Street Riding Safety(?)

We've had two incidents here in KC recently in which a careless driver
turned left in front of a motorcyclist and killed him. The most recent
being a well behaved, helmet and leather wearing 31 year old. It could
have been me, which has gotten me rather bummed. I've heard of several
other incidents around, too, that were inattentive drivers running into
motorcyclists, which makes me even MORE bummed and gives me pause when I
think about buying a bike again (I'm currently rideless and have a new wife
to think about).

http://www.kctv5.com/Global/story.asp?S=1503948&nav=1PuZIowV

In any case, my local riding group has been discussing the matter and I
posted the following at www.KCSportbike.com, which I thought might be
useful to all. I welcome opinions, especially on item numer two since I
think there might be a lot of variance on that one.

--Quoting myself from another forum--

I used to get the same feelings about street riding... i.e. scared to death
of it. I made a decision, though, which really helped. I simply looked at
every car out there as if the driver were trying to run me down. No matter
WHAT they were doing I rode as if they were about to change lanes into me
or pull out in front of me. You simply cannot take for granted that the guy
in the car is paying enough attention to see you. Once I started riding
with that mentality I was pleasantly surprised at how infrequently others
got in my way. Here's a few examples of what I did:

1. Never ride next to another car on the freeway. ALWAYS give other cars
the space to change lanes in front of or behind you, because the inevitably
will.

2. Ride 10 mph faster than traffic so that you minimize the time spent in
close proximity to other cars. If Mr. Bonehead starts drifting over into
your lane you're already well on your way out of HIS way.

3. Slow down and cover the brake any time you're coming up on somebody
waiting to turn across or into traffic because they WILL turn in front of
you. It doesn't matter that 999 times out of 1,000 they see you. At some
point in your riding career they WON'T see you, so you might as well treat
every instance as if it is THE instance. It could save your life.

4. BE PARANOID. Don't be afraid, but be paranoid of every car out there. If
you're paranoid, you're paying attention. If you're paying attention you've
just increased your chances of avoiding a wreck caused by Mr. Bonehead by
500%.

I NEVER rode without assuming that EVERY car that COULD get in my way WOULD
get in my way. As a result, they very rarely did, because I had already
allowed them the space to be an ass.

--End quote--

-Dirt-

on 10/31/03 10:45 AM, Chris Cavin wrote:

 > I welcome opinions, especially on item numer two since I
 > think there might be a lot of variance on that one.
 >
 > --Quoting myself from another forum--
 >
 >
 > 1. Never ride next to another car on the freeway. ALWAYS give other cars
 > the space to change lanes in front of or behind you, because the inevitably
 > will.
 >
Yep. On major highways you'll notice that traffic travels in packs, with
large gaps in between, provided it's not rush hour. I try to ride in those
gaps between the packs of traffic.


 > 2. Ride 10 mph faster than traffic so that you minimize the time spent in
 > close proximity to other cars. If Mr. Bonehead starts drifting over into
 > your lane you're already well on your way out of HIS way.
 >
While I don't follow a MPH rule, I agree with this point. If you can get out
in front of traffic, that's safer. I try to minimize the number of seconds
I'm directly next to any vehicle, lest they change lanes without looking or
signaling. What you describe about Mr. Bonehead drifting has happened to me
a number of times. The worst one was commuting from Portland, OR to Seattle,
WA in the rain, when a double-long tractor-trailer rig decided he wanted my
lane just as I was about even with the gap between trailers. That was dicey.


 > 3. Slow down and cover the brake any time you're coming up on somebody
 > waiting to turn across or into traffic because they WILL turn in front of
 > you. It doesn't matter that 999 times out of 1,000 they see you. At some
 > point in your riding career they WON'T see you, so you might as well treat
 > every instance as if it is THE instance. It could save your life.
 >
And, if possible, change lanes to give yourself a buffer of space. If the
waiting turner is in the center turn lane, move to the right. If he's at a
parking lot exit on the right, move left.

 > 4. BE PARANOID. Don't be afraid, but be paranoid of every car out there. If
 > you're paranoid, you're paying attention. If you're paying attention you've
 > just increased your chances of avoiding a wreck caused by Mr. Bonehead by
 > 500%.
 >
Also, actively engage your brain to try to predict what other drivers are
going to do, and have appropriate evasive action options already worked out.
That way when those drivers do something you've predicted you don't need to
think about what to do, you just need to decide which of your action plans
to execute. I do this all the time, and I've found that I am rarely
surprised by the actions of other drivers.

 > I NEVER rode without assuming that EVERY car that COULD get in my way WOULD
 > get in my way. As a result, they very rarely did, because I had already
 > allowed them the space to be an ass.
 >
 > --End quote--
 >

Very good points. Especially helpful for commuters and people riding in
high-traffic areas.

--
Jamin Kortegard
2002 YZF-R1
2003 WRX<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->