While most motorists are used to driving cars and being surrounded in a cocoon of safety, motorcyclists make do without any of that protection in the pursuit of riding pleasure.

One biker in the U.S. recently learned firsthand just how precarious things can get while out riding with a number of friends at the famous Angeles Crest Highway.

The moment was captured on a helmet camera and shows the moment the biker locks up when braking for a right-hand corner. He can be seen slamming straight into a guardrail which sends him somersaulting into a tree.

When the biker filming pulls over and runs to the scene, he finds his friend alive and well, resting at the bottom of the small cliff he plummeted down. He had to be airlifted out of the crash site and potentially, was saved by the cushioning effect of the tree he brought down with him.

Talk about a close call!

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