As did I he’d got a headlight illuminated and flashing Blue lights though, not sure what he wanted…………..never did find out as I’d no time for idle chit chat back then.
Thanks In my experience the vast majority of homicidal car driving morons tend to be found in grey urban environments so it sounds as though flouro yellow is still preferable on balance, I’ll stick with it for the probably small (but free) extra margin of safety it could give, obviously in the summer I’ll have to redouble my observation when riding past oil seed rape fields! Re the helmet, next time I’m in a war zone I’ll make sure I wear it as camouflage then , but only if you can assure me that the broken pattern effect is more powerful than the fact it’s bright yellow, orange, luminous green etc, I’m pretty sure I haven’t seen British army camo done in those particular hues?, but if you’re sure FRE then it’ll be great!, they won’t be able to see me whilst I just pick them off one by one . IMO there’s only so much we can do to increase safety, things like entering blind bends slowly, I’m constantly amazed by bikers peeling into bends at speed when they can’t see what’s around the bend, this was brought into sharp focus for me a few days ago, I turned into a blind corner very slowly, immediately around the bend was a stationary car, it hadn’t been there for the last 30 years I’ve ridden that corner!, he’d stopped because a combined harvester was approaching and taking up three quarters of the width of the road, I entered the bend that I could have gotten round at 25mph to 30mph at about 12mph, I’m rather glad I did!.
Sound advice, if your vision is limited, never enter a bend at a speed that should something be in the road. That you cannot stop safely under control on your side of the road.
even at the pathetically slow speed I was travelling I almost hit him, the combine was still about 100 feet away so it was a bit idiotic of the car driver to have stopped so close to the corner, but that’s the trouble with people, they don’t think, they sometimes just react without a thought to “what happens next”, I’m not saying I never make mistakes btw, about 6 months ago I overtook a car that was crawling along at 5mph, I ignored my usual rule of never overtaking if there are side roads close by, the reason she was crawling was that she was looking for a street name, just as I began to pass her she saw it and turned right, even though she hadn’t indicated or anything I’d put that down as definitely my fault, I let frustration overcome common sense!, I just managed to swerve around her, but only just!!
Why was that your fault? You had presumably indicated and were overtaking in a safe way. That the car driver decided to turn right; without looking, into your path, could only be avoided by never over taking any vehicles unless you're a clairvoyant. From your description, I would say she was driving without due care and attention though that would not have made hospital food taste any better.
yes agree Jez, legally she was definitely in the wrong, I just meant that I knew better than to go past her, she was going very slowly with multiple side roads to her right, it was clear she was about to do something so I should have just waited, so I blame myself because I didn’t react with common sense, i got frustrated and went for the overtake at precisely the wrong moment, ……..if she’d hit me it would have reverted to being entirely her fault of course!
You're a much nicer chap than me. I would have given the dopey cow a huge blast on my horn as per highway code "to warn other road users of your presence" - and passed her, though I probably wouldn't have gesticulated as some fellows might!
Any overtake at any speed where there is a right hand turn is crazy. I’m sure we all do it occasionally but defo in the category of ‘yep, I took a big risk’
This is a good demonstration of the first and most important reason for incidents (I won't call them accidents because 99% of the time they're not). I've had this conversation with Martyn Hillier (who invented Bikesafe, won the QPM (Queen's Police Medal) for it and is in my IAM club). Attitude. The Swedish safety boffins did a study and found that our attitude to how we ride/drive is the biggest determinant of incidents. I ride in such a way that my attitude is that if I have an incident it will be entirely my own fault - it takes two to tango and we don't need to engage anyone else. Bikers (generally) are not very good at this. If we accept that the blame is entirely ours and learn to ride in such a way that we think for everyone else (and the environment in which we're riding), there would be far fewer KSIs and incidents.
Agreed if you can’t see what’s on coming just be patient an opening will appear that is much safer. This mornings gem though has to be a rider I caught up to trying to overtake on a crest with oncoming cars. Another couple of seconds and the road opened out anyway with much safer options available, some riders are rushing to A&E on a Sunday morning.
We were taught that you ride like nobody has seen you, the chances are they haven't, normally on t junctions. The other tip was appropriate speed for the road and conditions, should be second nature. Riding with other guys that are way more experienced can be tricky for a new rider. After 50 years of riding I have had a couple of spills but always because "they didn't see me" What a surprise.
The whole point of the advanced riding (Bikesafe, RoSPA, IAM) is to give people a structured approach to assessing the hazards they approach on the road. That "system" can be applied at whatever speed is being ridden and is always applied in the same way. What can I see? where should I be for that? What speed should I handle it? What gear for that speed? Okay lets get back on it! The limit of it really is the persons ability to spot and process what they see, their ability to use their machine and their personal comfort towards speed. The reason they don't ride quickly round a corner may be because they saw something that they see as a risk, or aren't comfortable applying X lean angle or maybe they just don't want to get close to what they see as their limits. A good instructor should be able to teach this structure regardless of their personal ability at applying it to the max. It isn't necessarily a way to be a faster rider (although many will improve) it's about trying to see everything you need to make the safest decision for your next action. Track riding is amazing for improving your machine control and confidence in the machines abilities. Knowing how much brakes, acceleration or lean angle your bike can actually use is really valuable. Take riding in the wet, many people slow down excessively because they aren't confident in their tyres, brakes, themselves. Give them some wet trackdays on their road tyres and they would probably be much more confident. Learning road and track riding skills can complement each other, but I would never take one of these approaches and apply it 100% to the other.
Well no and yes. It's not about teaching you an exhaustive list of actions and reactions. E.g "hey look a car at a junction, you must move across the road like this", it's about encouraging you to spotting the car at a junction, assessing if they may have seen you and taking the action to improve your safety. You might try to make eye contact, move lateraly, slow down, flash your headlights, use your horn, move into the other lane. You pick the best option at the time.
Speed read this so please forgive me but for double the money, you can attain IAM roadcraft membership. Once you've passed the off-duty police accredited test & gain substantial discounts on insurance & many shopping experiences. However any additional training is a good thing, so lets not fall out over semantics.
Usually, I’d agree with you about avoiding an exhaustive list of actions and reactions. But on this tactic, I’m with @Sprocker: a little lateral movement can give a big safety gain if there’s a car at a junction ahead. The alternative – maintaining my position – means the “looming effect” can camouflage me. (The Science of Being Seen covers this topic much better than Motorcycle Roadcraft does.) I vary how I move laterally according to the circumstances, but some lateral movement is – usually – invaluable. If a driver’s waiting at a junction ahead, it greatly helps them to notice me. I'm afraid I doubt any of us are infallible at assessing by eye contact is if a driver's seen us. Haven't you ever had eye contact with a driver, yet they still pulled out in front of you? Incidentally, I’d be cautious about flashing my headlight because some drivers may interpret it as meaning I’m letting them out of the junction.
I agree with flashing at a car, easily misunderstood. Drivers also have difficulty working out how fast a bike is travelling towards them, time to roll off the throttle, drop it down a gear until you know your arrival has registered in their brain.
I do the lateral movement thing sometimes, top tip though, don’t do it too close to a junction lest they think you’re turning into the junction!
