SMIDSYs - mostly avoidable, or a real risk?

[Mom]

If you dont have your eyes peeled, and all of your sensors watching out for your own well being then the SMIDNSY scenario is a serious risk.

However, you cant ride along with a totally defensive attitude all the time, we ride bikes for the thrill and enjoyment, not to stress ourselves out about arseholes out to kill us. What we can do though, is be really aware of situations where potential SMIDNSY situations can occur and take extra care.

I am back (well will be once my stupid ankle is healed) commuting in traffic in the shitty city. I use all my spidey sense and a bit of aggression to get through my commute safely.

Aggression can be seen as "idiot" behaviour at times, but I prefer to get out of danger rather than allow danger to impact on me. Perhaps the only thing I would caution, though I do actually follow it myself, is to not allow the every other bastard is out to kill me metality to erode the pleasure of actually riding.

[Katman]

However, you cant ride along with a totally defensive attitude all the time, we ride bikes for the thrill and enjoyment, not to stress ourselves out about arseholes out to kill us.

If riding defensively is stressing you out Anne, you're doing it wrong.

Having spent considerable time riding in an environment that didn't allow for lapses in concentration I learned to treat riding defensively as a personal challenge that became almost like a game.

[shrub]

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...highlight=siam

Smidsy Identification Avoidance Manoeurve

Nice, I've been using a SIAM all this time. It's always good to have an acronym, but I'd rather call it a SCAB - Shrubs Collision Avoidance Behaviour.

[Mom]

If riding defensively is stressing you out Anne, you're doing it wrong.

Where did I say I was stressing? I am not even riding at the moment, been off for 2 months now.

I dont stress, read my post again.

I said we can't go about our rides stressing about the bastards that are trying to kill us.

I also said if we dont have our eyes peeled, and all of our sensors watching out for our own well being then it is a real danger we are going to get taken out. I guess I meant riding defensivley

[martybabe]

Not that I totally depend on them but me an Mrs SD (normajeane) have bright-as running lights mounted each side of the headlights, they spread 37 degrees so can be seen at an angle where a headlight would not. (When normajeane is behind me in s string of bikes I can always see her lights - other bikes melt into the back-ground especially on right-hand bends, their lights are almost not visible.

They are way bright - too bright to be used at night as they are just a big flare of light.

I've seen motorists stop suddenly in situations where I'm sure they would have pulled out on front of us.

I have no definitive proof of the following statement but.... I sometimes ride with my headlight on and sometimes with a pair of bright running lights on, I seem to have far less people ignoring my existence when the running lights are burning. Like you I've seen motorists hit the anchors big time at junctions when I'm approaching in running light mode and many more pull over to let me pass. I'd like to think it's the none standard pattern and brightness of the lights that makes them do a double take but in any event they do seem to get me noticed more. by the way they are well adjusted not burning out peoples retinas.

Why not use the running lights all the time? for some reason they are wired to the heated grip switch ? lights on, fry hands! work in progress

Oh yeah, running lights do not alter my defensive riding strategies at all but it is a welcome addition to my anti smidsy armour.

[shrub]

I said we can't go about our rides stressing about the bastards that are trying to kill us. :

The thing is none of them are trying to kill us - if they were KB would have a membership of 3 and the recent increases in ACC levies would have netted the government $9.54. Other road users don't want to have accidents, and if they stop and think about it, a SMIDSY is the last thing any of them want because it's dangerous driving causing injury or death. 5 years ago my 16 yo son had a SMIDSY on his way home from work when a young woman turned across his path. Fortunately he had minor injuries but was in hospital for about a week and she was devastated, and told me it was the worst day of her life. Her parents were on the phone to me every day checking on his progress and sent him chocolates, books, CD voucher etc. She was also fined $500, had to pay $1000 reparation, lost her license for 6 months and had to pay excess etc on insurance, so that SMIDSY probably cost her the best part of $2000 as well as her part time job (she was a student and worked night shift somewhere, so no license meant no getting to work).

I would say 99% of the population are either like that or pretty close to it - think how you would feel if you caused an accident that injured someone else?

That means we don't need to worry about changing them beyond perhaps reminding people that a SMIDSY is a very bad thing for everyone. To me that's a good thing because it means limiting SMIDSYs is something we can do best, and that's the point of this thread. Whether it's using a SIAM, a SCAB or my new one, CRAP - Clever Riding Avoids Prangs, we can all stack the odds in our favour on the road. As I said before, I cover a lot of urban Ks on my bike, yet I experience almost no potential SMIDSYs, and if you listen to the threads here it would seem they are almost a daily event for some people. Sure, there is bound to be some luck in it, and I know I cannot ever pat myself on the back and declare myself a SMIDSY free zone because when that happens I'm road kill.

But I can reduce the risks of a major cause of crashes substantially through a few simple techniques that have become habits, and in so doing make my motorcycling one hell of a lot safer which means I can enjoy my time behind the bars more.

And that's what it's all about.

[ducatilover]

Interesting thread and a good read.
SMIDSY's can be a real risk, like fucktards on blind corners (potentially avoidable), people pulling out as you go past (have nearly had that happen, thank God for 100hp + Pilot Powers)
But, as already said, many can be avoided. I've never b\felt stressed from defensive riding or staying very much aware of my surroundings and have never had a SMIDSY.
I had an eye opener a few years ago when a Honda Civic pulled out at me in Pahiatua, I was aware enough to avoid it, but, it was a wee bit close. The young twit had a car full of his/her mates and was obviously very distracted, should've seen it before I did.

Not wanting to get off topic but..... My new bike has an LED running light under the head light & it is the proverbial mutts nuts for sticking out..,. I m very impressed wid it.

I'm going to have running lights on my pride & joy when it's back on the road. Will have the indicators (LED) at the front, an LED strip or two in the headlight fairing. The rear LED tail light is impressively blinding also.

[onearmedbandit]

The day I turned 15 my father took me down to get my car licence (got my bike licence a couple weeks later), he wanted me to have my full in 12mths so put me on a defensive driving course. A big part of that course related around identifying possible risks when driving. During one part of the classes we had to watch a lot of videos and identify all the the possible hazards, so far I had been smoking the course but even I failed the first video. For the life of me I couldn't find the one last area of hazards in the video.

There were joggers, dogs, sun glare, parked cars, cyclists, oncoming traffic, power poles, gutters, driveways etc etc etc, but we were told to look at the power poles again. While I had identified them as being a hazard, I hadn't identified all the reasons why. We were asked what about the poles falling over in our path, which we dismissed by saying 'what are the chances of that happening?'. The instructor then told us no matter how small the chance of something happening was, it was still a real risk.

That was 21yrs ago and that piece of advice has stayed with me ever since, along with other gems I was taught. No I don't ride watching out for falling power poles, but I do ride aware that absolutely anything can be a hazard, and that the only one in control of how they are dealt with is me.

Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely no saint (if you could see my licence history you'd know that, and riding too fast took the use of my left arm along with other injuries I carry today) but despite the amount of riding I do I too have very few SMIDSY events, solely due to the fact I'm aware of what's going on around me.

[Banditbandit]

Damm cages .. Just about got taken out twice .. Two cars at an intersection yesterday - One today .. all three would have said "SMIDSY" ... fuckers didn't look or didn't care ...

Yesterday I was following as big fucking Remuera Tractor ... not too close . plenty of visibility ... tractor turns left ... I'm going straight ahead ... two cars at the intersection .. the one turning right starts to move, then realises that I'm coming .. and stops. The one turning left just moves as soon as the one turning right moves (relying on someone else's eyes) .. then sudenly realises I there and stops .. centimetres from chucking me across the road and into oncoming traffic ...

Neither of them bothered to check the road was clear before moving ... (phew .. missed both - but I had blood in my adrenalin stream ...)

This morning - one cage doesn't even bother to look before charging into a roundabout ... I'm coming from their right to go sdtraight through ... but they charge in ... then to make matters worse, brake hard to swing right ... blocking the road exactly where I'm heading !!!! Missed again ..

Fuckers ... I want twin mounted machine guns on the front of my bikes!!!! Targetted at 10 feet!!!

[rastuscat]

Shrub is on the money.

Taking responsibility for our own safety gives us back control. If we just throw our hands in the air and blame everyone else, we'll have to wait for everyone else to change before riding gets safer. Good luck with that.

Shrub for King.

Span.....King, of course.

Donuts.

[rastuscat]

I was thinking about the whole SMIDSY debate, and I reckon they are almost entirely avoidable. I reckon the secret comes down to recognising 3 things:

1. Cars don't spontaneously turn or pull out. .

Have to take issue with this claim though.

I was on my way on a work bike to attend the presentation at Trevor Pierce Yamaha in Chur Chur last night. I came across a crash, so stopped to deal with it. Riding a patrol vehicle has it's downsides.

A car stopped at the side of the road had pulled out to u-turn and collected a red XR6 which was passing from behind. The offending driver claimed to have looked and not seen the XR6.

I've heard that so many times over the years, I've drilled it down to dynamic inattention blindness. It's the concept of someone with perfectly good vision looking at a moving object and the mind not registering it's existence. The mind controls the driving, so voila, shazam and all that, the crash happens.

Seen this.................



Inattention blindness.

Donuts R us.

[steve_t]

Seen this.................

http://www.youtube.com/embed/vJG698U2Mvo

Inattention blindness.

Donuts R us.

Yeah, that's what I was talking about in post #11. Selective attention/vision. If you look for bikes/bicycles, you'll see them. If you only look for cars and truck, you're at risk of not seeing bikers even if they're right in front of you!

[shrub]

[QUOTE=rastuscat;1130191908]The mind controls the driving, so voila, shazam and all that, the crash happens.

The mind controls the driving which means when a car turns the driver has made a decision to turn. I have never een a driver just suddenly turn for no reason at all, people turn because they have made a conscious decision to change direction, pull out etc, and that decision resulted from a number of other factors like passing a road they want to turn down, getting a green traffic light, sitting at an intersection etc, and most of these can be identified and observed.

[koba]

OK, I'm going to add my bit without reading the entire thread, just the first 1/2 page or so.

Mostly avoidable, agree - I see heaps of riders putting themselves in silly places and dangerous situations.

BUT!

If you are traveling towards a car in a 70+ speed zone and they decide to turn to their right and don't register you because they aren't paying attention: Your Fucked.

There is no avoiding a whole lot of pain if you are already too close, the only thing you can do is mitigate the impact by trying to scrub off as much speed as possible and positioning yourself to best bear the inevitable impact.

Standing on the pegs saw to it I saw minimal time in hospital.
The attending Policeman said he'd never before seen such a crash be non-fatal.

[shrub]

OK, I'm going to add my bit without reading the entire thread, just the first 1/2 page or so.

Mostly avoidable, agree - I see heaps of riders putting themselves in silly places and dangerous situations.

BUT!

If you are traveling towards a car in a 70+ speed zone and they decide to turn to their right and don't register you because they aren't paying attention: Your Fucked.

There is no avoiding a whole lot of pain if you are already too close, the only thing you can do is mitigate the impact by trying to scrub off as much speed as possible and positioning yourself to best bear the inevitable impact.

Standing on the pegs saw to it I saw minimal time in hospital.
The attending Policeman said he'd never before seen such a crash be non-fatal.

You're right, standing on the pegs can be a lifesaver, but I assume you saw the car before it hit you? If so, what was it doing, and was it doing something that could have been a predecessor to turning like sitting at an intersection? If it was, did you have an escape route planned and what did you do to maximise the chances of being seen? Or did you just trust that the driver had seen you and expect them to behave accordingly?