment. And WHY was he That far over the DOUBLE Yellow lines? RIDE SAFE.

[3fan4life]

Definitely, a screwed up deal ALL the way around!

Target Fixation at play for sure, maybe even on the part of both riders.

The guy on the ST was riding way beyond his ability.

No idea what his experience level is but I'm guessing NOT MUCH.

An ST 1300 is not a good choice for a novice rider and neither is riding the Dragon as a novice rider!

Even though the guy on the cruiser wasn't at fault he may have avoided the crash if he had swung wide and gave the other bike as much room as possible.

Of course that is "Arm Chair" quarterbacking at it's finest and the truth is that we will NEVER know.

My thought process is to NEVER resolve myself that a crash is inevitable and keep riding and trying NOT to crash.

I read somewhere that the entire sequence of pictures covers only 2.4 seconds of time.

That's not much reaction time for sure.

But who knows what the result would've been if the guy on the cruiser had swerved to the right instead of maintaining his course.

[Moonshot_1]

I believe target fixation on the part of both riders.

While the series of photos span only 2.4 seconds, we can see the road prior to the collision being fairly open. Surely they saw each other prior to the 2.4 seconds. This should have been easily avoidable.

Hi-vis safety vest does not help if you drive into people.

Some folks shouldn't be riding motorcycles.

[Clarkcelt]

Wondering what I would have done in that situation, I think if I were the guy taking too wide a turn, I would have tried a controlled slide - dump it and hold on. If I were the guy on the cruiser, I would have swung wide and/or hit the brakes.

Armchair quarterbacking for sure, but it does make me think about the best way to handle that situation.

[LTD]

horrific! feel terrible for the harley riders totally innocent.

[old2soon]

Wondering what I would have done in that situation, I think if I were the guy taking too wide a turn, I would have tried a controlled slide - dump it and hold on. If I were the guy on the cruiser, I would have swung wide and/or hit the brakes.

Armchair quarterbacking for sure, but it does make me think about the best way to handle that situation.

     While I KNOW sounds really simple sittin here in front of the keyboard but try NOT ridin above yer skills set would help. I also KNOW a lot of us here may have gotten above our Personal skills set but try NOT to practice on roads like The Dragon. I'm Very Fortunate here in SoMo that I have so many twisties available to me that are NOT that heavily travelled. And yuppers I iz arm chair quarterbackin!  And DISCLAIMER I are NOT an "expert" Rider! RIDE SAFE.

[Willow]

     While I KNOW sounds really simple sittin here in front of the keyboard but try NOT ridin above yer skills set would help. I also KNOW a lot of us here may have gotten above our Personal skills set but try NOT to practice on roads like The Dragon. I'm Very Fortunate here in SoMo that I have so many twisties available to me that are NOT that heavily travelled. And yuppers I iz arm chair quarterbackin!  And DISCLAIMER I are NOT an "expert" Rider! RIDE SAFE.

We're quickly assuming that skill set is the issue.  Maybe not.  Maybe it was distraction; he looks away for a moment and the curve surprises him.

Good advice may be pay attention to the road and don't let what's on the side (photographer?) hold your gaze away.

[RNFWP]

Seems to me that the cruiser was almost stopped and covered very little ground compared to "high vis" guy. His bike was also upright not moving through the curve. The poor passenger went almost straight up and down without forward momentum.
High vis kept going forward. Most of the forces involved in the crash came from his bike.

[Rams]

Seems to me that the cruiser was almost stopped and covered very little ground compared to "high vis" guy. His bike was also upright not moving through the curve. The poor passenger went almost straight up and down without forward momentum.
High vis kept going forward. Most of the forces involved in the crash came from his bike.

You may be correct.  The only thing I was actually trying to point out is that too many folks think they are better riders than they really are and endanger the rest of us who may (or may not understand) that we all have our limitations.

Rams

[michaelyoung254]

If you look closely at the sequence of the pictures, the Harley barley moves much at all (I'm focusing on the shadows on the pavement to judge how far he has actually moved) as opposed to the Honda which has moved quite a bit. Judging by this, it appears that the Harley rider has most likely started braking and at the point of impact, is traveling very slow with very little forward momentum. Notice that both riders on the Harley do not fly forward, but rather almost straight up and then straight back down. The passenger on the Harley, is lifted a lot higher, but again is almost straight up like being bucked off of a horse, but again, it appears that this is from the speed and momentum of the Honda impacting them.

What I do notice about the rider on the Harley is that his eyes appear to be fixed (target fixation) on the Honda the entire time rather than looking where he needs to go. But like most on here have already said, this entire sequence happened in a couple of seconds. Hindsight is 20-20.

[RNFWP]

Seems to me that the cruiser was almost stopped and covered very little ground compared to "high vis" guy. His bike was also upright not moving through the curve. The poor passenger went almost straight up and down without forward momentum.
High vis kept going forward. Most of the forces involved in the crash came from his bike.

You may be correct.  The only thing I was actually trying to point out is that too many folks think they are better riders than they really are and endanger the rest of us who may (or may not understand) that we all have our limitations.

Rams

...so true...

Thanks Ron 

[carolinarider09]

Just a comment on the title of the thread "Target Fixation", there is also the notion, which is not specially "Target Fixation", of what I was always taught in driving courses (the ones I can truly remember), "You drive where you look".   

As I get older, this is more and more concerning to me.  Not sure if things have really changed but, let's say, on a two liane road, I look off to the right at the farmer in the field as I go by.  My car and yes my bike will tend to head in that direction. 

It's, in my opinion, not "target fixation" but the "notion of you drive where you look".   The fixation part takes over as the on coming "disaster" presents itself and you have take action.  Which requires a change in thought.  Which in the face of danger is sometimes hard to do.

[Jess from VA]

the "notion of you drive where you look".

That little gem has caused me some grief from time to time.  Like looking for deer and getting too close to the edge.

Or the time 4 of us rode out of a deep wooded narrow 2-lane and came upon a lone house out in the sticks with 2 girls sunning in bikinis in the front yard.  Looking, braking, near collisions, cussing, laughing.  Then dad came out to investigate the noise.  Then we all looked straight ahead innocently, and motored on.