Round-abouts and 4-wheel-drives

**s1mple_m4n** · 6th April 2008, 22:59

I'm starting to think I must be the unluckiest scooterist in Auckland. Or the luckiest - depending on your point of view...
Two Thursdays ago on the way to work at 8.30 in the morning, I was entering a roundabout when a woman in a 4WD entered to my left without looking or giving way. I pulled as hard as I could on both brakes which unfortunately left me and the scooter lying in the middle of the road.
The woman stopped, we checked the bike, and I decided as there was minimal damage (indicator mount), I would not ask for her insurance or contact details.
She said she just didn't see me, which I don't get because it was bright sunlight, I always ride with the headlight on, and my scooter is bright metallic blue and white!
Anyways, this Thursday just gone, the same thing happened! Different roundabout, same time of day, different weather. It was raining, so I went for a bit more of a skid, but luckily only a sprained wrist, some paint scraped off one leg shield and that damn indicator mount broken again!
Next Thursday, I think I might catch the bus...

RoyJ

**motorbyclist** · 7th April 2008, 01:01

gutted!

Originally Posted by s1mple_m4n

She said she just didn't see me, which I don't get because it was bright sunlight, I always ride with the headlight on, and my scooter is bright metallic blue and white!

didn't look sounds more like it

i might suggest you practice emergency stopping in a carpark somewhere? you stop sooner and with less damage/injury that way

**Romeo** · 7th April 2008, 01:43

Just out of curiosity, how long have you been a road user (driver+rider)?

**BiK3RChiK** · 7th April 2008, 03:12

Dood, ride like they haven't seen ya, cause chances are... they haven't! Blind spots and lazy lookin'

**twistemotion** · 7th April 2008, 18:06

I'm a noob and have been riding the scooter for about 3 months now. I've experienced the exact same thing (without the drop) on roundabouts and very quickly learning that cage drivers just don't look out for you (even when wearing visible colours and headlight on). I've also been reading up a bit on defensive riding and have had to use some of the principles already! There sure is a lot to learn!

**EJK** · 7th April 2008, 18:13

Next time, carry a sawed-off shotgun

It may come handy...

...or attach two airhorns and use it WHENEVER you like!

Thats what I do, Put my finger on the horn button and use it whenever I feel like it

my surviving tip

**smokeyging** · 7th April 2008, 18:28

In the odd case there are blind spots in the odd vehicle but i’d say its more like a blind driver. someone asked before ‘how long have you been riding’. the point is the silly bitch should have given away to you. when it comes to bikes, everyone on the road is nuts, because with bikes you are’nt necessarily going to get a second chance.

**Flatcap** · 7th April 2008, 20:05

Originally Posted by BiK3RChiK

Dood, ride like they haven't seen ya, cause chances are... they haven't! Blind spots and lazy lookin'

Yep - you have to treat all cage drivers as if they are idiots, mainly because they are.....

**s1mple_m4n** · 7th April 2008, 21:27

Romeo - Hi. I'm 39, been driving for 22 years, including 4 years I owned a small trail bike. Owned the scoot since November last year (cheaper than a car, faster than a bus)...

motorbyclist - Hi. On both occasions I was slowing and leaning right to round the island when the ladies started entering the roundabout. I like your suggestion, but I doubt I could have avoided losing the scoot.

RoyJ

**motorbyclist** · 7th April 2008, 23:55

Originally Posted by smokeyging

In the odd case there are blind spots in the odd vehicle but i’d say its more like a blind driver. someone asked before ‘how long have you been riding’. the point is the silly bitch should have given away to you. when it comes to bikes, everyone on the road is nuts, because with bikes you are’nt necessarily going to get a second chance.

well time spent riding would explain the shock/horror at weekly near misses on a bike.

just last week i was turning right into a sidestreet as a car in that sidestreet approached their stop sign to turn right. sure enough they didn't even stop.
"oh sorry i didn't see you through the thingy" *driver calmly points towards their passenger side pillar*
"well if you had farking well stopped for the stop sign and looked properly that might not have been a problem now would it?

" *rider pulls front wheel back from ditch after epic swerve/horn/brake maneuver around the front of car*

**breakaway** · 20th April 2008, 20:14

You haven't learnt the critical rules of riding a 2 wheeled machine on the road:

1. Everyone is out to kill you.
2. Assume they did not see you.
3. If you make eye contact with the driver, assume that they still haven't seen you.

People look me straight in the eye and then pull out in front of me. Happens all the time. Now that I expect it, all I do is yawn and brake. Almost shat myself a couple times before I committed the above rules to memory though. You have no idea how slippery slightly wet bus lanes are

**davereid** · 21st April 2008, 08:13

Originally Posted by breakaway

You haven't learnt the critical rules of riding a 2 wheeled machine on the road:

1. Everyone is out to kill you.
2. Assume they did not see you.
3. If you make eye contact with the driver, assume that they still haven't seen you.

People look me straight in the eye and then pull out in front of me. Happens all the time. Now that I expect it, all I do is yawn and brake. Almost shat myself a couple times before I committed the above rules to memory though. You have no idea how slippery slightly wet bus lanes are

Yep ! Even when they make eye contact, they will still pull out in front of you.

They have seen you OK, but at its instinctive level the human brain reacts only to two things - Threats and Prey.

On a scooter you are neither, so the brain doesn't process the info properly.

On my HD, or ER6, I cross the threshold into "threat" much more easily than I do on my scooter - so I notice more people give way.

Same as dayglo - it helps, as for a split second the brain says "COP", and the data is processed. This of course will cease to be effective when we ae ALL in dayglo, as we go back to were we were !

**HungusMaximist** · 21st April 2008, 09:23

Well buddy, I pretty much face the same problem and would say most if not all bikers do also.

Like Dave mentioned above, even when they make eye contact and acknowledge you're there, they still put out.

What I usually do is fucken blast the horn or point out my left hand index finger and tell them off if they decide to cut in. Otherwise I usually just power through or swerve (which really pisses me off).

One thing to remember if you should never brake hard when you're in the turn of a roundabout because it's the momentum of the bike that's keeping it upright.