Where do you position your motorcycle in stopped traffic?

Today, I watched this video; and, like many others on topic, I was horrified by what I saw.  I wanted to take a couple minutes to open a discussion on where you can best be positioned when you're stopped in the roadway.  Please take a look at the video and continue reading.


In my humble opinion, being stopped on an active roadway with no vehicles behind you is one of the worst places you can be.  Let's talk about some options that might keep you alive...then again, they may not.  You clearly saw the truck launch the car in front of it several car lengths.  A bike stopped in front of that car would have been impacted with substantial force, certainly enough to do injury, if not death.

Instructors jump in, I'm just giving an opinion and don't believe there is a right answer.  Here's some options.

1)  Probably the worst possible place to be, in my opinion, is to be directly behind the car in front of you.  I'm willing to bet that if we took 100 riders and put them on their bike, 10' behind a cones representing a car in the lane in front of them, less than 10%, from a standing position, could turn hard right toward the shoulder to clear the right bumper, then hard left to go up the shoulder.  I'm willing to bet that 10% of that number, or 1% of the total couldn't do it consistently, on someone else's command.  This is a complex maneuver, substantially more complex than making a right turn from a standing position at a traffic light.  The distances are much shorter and you're going to try to do this maneuver under the pressure of a high speed cage bearing down on you?  I think not.

2)  Let's assume for a second that traffic is stopped in both directions, or for some other reason, an escape to the left is possible.  You could position yourself in the left 1/3rd of the lane.  This has only one distinct advantage that I can think of.  A driver that is not paying attention to the road that is suddenly confronted with stopped traffic will instinctively try to use the shoulder as their escape.  If this happens, you're in a better position to avoid the impact entirely.  My brothers and sisters from California are no stranger to splitting lanes and this kind of escape is a normal day of riding for them.

3)  Be in the right 1/3rd of the lane.  The advantage here is that you cut down the maneuver described in 1, above, down to something entirely manageable, particularly if you leave plenty of room between you and the bumper in front of you.

4)  You could position yourself on the shoulder.  The rider with the helmet cam and several in front of him did exactly that, and I'm sure it saved all their lives.  The problem with this is that  it's not a space you can legally be in.  It's for emergency vehicles and there is generally debris there that is just dying to get into your tire.  You're probably going to sacrifice some tires by doing this; but, it was key in saving the lives in this video.

While I can't give advice on where you should be and concede that every situation is different, I can see with absolute clarity a couple things.

A)  You should not, under any circumstances get any closer than about 15', preferably more from the car in front of you, until there is a good line of traffic stopped behind you.  I've been known to spot a traffic jam and approach it at 20 mph or less until I have a line of cages behind me and they are at my speed or less and are giving me space.  While I'm moving, I can move quickly and accelerate into a safe zone if I have to.  In one particular case I was riding into a traffic jam and a border patrol agent, probably a biker himself, rode a safe distance behind me, lights on, to slow down traffic on the stopped interstate.  I was very grateful.  A stopped interstate is a dangerous place to be on a bike.

B)  Avoid the wait.  You have to watch your mirrors whether you think you're protected from the rear or not.  What you can't do is wait to execute your escape plan.  The second you think someone isn't stopping, go.  Don't wait another second.  Every second you wait increases the chances that you either won't execute well, or blow your chances all together.  What if you go to escape and stall?  Do you have enough time to pull the clutch in, hit the starter and try again...this time under more duress?  Don't wait.  Go.

C)  Make a decision about where you want to be and what your escape route is.  Understand the pros and cons of your option and continue to be relentless in evaluating the situation and your escape routes.

D)  A high speed accident will involve lots of space.  Whilst escaping, don't be conservative as to how far you go.  People may be upset with you, thinking you're trying to avoid the traffic jam.
Screw them!  I'm not suggesting that you get back in 20 or 30 cars ahead; but, I wouldn't hesitate to move 10 cars ahead.  10 car pileups are not unheard of.  Where do you think they came from?

E)  If you're riding with someone, you're both going to have to be aware.  One will have to take a left side escape and the other the right.  Slowing the cage behind you, as described in A, will also help.

Please feel free to add your thoughts to the comments.  I'm always interested in what others have to say about safety.  I don't think we talk about it nearly enough and I see riders every day that surely aren't making good decisions.

Ride safe and have fun!