ccd rider

I stopped and immediately put my feet down to the pavement.....then backed up. I only had enough time to do a step or two, but that was just enough to miss his vehicle by a foot or two (I'm not sure exactly how far it was, but I recall I could have reached over and touched his vehicle as he roared by). I probably should have just ditched the bike and concerned myself with self preservation first, but I was in straddle mode at that point and it may have taken more time to elevate myself over the seat and back beyond the bike. It was all very reactive....I didn't have enough time to calculate anything.

I think part of why I had just enough time to stop and back up was that I was already going slowly. Whenever I see a car coming to an intersection I always slow down and TRY to determine whether they have seen me or not before getting back to original speed.

Other points of clarification:

- Both of my headlights (headlamp and handlebar mount) are LED. They are very white (no blueish cast) and very noticeable (if you look their way). They were both on high, so collectively I had 250+ lumens out the front. Also, with the headlamp having the ability to turn at any angle......and the Dual Cross inherently having some side spill, I think I am fairly discernible from some of the 45 degreeish angles associated with approaching intersections. Again, that is only if as a driver you are doing more than just a cursory glance in one direction. I think this situation has made me that much MORE aware of how long you should look in both directions before proceeding onto any street at an intersection. You never know what might be on the road.....regardless of the hour.

- The vehicle was turning left. So that takes out (at least the accountability for) looking (by him) only one way for traffic before proceeding. Ironically, had he been turning right he may have seen me....but it's hard to say. This was one of the arguments I used (with a friend of mine who doesn't ride, but thinks it should be okay to ride this way) against people riding on the left side of the road ....somebody turning right is more than likely only looking the opposite direction before proceeding. It would be incumbent upon you as a rider to stop every time at an intersection in that case.

- I could not see the person's head or eyes very well from inside his SUV. It was still pretty dark....and beyond the couple of times I shined the headlamp towards his vehicle there was not sufficient ambient light to detect whether or not he even looked my way. It was not a situation where I could simply shine my headlamp on his face the entire time I rode by.....esp. with no other modes but HIGH. I only saw that it was a man at the last second when he went by and my headlamp shined on him (and I turned my head to keep the light on him as he continued on), but even that happened so fast that I'm not sure where his eyes were at that point. I still am not sure whether he saw me at ANY point, but one would think at some stage he HAD to turn his eyes my direction....that was the direction he was driving. If he did see me at the last second I probably scared the crap out of him TOO.