Doing the Diesel Dance.
This month I thought I would tell you about an incident
that happened to me recently. I had
a meeting to attend in Middlesborough, and as it was not due to start until
lunchtime, I thought I would take my bike and follow a leisurely route through
some of my favourite parts of North Yorkshire.
The weather was clear and sunny. The
road surface was dry and grippy. Traffic
was very light, and as it was a weekday there were hardly any other bikers
around.
After several hours of excellent riding I found myself at
a fairly non-descript roundabout at the junction with a major dual carriageway.
I decided to ignore the major route, and to carry straight across on the
‘B’ class road I was following. There
were some bushes and a small hillock in the centre of the roundabout which
obscured my view of the other side, but I had a good view of the majority of the
area, and saw that there was no other traffic near me, and so I did what I
normally do in such circumstances, and ‘straightened’ out my path as much as
possible following a line from the nearside at the entrance to the roundabout,
crossing to the offside of the road as I passed the central island, and then
moving over to the nearside as I approached my exit which was at ’12
o’clock’.
I think I smelt the diesel at almost the same time as I
felt it. Although I had
straightened my path as much as I could, the bike was still leaning over
slightly, and when the tyres hit the patch of diesel it went into a sickening
two-wheel slide at about 20mph. I
was on a steady throttle, and so both wheels were slipping at the same rate.
We all know that the last thing you should do in a slide is brake, but
often panic sets in and we forget our training. Fortunately I had the roundabout to myself, and so had only
the slide to think about which helped me to keep a level head.
As I slid sideways towards the kerb I managed to pick up the bike even
more and then started to pray that the slide would scrub off as much speed as
possible before I clipped the kerb and was catapulted off.
With my stomach in a knot the bike came to a halt about 6” from the
first kerbstone.
Even that wasn’t quite the end.
When I put my feet down (yes – both of them!) I found almost no grip at
all, and still almost ended up under the bike after all!
After a few moments to gather my breath I managed to paddle the bike
around to the other side of the roundabout where I found a large goods vehicle
on its side and one of North Yorkshire Police’s finest directing traffic.
“Careful sir” he said “there’s diesel on the road
– there’s been an accident!” I
won’t tell you what I muttered to myself as I rode away.
For me it was yet another harrowing, but welcome, reminder
of my own vulnerability when on two wheels.
I am not as good a motorcyclist as I sometimes think I am, but I do have
the advantages of excellent training and many years experience.
I think I am pretty sensible, and as well prepared as anyone can be, and
yet here was an incident which I have replayed in my head many times since and
still cannot find a strategy which will prevent it happening again.
One thing I am certain about though, is that if I had been
following the standard DSA line around that roundabout I would have ended up in
an expensive pile of flesh, metal and plastic.
Riders should always take the straightest line across roundabouts unless
to do so would inconvenience, confuse or annoy other road users.
I recommend caution when traversing large roundabouts where the traffic
is travelling in marked lanes – but still do it if the opportunity allows.
More motorcycle road collisions are blamed on diesel
spills than any other hazard. I say
‘blamed’ because I don’t think there is enough diesel fuel in all of
Arabia to account for the number of incidents that are blamed on it.
Every rider who has over-cooked the approach to a bend has to have
something to blame.
You can’t tell your friends “Well actually I am not a
very good rider. I misjudged the
bend, messed up the approach and lacked the skills to get myself out of trouble
when I got into difficulty”. It
is much easier to mutter “Diesel” and enjoy the sympathetic support of your
pals.
The fact remains though that 96% of motorcycle collisions
occur at less than 40 mph and diesel plays a significant part in them.
It therefore pays to be on your guard.
- Diesel
is less dense than water, which is why it floats to the top on wet roads and
in puddles.
- It
contains an additive – a surfactant that causes droplets to lose their
ability to hold together. That
is why it always spreads.
- The
oil film thins gradually across the road.
It is thickest in the middle and thinnest at the edge.
It is these differences in the thickness of the film that causes the
characteristic rainbow effect.
If you smell diesel always try to avoid the centre of the
spill. Use advanced observation to
spot spills, and use caution when in the two places where they are most likely
– roundabouts and the exits from garage forecourts.
Don’t forget that if you can smell it, you are probably already in it,
so don’t do anything to exaggerated in order to get out – you will probably
make things even worse.
And remember – leave the brakes alone and if possible
– DON’T PANIC!!!
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