Write off

[FJRider]

Personally, if I don't feel like I can process enough information to proceed with a high level of confidence at my current speed, I slow down. I wouldn't do 60kmh on a street lined with parked cars, for example. There is a change in "feel" when I know I am going too fast for my cognition level. It's a little bit like tunnel vision, but not as simple as that. If I feel that, I back off.

On a steet with cars parked lining both sides, that may mean I slow to 40kmh or even less if it is narrow or near a school at days' start or end, etc.

The big flaw in that plan is ... you still only focus on problems you can see. As most accidents are caused due to a number of factors (seldom just one), all contributing to that one accident ... there will only be some factors you may be actually aware of. Thus give possible problem factors little weight ... until it's a little to late.

The good trick ... is being able to figure out how many factors are needed ... to make your next crash happen. Is it 1, 2, 3, .... or 4 or more. (and how many more .. ???)

[superjackal]

Believe me, you ain't got nothing you can teach me about situational awareness in congested traffic.

I lived in Caracas for 2 years. 24 hour traffic jams, 8 lines of cars on 4 lane highways, regular deaths and corpses on the side of the road, complete and utter disregard for traffic signals and crossings, highly unsafe cars with no such thing as a WoF check, between 8-20 million people (no one's really sure), drunks, stoners, kidnappers, murderers, pissed off poor people. I lived and worked in London as a sales rep for 5 years and the standard of driving (while sometimes jaw-droppingly bad) was far, far superior.

[Katman]

I lived in Caracas for 2 years. 24 hour traffic jams, 8 lines of cars on 4 lane highways, regular deaths and corpses on the side of the road, complete and utter disregard for traffic signals and crossings, highly unsafe cars with no such thing as a WoF check, between 8-20 million people (no one's really sure), drunks, stoners, kidnappers, murderers, pissed off poor people. I lived and worked in London as a sales rep for 5 years and the standard of driving (while sometimes jaw-droppingly bad) was far, far superior.

Presumably you didn't ride a motorbike in either of the places.

[Banditbandit]

I spend a bit of time in the BOP and I really wouldn't want to be riding around Tauranga/Te Puke, people are scary up there

Sent from a ram using a Lithuanian's feet

Yes - I don't like riding in that area either ... I only pass through to somewhere else ..

[Banditbandit]

Everyone only has a certain amount of attention to give so if you put huge importance on looking inside parked cars or trying to see every exhaust etc.... At 60 kays on a street lined with parked cars how many do you pass in a second and you want to look that close at every single 1? (60k=16m/s at 4m between cars that's 4 cars a second)

There are plenty of other signs not mentioned like spotting the driver get in the car, or windows down etc.

See - you do know what we mean - your just being deliberately argumentative .. (but 60ks in a busy city street? Naaa bro .. that is just wrong ... )

Sent from my XT535 using Tapatalk 2

Pretentious bullshit - not impressed.

All of this means that you have to look directly at things to identify the small movements you suggest, therefore if you pass four cars and look for three details on each that's 12 different things you have to look directly at each second, and you don't think that detracts from identifying other hazards.....
Sent from my XT535 using Tapatalk 2

Naaa ... you don't focus on individual events like that ... you are right - that is dangerous becuase it is exclusive of other events .. it's really about having a good awareness of what is happening aroudn you on the road ..

Personally, if I don't feel like I can process enough information to proceed with a high level of confidence at my current speed, I slow down. I wouldn't do 60kmh on a street lined with parked cars, for example. There is a change in "feel" when I know I am going too fast for my cognition level. It's a little bit like tunnel vision, but not as simple as that. If I feel that, I back off.

On a steet with cars parked lining both sides, that may mean I slow to 40kmh or even less if it is narrow or near a school at days' start or end, etc.

Yes - exactly ..

I'm the same in that if I feel uncomfortable I'll back off until I'm back in my comfort zone but to slow to 40 on a busy road when the traffic is doing 60 can be more dangerous (I had to brake hard yesterday when the car I was following unexpectedly changed lanes to reveal a step thru doing about 40 down Linwood ave, if I had been following close it could have been a bad situation, yes I was speeding at the time and in the cage but I was doing the speed of the traffic I could see around me)

Yes in that you are right - Linwood avenue is not a good place to be doing 40ks .. but then, it's an arterial route - it's not a city street with cars parked on both sides like say Armargh Street.

The point of my post is not to become too involved in one prospective danger or you risk missing something else, or even running into it through target fixation (if you're spending all your time looking left at the cars you will veer left without realising it unless you are actively aware of it)

Yeah .. see now you are slowly moving from your argumentative position to see the reailties we are talking about ..

Sent from my XT535 using Tapatalk 2

Still pretentious crap ..

[Smifffy]

I'm the same in that if I feel uncomfortable I'll back off until I'm back in my comfort zone but to slow to 40 on a busy road when the traffic is doing 60 can be more dangerous (I had to brake hard yesterday when the car I was following unexpectedly changed lanes to reveal a step thru doing about 40 down Linwood ave, if I had been following close it could have been a bad situation, yes I was speeding at the time and in the cage but I was doing the speed of the traffic I could see around me)

The point of my post is not to become too involved in one prospective danger or you risk missing something else, or even running into it through target fixation (if you're spending all your time looking left at the cars you will veer left without realising it unless you are actively aware of it)

Sent from my XT535 using Tapatalk 2

There's been a couple of times that I've had a short discussion with Mr Popo, in which I explained "Yes, sir, I was speeding, but I was just doing the speed of the traffic all around me", even when I was on a little 2 pot 125 commuter on an arterial route in Aucks. Mr Popo would have none of it and wrote me up. If you have an accident and happen to have been speeding at the time, then there aren't really any mitigating circumstances.

[Dragon]

every body sees and processes info differently and while you may try and teach someone how to be aware of whats going on alot of the time they have to pick it up on there own

Im always looking 12 secs ahead and I can tell you every hazard/ danger or up coming part of the road ill have to react to for that 12 seconds from the front of my bike onwards

I may not be able to give you a huge amount of detail depending on what level I class the hazard etc to be but I know its there

For example there is a car coming out of a driveway its a dark colour station wagon, could I tell you the make and model possibly not but I know its there and at the same time I can tell you I have a bike behind me a narrow blind corner coming up etc etc

Hell I had a kid run out at me last sunday and I had slowed right down already because I had noticed her but the way she ran out even if I had locked the brakes I couldnt have stopped in time only reason I avoided her is because the car that was right next to me had gotten far enough past me that I could serve

I knew she was there and i had nodded to her when she waved so she knew I was there, also she was quite far from the road but it still scared the hell out of me

Its all about risk assement and some people are better at it then others

[ducatilover]

I just pin it and plow everything out the way.
The joys of Volvo.


Sent from prison using my lover's chest hair as a harpsichord.

[Mushu]

I never said to do 60k no matter what, 60 is just the average traffic speed around Christchurch (yes that includes in 50 zones), the fact my story occurred on Linwood ave and not Armagh St (and you'd be crazy to do 60 down most of Armagh St) is redundant as there were cars parked along the left where it happened. Identifying hazards is part of the licence test for cagers you are asked to tell the testing officer every hazard you can see, obviously it's more important on a bike, my whole point is that you need to be smart about where you place your attention in the road, as stated above by someone it's very rare for an accident to be the result of 1 problem, more likely to be a combination of events.

Sent from my galaxy s17 using Tapatalk 2 - are you impressed yet?

[chasio]

The big flaw in that plan is ... you still only focus on problems you can see. As most accidents are caused due to a number of factors (seldom just one), all contributing to that one accident ... there will only be some factors you may be actually aware of. Thus give possible problem factors little weight ... until it's a little to late.

The good trick ... is being able to figure out how many factors are needed ... to make your next crash happen. Is it 1, 2, 3, .... or 4 or more. (and how many more .. ???)

Not sure your reply was to my post, there! I was saying that if I didn't feel like I could take enough relevant environmental information in, I slow down. I'm not enumerating how many factors are present per se, I'm recognising a sense of potential overload and trying to mitigate it. Unless I have an angry driver of a large vehicle positioned for rear-entry and nowhere to pull over, slowing down seems quite a good generic risk reduction strategy to me. That doesn't mean I always ride slowly by any means (although some might think so) nor that I never make mistakes, just that "if in doubt, slow down" works for me. YMMV.

[superjackal]

Presumably you didn't ride a motorbike in either of the places.

You'd have to be nuts in Caracas but motorcycling was very popular.

They used to joke in London the life expectancy of a motorcyclist was 2 years. My father in law got sandwiched three times in the Blackwall Tunnel on his motorbike. Two of the occasions on the same day, at the same time, in the same place, one year apart. How's that for luck? Still kept riding though.