What about other ride participants? Is there some point at which when we see a rider in front of or behind us riding erratically or clearly being in over their heads should cause us to look for ways to defuse that situation? And if it does, what action could we take? If we're able to pass, could we get in front of the rider in trouble and slow down? Or maybe even stop and flag them down? Again, we don't really have a legal obligation to, and if we fail to take action, the person in an accident has no recourse against us, but would it be worth it anyway?
I was following my dad on a nice Ozark road in Arkansas when this happened to me. He was leading our group of three on his Goldwing, and the pace got a little fast for him. He was pushing way past his and the bikes limit. At one point he actually came into a corner too hot and the bike went into a weird wobble. He got on the brakes and slowed down alot, but still went off the road into the grass. He was lucky he hit the only place on the road that didn't have a guard rail and a drop off.
That was bad enough, but then less than a half mile further down the road, he pulled out to pass a car in a no passing zone on a hill. Of course, there was a car popping over the hill just as he was passing. I was right there when it happened and it was very close. The cars both hit their brakes and their horns. He barely ducked in between them, and I just watched in horror (this is my dad remember).
I passed the car as soon as I got a chance and started thinking about what I should do. I finally passed him and motioned for everyone to pull into a gas station. I didn't confront him directly about his riding, but I figured he needed to take a minute off the bike to calm down a bit. We talked about it later and he still swears that he wasn't riding too hard. He says the bike has something wrong with it causing the wobble, and he would have made the pass even if the cars had not hit the brakes. But I know better.
