Are we TOTALLY invisible?

[Big Dave]

If you put all your trust in the other motorists on the road...then eventually you will end up on it.

All of a sudden I feel like I'm in an episode of 'Kung Fu'.

Who should i trust master?

Twust none gwasshopper - for all cars have blind spots and all dwivers have iphones.

[TRIUMPHSROCK675]

loud pipes are the way if they dont see you make them hear you.

[Kickaha]

loud pipes are the way if they dont see you make them hear you.

Loud pipes don't make a pinch of shit difference

[PrincessBandit]

Loud pipes don't make a pinch of shit difference

I was thinking of replacing my standard exhaust with a yoshi, but maybe I'll just invest in a louder horn (my bandit's one is pretty embarrassing). Not to mention continue riding in a way which minimises the need to emergency brake, blast the horn or abuse "blind" drivers....

[scumdog]

loud pipes are the way if they dont see you make them hear you.

Here we go again.....:slap:

[Urano]

I believe Katman would use the phrase "situational awareness" - being aware of what's around you, who has seen you, potential dangers, etc, and then taking steps to mitigate those risks.
[...]
Seem sensible?

perfectly.
"situation awareness" is one of the biggest point of airmanship, so i can't agree more...

A great many accidents could be avoided if our foremost thought when riding in close proximity to other vehicles was "what if they haven't seen me?"
The "what if" part of that thought will cause you to pre-plan avoidance strategies.

and i completely agree with this too.
in my first post, actually, i've tried to say that in the most cases they DON'T see you, so act as they don't see you ever and try to mitigate the problem with your drive and gear.
then i've read somewhere someone ranting at this stating, but probably i got it wrong cause of my poor english...

loud pipes are the way if they dont see you make them hear you.

loud pipes make them want to kill you on purpose cos' you're a nuisance ...

[mattian]

loud pipes make them want to kill you on purpose cos' you're a nuisance ...

As absurd as this sounds. There is some truth in that. Alot of middle aged men in holden commodores consider it a challenge whenever they are passed by a slightly louder vehicle than theirs.

[scumdog]

As absurd as this sounds. There is some truth in that. Alot of middle aged men in holden commodores consider it a challenge whenever they are passed by a slightly louder vehicle than theirs.

'Speshly if the Commode has red&blue flashing lights on it.....

[rastuscat]

oh guy...
i LOVE those argued replies...

here it is a short article citing italian highway patrol statistics:
http://translate.google.com/translat...2F&sl=it&tl=en

translation in this case is pretty bad, but about in the middle of the page you cane read the bold statement which approximately says
*70% of accident with a car or a truck is because they didn't see you*

and remember that those are only the cases where the police went out on the site.
i clearly remember a similar statistic given by insurance companies, so referred to all those cases the police didn't show up too, which raised that number at about 80%
very, very interesting the reported fact that those numbers fall if the car driver is a biker too.
it's clear that being a biker teach you WHERE and HOW to look outside, as we discussed also in the topic called "did the bike make you a better car driver" or similar...


anyway, even if you want to remain on the conservative side, the conclusion is: "they don't see us". period.

Yeah, wot he said.........

The guys I work with attend lots of crashes. Cars, trucks, bikes, pedestrians, the whole bloody lot.

And lots of them are coz someone didn't see the other.

So it's not just bikes that are invisible.

[Neshi]

reason they are invisible is usually cos the other party was either engaged with something else than driving their vehicle, or just don't have any situational awareness whatsoever = don't look around them...

[Dare]

'Speshly if the Commode has red&blue flashing lights on it.....

Well if they will try and hide the bloody things

[sinfull]

I have been riding on and off for years, and you do seem to expect people to do stupid things...I always ride cautiously and am aware that people either may not see me or dont give a rats arse about me.....but 3 close calls in a short space of time...was not expecting that....

I guess if everyone had to ride for 2 years before they got a car it would be a safer road out there...Motorcyclists normally are safer drivers IMHO...

Sorry i aint gonna read any more posts Bren ! You amoungst all should know how i feel when it comes to this shit !

Your bored ! Thats the only reason your posting this crap !
You fucked up , you have become dislexic and think your driving a mac truck now days after so many Ks on the bike !
Get over it and stop Riding before the third coffee on a humdrum morning like that , jesus man i DROVE (yes drove) though otaki today and by the time i reached the gaso to buy my smokes i was ready to smash the dickhead who stood at the counter waisting a good 2 minutes looking for AA cards and then chatting about the friggin weather (the guy at the counter was being polite you dork, now fuck off and let the 6 ppl behind you get on with the stress of driving/riding through the metropielis that is Otaki on a friggin sunday, rather than rambling on about how much colder it's fuckin been, he knows, we fuckin know, now fuck off with your aa rewards) What i was thinkin is all, while i stood there with the correct change after being away from what i was doing far too long as it was !

I then left the gaso and made space for myself in what you well know is ugly traffic ! If you let others guide you, you will get hurt Bren, fast or last does not mean high speed, it means your first through or you give way ! If a granny is gonna get you, i suggest zimmer frame racing might be wise !

[sinfull]

I was thinking of replacing my standard exhaust with a yoshi, but maybe I'll just invest in a louder horn (my bandit's one is pretty embarrassing). Not to mention continue riding in a way which minimises the need to emergency brake, blast the horn or abuse "blind" drivers....

I'm sorry Princess your out of time !

[sinfull]

My 'concern' is that the source data is flawed.

This is what I know. Several close calls I've had involving a vehicle failing to give way have avoided being collisions because I was looking directly at the driver. On a two such occasions the driver stopped to apologise and I politely accepted their 'Sorry - I didn't see you' word for word and moved on.

The issue is that they didn't see me because they didn't even look. There was no chance of visual because their eyes never were cast my way.

'I didn't see him' makes a whole lot better and more blame free story to an investigating police officer or insurance company than - 'well I'm just such an inattentive dipstick or I was so busy tuning the radio and fucked up'.

They aint looking for a bike Dave, thats all there is to it i recon ! They're looking for a grill, the bigger it is, the more reaction to it !
Would so love to have the resorces behind me, to make an add for TV, that has a reaper and sickle coming through a drivers window at a car fails to give way to a bike intersection AND PUMP IT FOR SIX MONTHS !

[sinfull]

I hate to mention this, but is the problem with every other road user - or something you are doing? Just seems a bit suspicous.

What do you do to make other road users aware of your presence? Something visual? Something noisy? Brightly coloured bike maybe?

You were almost making sence here, till you started with the theoretical crap !