"Could this crash have been avoided?"

[user11235813]

When I went for my first Stay Upright course in 1983 which was run by two ex police trainers and has since morphed into a huge company with govt contracts. We were taught how to hold the brakes for maximum emergency braking. They told us of a story where BMW invited champion riders to test their new abs, all the riders thought an experienced racer could outbreak abs. When they thought they were holding the bike at maximum braking it turns out that they weren't.

Then we had the 'lock the front wheel and you're down' myth debunked right before our eyes. We were on a racetrack and one of the trainers I think it was Warick Schuberg, came haring down the track at least 60 kph probably faster and locked the front wheel, the bike stayed in a straight line with smoke billowing from the front tyre. He stopped in a straight line. He just wanted to prove the point that you don't always go down if you lock the front tyre.

Now that that fear was out of the way, they pointed out that the only way to be able to tell when you are right at the point when the front wheel will break away, is to actually lock it. What we were instructed to learn and then to practice was actually locking the front wheel and releasing it the instant we could feel it lock. Then not being afraid of locking it, we could then learn exactly what it felt like just before it locks.

Then we were taught to get used to being able to grab a handful and squeeze quickly without the reflex grab and lock. What stops people learning this is the fear of locking. I practice this all the time and it did save my life once when an extra long semi trailer suddenly turned in front of me.

Even to this day I still practice this emergency braking. It's easy to say this but it's not easy to do, all you can do is practice. I say all this because the second rider locked his wheel which is why he came down. It seemed that he should have had enough time not to do this. I do not that even if the second rider missed the dog he was already on the way down and possibly sliding into the truck, hitting the dog did not bring him down.

Then there is the counter steering practice. I try to do this when I'm riding on a clear road I try to suddenly pick an obstacle and counter steer around it. But really you need another person helping you on this. I still do not feel that I'm fully practiced.

So the question asked at the beginning was 'could this have been avoided'. Well if you do not have your emergency braking and emergency counter steering down pat, you do not give yourself the best chance. I still surprise myself how easily I overdo the back brake sometimes. I do not feel that I practice emergency stopping enough.

Having said all that, one second gap is not sufficient. Probably all it would take to avoid the dog is a bit of a slowdown, the dog is not trying to be hit. This probably was avoidable. But that easy for me to say sitting here.

Go out with a friend on a quiet road and see how quickly you can brake when he gives the signal. Measure it. But even on your own, see if you can lock your front wheel be squeezing it fast and firmly but not grabbing at it, what you want to practice is backing off the instant you feel it lock.

From the video commentary... "and while he himself has suggested that he had no choice but to crash the bike" We all want to say this when it happens but there's no point in bullshitting yourself, the wheel locked and turned. There was no choice involved here. He did not 'lay the bike down', he locked the wheel and it turned. It was a classic panicked response. I may have done the same, but don't pretend it was deliberate. If the wheel locks then you cannot be braking at the maximum possible. You should never smoke the front wheel because you should be able to back off a bit the moment you've locked it. This takes lots and lots and lots of practice.

If you're in a lonely country road and you hit a patch of gravel and you go down, what is the first thing you do. No not pick up the bike, the first thing you do is to look around to see if anyone saw.