BloodCat: Not quite a bitch, more like asking for a favor.
Drivers! Check your mirrors prior to
any maneuver! And if you wanna be real nice -- check them
twice. There're motorcyclists out there, you know? And it's not fun to spend two weeks in hospital due to some bast... err... bad man not looking in the mirror before taking a left turn. Ah, it was getting colder every day anyway, and I have all the long winter to put my Yamaha into working condition.
PS Protective gear RULES.
PPS At least, that lamp post I crashed into after being thrown from the bike is in a bad shape too. :)
Maybe this is a cultural thing, but in traffic I think it is the one coming from the back who should mostly be careful, biker or not.
I am unsure what was the situation in your case
(so this may be irrelevant to your case), but what the driver (in front) is obliged to do is to make it known beforehand that he is going to turn left, ie. use the turn indicator. If someone is coming from the back at that point, he certainly should not e.g. pass the driver from left, if he is turning left. He should either stop, or room permitting, pass from the right.
Naturally if the driver in front didn't use turn indicator before turning, he is at least partly at fault (but even then the one coming from the back should have at least slowed down, if he sees someone in front is slowing down or even stopping). If he did, the one coming from behind (and passing from left) was wrong.
Another maybe similar thing I've been warned about abroad is that I shouldn't brake too fast, because someone behind me might bump into me. And if this happens, it is supposed to be my fault that I brake too fast?
Excuse me??? The fucker behind me should keep long enough distance to me that he/she is also able to brake safely, in case I have to make an emergency braking.
Of course the driver in front should not make unnecessary sudden changes either, like braking hard on a clear road without good reason, or just to annoy people behind him. In that case he/she becomes liable as well.
Oh, and if we are talking about changing lanes (and not actual turning), then obviously the one changing lanes should mind the people who are already on that lane, even if they are behind him. That's a different case, above I was mostly thinking that the one coming from the back is changing lane in order to pass someone from the left, when he is already trying to turn left.