Thanks for the reply. This is a good point about the mirrors. Still, this particular accident was a worst case as far as overtaking traffic from behind goes.
Even if this rider had been attending to the mirrors constantly, he would have had very little time to get off of the road after recognizing that the overtaking car was not slowing and was not going to change lanes. Some drivers don't change lanes until the last minute, and some don't slow until they're uncomfortably close, after all.
It's hard to protect yourself, on a bike or in a car, from someone who is speeding down the highway and not paying any attention to where he is going. This trooper would have driven right into the back of a car carrier had one happened to be there in front of him.
It's an uncomfortable accident to view, to be sure.
You are absolutely correct. You can take action if the speed difference is not too great, but I think the only whay that rider could have prevented that accident is by just going faster in the first place. Not that he should have been. I don’t know what his speed was.