Animals that run loose on the roads are a major hazard for motorists, and in particular for motorcyclists. The two videos below depict how quickly a casual ride can turn into a nightmare, having two riders staring death in the face.
As if a moving animal on the road weren’t dangerous enough, the dog's fur had a color very similar to the gray asphalt. This made spotting it much harder, and the images below clearly show how difficult was to assess its presence.
While the rider of the first camera bike appears to travel a bit slower than the Yamaha approaching from behind, he has time to notice the animal and brake, thus avoiding it. The Yamaha hits the dog head-on, but it is uncertain if the rider manages to brake.
It's difficult to tell if such an impact could cause a 250 kg (550 lb) bike+rider combo traveling at that speed to do such a front flip. Regardless of this, the Yamaha rider is thrown off his bike and is injured, but is lucky enough to be missed by both his two-wheeler and the other one crashing behind him instants after the initial impact.
The second rider that crashes barely has time to brake hard and smoke can be seen briefly. Still, the motorcyclist loses the front and is also thrown from the saddle, but things are looking quite desperate in his case.
The chap ends up in the opposite lane, where a semi is approaching fast and only hits the brakes yards before the two meet. It's truly amazing to see this guy rolling out of control in the way of the truck, yet still observing the approaching behemoth and finding enough resources to leap to relative safety.
Wearing riding gear must have certainly helped, as the guy can be seen picking up his bike seconds later and pushing it to the side of the road, while his fallen fellow screams in pain. We watched the second video several times, and we still say that the leap looks incredible, a stunt, albeit involuntary, worthy of the best action movies.
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