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Being seen by motorists
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March 3, 2010 at 2:23 am #3734JulesParticipant
I’m new to motorcycling, just getting started. But for some reason I’ve always been really conscientious about looking out for motorcyclists on the road (probably the secret desire I’ve been harboring all these years to actually become one). I’ve always somehow been good at spotting motorcycles early in my mirrors, and because they can go faster and fit into gaps cars can’t, I always give them plenty of room to get by too.
Well, now it’s happening, I’m getting my first motorcycle (decided on a Yamaha XV250) and suddenly I’m all too aware of the fact that not every motorist out there is ‘bike conscious’. It seems to me that the main thing is getting seen in the first place. Blind spots on cars, especially in rear view mirrors can effectively make a rider invisible.
Other than the obvious ‘keeping off the white lines’ does anyone out there have any tricks up their sleeves on how to get noticed by car drivers and generally stay out of trouble where idiot drivers are concerned. BTW, they let 15 year olds drive cars here in New Zealand.
Jules
March 3, 2010 at 5:01 am #24630MunchParticipantBright colored gear, reflective gear, making sure you can see the persons face in their mirrors and YOU are watching for them…..not the other way around. Don’t linger in any potential blind spots if at all possible.
Some non popular advice…. lighting extending away from the slender frame of the bike. Make the driver question whats coming up on him/her. Or…. on the rear of your bike for the same effect when they come up on you. Local laws would dictate wether you can have a brake light that pulses when the brakes are applied. Always ride like you are invisible…and above all else:TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOURSELF AND YOUR ACTIONS.
It’s not always their fault nor their responsibility to see you. It is your responsibility to make yourself seen, heard, waved at, laughed at, winked at, and whatever else you can think of…and even then…don’t assume it was you they were waving at. If you aren’t sure every effort you made was successful….get out of their way..they win…they are bigger and will survive…. your chances are less then theirs in a push and shove match. Let it go and move on, live on, RIDE ON!!!
March 3, 2010 at 6:53 am #24549SantaCruzRiderParticipantAdding to what Munch said: My advice is to separate yourself from thinking that riding a bike is more than about 20% similar to driving a car.
In a car, I can be reasonably sure that I can occupy a lane and if I avoid slamming my brakes or jamming on the gas, most drivers will be able to see me and keep track of me well enough so that when it come time for them to change lanes, they won’t collide with me. And if they do, it will typically be in a manner that will result in some swearing, an exchange in information and me being late for work.
NOTE: This bears NO resemblance to how it would work if you are on a bike. On a bike, you are navigating between kill zones. Even on a 2-lane road, you should consider your passes. If I’m in the fast lane, I never crawl past the car on the right. Instead, I sit back of his left quarter until I think he’s seen me and then when I think it’s clear, I accelerate up until I’m at least even with his driver mirror and am sure he’s seen me. Until them, “I’m invisible” to him.
Another tip: Use all the lane to make yourself visible. This may involve claiming territory by riding the middle when your lane is moving faster than others, riding the fender of someone who seems to want to cut in, or just weaving a bit as traffic slows and you want to be sure folks see you.
Also, accept that you are harder to see and ride with that in mind. I’ve ridden for years, and I still get caught when I’m in my car and suddenly a biker is up on my mirror slicing through the spot that I was just eyeing for my car lane change. Truly, it freaks me out because I’m very conscious of bikes and then I see how invisible they are even to me and I wonder if my life hangs in such a small balance.
Personally, I believe in riding very “activily” (I’d say aggressively, but I DON’T mean fast or reckless).
Lastly, if you want to be visible but don’t want to wear dayglow, try to emulate the local LEO. I ride an old school bike similar to one ridden by LEO, helmet is silver (like CHP), black jacket — net result is that when someone glances back and sees you, they keep track of you, rather than ignoring you.
Hope that helpsMarch 3, 2010 at 12:35 pm #24750TrialsRiderParticipantI’ve been rear ended in the middle of a traffic intersection, just for not driving as aggressive as the commuter behind expected. On a recent occasion, I narrowly avoided being taken out by an older lady driving out of a shopping mall parking lot, impressionable because without a doubt she made eye to eye contact with me the whole time she was doing it ! …I don’t think she was intentionally attempting vehicular manslaughter, It was more like, she was mesmerized by my bright red bike or somethin. I call it, fly at the light bulb syndrome.
Had many more close calls and bad experiences, but enough of that stuff, if you ride as long as I have, it’s going to be that way. Motorcycles have provided the best times in my entire life, don’t let anything turn you off riding.
Great news is; motorcycles are fantastic for accident avoidance, they will brake faster, turn tighter, accelerate faster and occupy a smaller space than anything else on the road, so stay on track with everything your OP says, develop those cat like reflexes and don’t let em’ run you down.March 3, 2010 at 2:54 pm #24753JackTradeParticipant…to what SantaCruzRider says about looking like an LEO, a simple one:
Wear a light-colored helmet.
While they’re sometimes hard to find these days, wearing a white, or red, etc. helmet rather than a dark one goes a long way toward helping other motorists see you. It’s the highest point on you, and people’s eyes are definitely drawn to it.
I don’t know if solid color ones are more visible than the racing-inspired multi-colored ones, but I think either is a good for increased visibility.
March 3, 2010 at 9:21 pm #24758JulesParticipant@JackTrade and SantaCruzRider,
Thanks for the advice on helmets. Had my eye on a nice cool black one, but your advice makes sense, and I want to be seen. Red or white sounds like a great idea. Love the ‘look like a LEO’ idea. Unfortunately CHP gear is a lot cooler than NZ highway patrol. I’m not an especially image conscious person, but this is not a good look…
March 3, 2010 at 10:04 pm #24759eonParticipantSome (very) unscientific tests have shown that motorists are as blind to hi-viz riders as to non hi-viz but are remarkably good at spotting you if you look like a cop. Something to do with threat detection. In other words, they do see you but dismiss you as not relevant to them. Important to realize this is not people being dumb asses but it’s just the way our brains are wired.
Other unscientific tests have shown that deliberately looking like a cop will result in some unfriendly attention from the real deal. Try putting some blue lights on the front of your bike and see how you get on (even when it is legal).
Having said all that I tend towards the h-viz end of the spectrum and solid colored helmets. My 2nd helmet has a fancy paint scheme and I regret not getting the solid white one (it was $60 more for solid white!) after following a group of riders in low light conditions. The guy with the white helmet stood out while the others disappeared into the background.
Google SMIDSY for some other light reading. There is another theory that some horizontal movement greatly enhances the chances the other person will see you (I’m thinking someone sitting at a junction you are approaching looking right at you). It’s something I practice all the time whenever I see someone is waiting to cross over my lane.
I do all I can to be visible but you have to remember it is just your first line of defense. I would say it is more important to ride defensively and there are all kinds of strategies for that (a few of which have been mentioned here already). Grab yourself a copy of Proficient Motorcycling if you have not already. That is a great book for identifying the dangers you will face and how to recognize and avoid them before it becomes painful.
March 4, 2010 at 1:32 am #24762JulesParticipantThanks for the tips and the book suggestion eon. I’ll pick that up. What do you mean by ‘horizontal movement’ though?
March 4, 2010 at 4:40 am #24768eonParticipantFrom head on a motorbike has a pretty small profile. If that bike is heading directly towards you it is going to get bigger only slowly, which makes it difficult for our brains to pick it out of the cluttered background behind it. Studies have shown that our eyes are good at picking out movement. So if that bike was to move relative to the background behind it, our eyes pick it up in an instant. So weaving slightly in your lane moves you across the car drivers horizontal (or lateral) field of view and makes you immediately more visible to them. The same thing happens if you are not moving, the car driver does not see you and starts to pull out. At that point you are moving relative to the background and suddenly they see you and hit the brakes. This is why you should never assume even if the car driver is looking straight at you that they actually see you. There is a well worn excuse after an accident of “Sorry mate I didn’t see you” (SMIDSY for short). Sometimes they are telling the truth.
So if you can, a gently weave AWAY from the car increases your chances of being seen. If you move towards them you are getting closer to a 90′ angle of attack which would make you less visible. Plus moving away also gives you more room if you need to take avoiding action.
March 4, 2010 at 7:01 pm #24777JulesParticipantThanks Eon, got what you mean now. I was think a modest bit of weaving might be a good idea.
I’ve also read that movement is a fundamental feature of vision. Without it our attention isn’t attracted in the first place. An interesting study I read about (by Francis Crick, one of the guys who discovered the double helix DNA molecule) showed that the human eye can track a moving object perfectly across any background. But it cannot smoothly scan across plain one. Instead the eyes unconsciously jump from spot to spot along the line of the scan. That’s probably what’s happening with SMIDSY’s. No movement means the eye jumps, missing the apparently motionless motorcyclist. Great advice for a newbie like me. Thanks!
March 6, 2010 at 3:59 pm #24807Sean_DParticipant… in that I generally wear a black and yellow jacket with a bright helmet. Solid yellow in my case. Your helmet is your highest and most visible point in traffic. My wife has followed me and says she can easily pick me out in traffic because of the bright yellow helmet. White and Silver also work well.
I am also a bit of a safety geek I suppose, but I do wear one of those bright vests. If people notice the vest and think it looks stupid then so be it. They had to notice me to think that. Besides, the thing lights up like the Vegas strip when headlights hit it. Here are some Hi-Vis tips along with a “score sheet.” I will have 10 out of 10 covered once I add the auxiliary lights hehe.
http://www.motorcyclesafety.state.mn.us/latest/MMSCHomeSecondary.asp?cid=5&mid=279&scat=84Adding to the gear I have placed reflective Solas stickers on the Helmet and tape my bike frame to increase visibility at night. The frame on my bike is black so I have used the black tape. It is barely visible during the day, but reflects brightly when headlights hit it. I have placed this one the forks and a couple other areas to increase side visibility at night. The reflective helmet stickers I have placed front, back and sides. Some I got from here… http://www.nightfirepatches.com/Decals.html
I do always pulse my brakes to grab attention, but I have also added a Kissan license plate frame. In addition to having redundant turn signals in the form of progressive LED’s (5 LED’s for each direction) it also has a modulated brake light in the center. http://tinyurl.com/y8fwenx
I changed my headlight out for one of the PIAA Plasma bulbs. Sort of a bright white with a purplish hue similar to the HID lights. Watching oncoming traffic, even in the day, I find I always pick out those purple/white HID headlights out of the crowd of more yellow and white of the standard headlights.
I am going to add some additional lights to the front as I only have the headlight. From what I gather the human eye requires more than one source of light to properly triangulate speed and distance. I am also considering adding a headlight modulator and bar-end turn signals.
March 6, 2010 at 4:18 pm #24809SantaCruzRiderParticipantLooks like the circus has come to town.
March 6, 2010 at 7:48 pm #24812RabParticipantAll very good ideas, but I’d be wary about the headlight modulator.
I commuted with one for a while and here in California, it was great for lane-splitting (was like Moses parting the Red Sea), however, on more than a couple of occasions, I’m convinced that some drivers, catching a momentary glimpse of the flashing headlamp, thought I was signaling them to pull out in front of me; regardless of how impractical it was at those speeds.
I eventually took it off and now ride with full beam during the day.
March 7, 2010 at 1:27 am #24814Sean_DParticipantEvery time I see one on the the road I spot them waaay down the road, so they definitely seem to work in that regard. But I can see the point you bring up about how they could possible be dangerous in certain situations. Wonder if there is any way to rig one enable and disable it when necessary? Probably not be the nature of how they work.
March 7, 2010 at 3:28 am #24815SantaCruzRiderParticipantThe different modulators vary a bit, but I believe that the most popular modules all have the availabiltiy of switching it off, typically by switching to high or low beam.
I don’t have one, but I think they are amazingly eye catching. I’ve put off getting one primarily because I drive alot on mountain roads where I can sit behind folks for a good amount of time and worry that I will forget to turn it off and become overly aggravating to the guy ahead of me.
But, I have added aux lights to the sides of my fairing to give the bike lighted width and I also notice that they “jiggle” at a bit different rate from the headlight, so hopefully increase my visibilty to cars. They are also awesome at lighting the forested sides of the road, which is great for lighting up deer suffering from depression and intent on commiting suicide on the front of my bike.
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