Blind idiots in cages

[marty]

how many times have you heard 'i looked and there was nothing coming'? well there was something coming my friend, and it just t-boned you. i saw a crash in cambridge a few years ago where a lady pulled straight out into the side of a cattle truck as it was going past her intersection. she had stopped at the stop sign too! she just went through the motions of looking, but not seeing (a bit like hearing but not listening i guess)

[wari]

One time while i was riding along minding my own business ...

I inadvertantly fell into a time portal and was transported in front of a car pulling out of a driveway ... and I SUDDENLY appeared in front of her so she ran me over :eyepoke:

[digsaw]

umm cages?after 45 years on bikes,the only run in with a cage was one that was stopped! parked! nobody in sight! my own bloody fault I have allways made myself invisable to cages,i dont want them to see me so they can change their minds,or give them the chance to be in command of the situation,treat every one of them as a total idiot and have an escape hole or two up your sleave

[James Deuce]

Fazerbloke has it. It is simply a threat/survival reflex we all have that stops us challenging things we KNOW will hurt us.

KNOW in this case = BIGGER.

Little do car drivers understand that if they hit us just right we WILL kill them or their passenger(s). F=ma. An 80kg rider will hurt like hell when he hits you through the windscreen at a velocity differential of say 50km/h. His helmet will cave your head in. If the bike enters the passenger cabin NO-ONE is getting out without at least a life changing injury.

However every car driver (inc.me) feels secure with the windows up, a/c on, and stereo blasting, so when your brain is slightly preoccupied it reverts to instinctive reflex to prevent you being injured. But because your brain is conditioned to think of your car as "safe", you'll just pull out in front of the widdle motorbike if you don't actively analyse the image being sent to your brain.

Inattention and lack of concentration should earn the buggers a careless misuse. Especially if your car driver insists that he/she didn't see you. I would've thought admitting criminal negligence would count against you.

I wonder if I could smack the next irritating rude customer in the mouth and claim I didn't see them??? Might be worth a try.

[Goddess of Goof]

"Do not meddle in the affairs of cats, for they are subtle and will piss on your computer."
Or in my case - the Video!
And in my case, the bloody vacuum cleaner.
It still pongs, long afta the damn cat has gone to that
Big Mousehole In The Sky.....

Keith Code sums it up well in this article - Presence

I got backed into at a Service Station in Matakana cos an old guy didn't see me, and he'd supposed that I had left the forecourt.
I think Presence is really important, and try to put it into practice.

Trouble is, riding with the knowledge that they are not going to see you is a drag.
At times, I simply wobble the bike so that their attention is drawn to a moving object (my headlights) and maybe the synapses will connect,
I never trust it tho'..........

[Jackrat]

Hmmmm,The ones who freak me out the most are the ones looking at me.
I can almost see their little brains mulling over the odds.
When I do catch their eye I will often change position in the lane by quite a bit so as to make them think twice.
Then we get the ones that have been siting looking the other way the whole time you are approaching,Mate their even worse,I always imagine they have looked my way before I came into view and are now just waiting to hit the gas when the other way is clear.And then ya' get the one that you think will and he bloody does
I think after a while you develope a sixth sence for these clowns,Well most of em'.I treat all cars as about to do something dumb,Ya just got to watch em' like a hawk at all times.I would rather come across a cow on a back road than one in a Pajero at an intersection.
I did notice on the way back from town today,a big sign saying "Watch out for bikes" has been put up on the pukekohe off ramp.Thats something I suppose.

[James Deuce]

I would rather come across a cow on a back road than one in a Pajero at an intersection.

Baahahaa - Can I nick that for my signature please Jackrat?

[discodan]

I have noticed that when I'm in the car with sombody else driving they tend to look about 10 metres ahead of them and I cringe when I spot a hazard that they dont spot untill its time to throw out the anchors. Cage drivers are just inferior to us in terms of hazard identification I think. I dont often have close calls anymore now that I have seen almost every trick in the book.
Also they say that loud pipes dont really save lives, but since I've had my full arrow system not one person has tried to change lanes into me so it does help.

[Slingshot]

ACC is also has ads on the radio at the moment about looking out for bikes...it'll be just our luck some dumb arse driver will be trying to turn the radio up to hear the message as they plow in to a biker

I must say that my car driving has improved alot since I have been riding, and I was probably one of the more rider friendly drivers.

[jimbo600]

All car drivers are twats....period! We just have to allow for the twat factor. Luckily we have sharp road police to make sure we all drive at a sensible pace. You would really think the the traffic nazis would do a 'blitz' on errant (read blind) car drivers. That way maybe, just maybe the road toll would come down a little and our ACC levvies would return to normal. But hey, it aint about the road toll anyway!!

[Zed]

What can I do to make myself seen more, or should I accept that some people are just blind idiots and I should assume they will not see me, even if we are looking at each other in the eyes?

Hi Celtic,

You should accept your last quotation!

Most of us here should have learned by now that "other motorists are the main danger on the roads!" Keeping this in mind, I recommend that you stay in front of and away from all other motorists at all times where possible, except other bikers of course.


Zed

[Lou Girardin]

I know we've already been through this, but I use high beam all the time unless it's almost dark. I've had people not see me when using low beam, but never when using high.
I agree with wkid's other points though, if your speed differential is much greater than other traffic, your days are numbered.
Lou

[Motu]

I saw the look out for motorcycles signs on the Papakura and Manukau off ramps last night - when did they go up,and how many are there?

[Jackrat]

Baahahaa - Can I nick that for my signature please Jackrat?

Feel free mate.
I think Disco dans comment about hazard identification is spot on.
Driving in a car,not seeing a pot hole means a bump,a white line is just a white line, a dog on the side of the road is not even noticed,But for us they all mean a possilbe off so we look.I shudder at times when I say to somebody
"Did ya' see that" then they look at me a say "See what".
I don't ride with my head light on because my electrics can't keep up.
Yamahas worse ever charging system.I am waiting on a guy in OZ to complete
his work on a replacement for the standard XS system and then I will be changing over.Until then,well lets just say its a worry aye.I'm just waiting for the day somebody says I didn't see you cause your head light wasn't on.
An oxymoron?,maybe not but certainly a contradiction of some type.

[DEATH_INC.]

I am sorry - but this to me is poor riding. You should have identified the hazard and taken appropriate action - especially if it happened twice.

As Keith Code says - identify the hazard, plan you escape.

This sounds good coming from you ........both drivers pulled in front of me at the last second;you can only stop/turn so fast........what do you think I should have done,stopped in the middle of the road and let them do their turn??????then got run over by those following!!!!Do YOU stop and let all cars signalling a turn go in front of you into their driveways accross the main road????I don't think so.
BTW I NEVER get people turning in front of my 4WD.......