Short stopping / fast braking

[Solinary]

Good afternoon,
I did a search of the forums and went back 4 pages without finding a similar question so I would like to ask it here, please.

As I mentioned in my new member post it has been a couple of years since I last rode. I picked up a new bike finally a couple of weeks ago and have been getting back in the groove of riding and trying to brush off the rusty riding. Anyway, so I decided to ride to class tonight which is a trip down 36 from Boulder to I-25. There are a few spots that I know of where traffic tends to stop on a dime with no warning. Well, those couple of spots cropped up this afternoon and I was almost rear-ended two times.

The first time I take fault for as I was not thinking about those behind me and was ok with braking when it felt right to me; this caused a truck to swerve out and around pretty close. The second time I seen it happening far ahead and came to a more gradual stop, but did so through letting the bike slow itself and downshifting; this caused the Jeep behind me to chirp his tires briefly as suddenly realized I was stopped.

So for the rest of the way here I tried a new thought of basically riding my rear brake *very* lightly even though I was not quite decelerating just yet. The thought being that it would kick on the brake light without braking and hopefully wake up the driver behind me before reaching the point of needing to decelerate for the stop.

So the short question for the too long of a story is this: how do you all handle out of no where stops on the highway, or street for that matter, in a safe manner? I do *not* want to be the accident or the cause of an accident and am completely open to any advice you all might care to share.

Thanks!

[Wrider]

Personally I ride in the left tire track, so directly in the driver's line of sight. I also try to flash my brake lights if coming to a quick stop. Occasionally I'll swerve just off of the side of the lane if it's a really quick stop so as not to get squooshed.

[Vellos]

Flicker your lights before coming to an unexpected stop, such as a traffic jam on 36, if you have the time to do this. If it's an emergency I'd suggest stopping just to the side of the vehicle in front of you so you minimize the chance of getting plowed into directly. Of course I have yet had to emergency stop in traffic before and so I've never done the latter tactic.

[brennahm]

I definitely go for the lane splitting route.

By that I mean do as mentioned above. If you don't have time to pulse your brake light, come to as quick a stop as you can and go into the shoulder or between lanes and get up next to the car in front of you even if not necessary. Gives the person behind you more space so they're not coming up next to you, plus hopefully they'll target fixate on the car in front of them and not you.

[Clovis]

There are a lot of break-light replacement options as well. The one I had on my R1 integrated the turn signals and flashed the LEDs every time I tapped the breaks. Just a quick burst/pules.

It also had a strobe feature which I never used (hooked up with a switch). It was a switch that I had tucked away under the passenger seat, I figured it would be useful as an attention getter when parking the bike behind a wreck (ie around the corner).

When coming to a stop in traffic the rule of thumb is to always give yourself an escape route.

1) Point your bike between cars so you can quickly move if needed.
2) Remain in gear. You may have only a second to move forward.

In a quick stop situation, I also opt for lane splitting or the shoulder.

[OUTLAWD]

I tend to check my mirrors alot, especially when slowing down and in traffic, and will flash my brake lights (using front brake) if I notice the person behind me is too close or not paying attention. I also keep the brake covered in heavy traffic. Other than that, I use the left tire track, and have done the "lane split" manuveur before.

[cbrjohnny]

i tend to keep a pocket full of old nuts and bolts that i like to lob off to the inattentive drivers that unknowingly try to kill me.

[Squisha]

Allow more space for the car ahead of you. And keep your head up!

It's best to avoid getting behind a large vehicle that you can't see ahead of. If you can see ahead of the car in front of you, you can anticipate the slowdown. That combined with having extra space in front will make it possible to avoid a short-stop situation. Less space is fine for you in many situations because you can stop much faster than that cager in front of you. But really you're just looking to provide extra stopping room for the one behind you.

I know it's really hard to do that on I25. Allowing a safe distance between you and the car in front is generally interpreted as an invitation to cut you off. But it would prevent close calls that you have no control over!

[Slo]

+1 on what squisha mentioned....

Always leave some space between yourself and the vehicle ahead. Keep an eye of not just the vehicle in front, but the traffic in front of it as well. If I see congestion or people ahead slowing, I always flicker my brake lights to wake up who is behind me, whether it's a bike, car, or truck.

It's always obvious in traffic when observing who looks at just the vehicle in front for brake lights, vs. who looks ahead in traffic as well.

[cptschlongenheimer]

^ all of the above...
Broken record time: Go practice emergency stops (from 45+mph) from time to time. It's much easier to keep an eye on your mirror to know when you gotta swerve between/around the car ahead, when your quick stops are done instinctively. Building and exercising muscle memory for quick stops is one of our most important survival strategies IMO.

except:

i tend to keep a pocket full of old nuts and bolts that i like to lob off to the inattentive drivers that unknowingly try to kill me.

In theory this sounds good, but what happens when it bounces off their roof and hits the biker behind them?

[Solinary]

Thanks guys....I really appreciate everyone's feedback on this. Some great suggestions for me when dealing with this. It is all about being a safer rider for me and those around.

Thanks again.

[spdu4ia]

I've gotten in the habbit of flashing my light with my front brake. Just pulse it a few times while i'm downshifting. Emergency stopping is a little different and I usually don't have time to flash while avoiding being a bumper ornament. Aim for the split and go for it ussually.