No, don't "forget the mud truck!" Everyone on the road is a potential threat, some more-than others. Evaluating the environment constantly is the way to stay-alive. Going through intersections, I am especially-aware of people in-front of me coming from the opposite direction, and those behind me. If I am without someone next-to me in traffic going-through an intersection, I am especially vigilant about oncoming traffic, the possibility of a left-turning driver, and who may be behind me, and how-close they are. I sometimes slow-down before approaching the intersection if I am not sure about the oncoming traffic, and will switch to a high-beam. Slowing-down will close the distance between the vehicle behind me and my vehicle, so you have to be careful about being rear-ended, or someone getting impatient, and changing lanes to get around you, and then cutting in-front of you because they cannot wait another four seconds to hold their place in traffic and to legally-proceed the intersection.
Not long ago, I wrote about two pickup trucks behind me who were jockeying for making time in traffic, and with much acceleration, braking and lane-changing, they still found themselves behind me, while I just held my place in traffic. We approached an intersection, I was watching in my rear-view mirror as the pickup behind me started closing the distance, and then the traffic in-front of me came to a stop. The other pickup decided to move from a right lane to behind the other pickup behind me, and was tailgating. That's when the traffic stopped. Result? The pickup behind me had to nosedive to a stop because I stopped. The tailgater behind him tried to swerve and went out of control, and then slammed into the pickup behind me. In my rear view mirror I saw the impact, and then traffic in-front of me began moving, and so did I. I bet the guy who got hit was cursing me for stopping, but I had intentionally left a bit of extra space between me and the car in-front of me. When the person in-front of me stopped, and I saw the pickup in my rear-view mirror nail the brakes, I let-off the brakes so if he hit me, it would be less of an impact than if I was stationary w/them on. Luckily he didn't hit me.
Bottom line, it could be anyone at any time, and you need to be very vigilant. Because of the way traffic is these days, I don't ride as-much as I used-to. When I do, it's AGATT, and with situational awareness of my immediate environment. Can someone still hit me? Absolutely, but I think I am giving myself a better chance of surviving the mean streets. And don't ride like an idiot in traffic, like that video recently-posted about the GoPro kid who filmed his own death when he was speeding, and someone was making a left turn in-front of him.
Not long ago, I wrote about two pickup trucks behind me who were jockeying for making time in traffic, and with much acceleration, braking and lane-changing, they still found themselves behind me, while I just held my place in traffic. We approached an intersection, I was watching in my rear-view mirror as the pickup behind me started closing the distance, and then the traffic in-front of me came to a stop. The other pickup decided to move from a right lane to behind the other pickup behind me, and was tailgating. That's when the traffic stopped. Result? The pickup behind me had to nosedive to a stop because I stopped. The tailgater behind him tried to swerve and went out of control, and then slammed into the pickup behind me. In my rear view mirror I saw the impact, and then traffic in-front of me began moving, and so did I. I bet the guy who got hit was cursing me for stopping, but I had intentionally left a bit of extra space between me and the car in-front of me. When the person in-front of me stopped, and I saw the pickup in my rear-view mirror nail the brakes, I let-off the brakes so if he hit me, it would be less of an impact than if I was stationary w/them on. Luckily he didn't hit me.
Bottom line, it could be anyone at any time, and you need to be very vigilant. Because of the way traffic is these days, I don't ride as-much as I used-to. When I do, it's AGATT, and with situational awareness of my immediate environment. Can someone still hit me? Absolutely, but I think I am giving myself a better chance of surviving the mean streets. And don't ride like an idiot in traffic, like that video recently-posted about the GoPro kid who filmed his own death when he was speeding, and someone was making a left turn in-front of him.
