Does your motorcycle make you a better car driver?

[Scuba_Steve]

Yep sure did, no doubt.

[AllanB]

Pretty much. You're more aware of your surroundings even if the CD player is wound up and the heater is nice and warm .....

I still can't get the car to wheelie though.

[bogan]

yup, I'm aware just how shit a cage is for spatial awareness (especially a tinted out L300), and take extra care to check everywhere, and indicate before doing maneuvers just incase I missed something, and its the fucking law too which approximately fuck all other drivers adhere to

[Cayman911]

Definitely.

Having the two different points of view is something everyone needs to have on the road.
i know know how the poor biker feels. and give him room. let him pass and dont try to commit murder on the road.

It's a predatory world out there on the road. and its good to be both the bunny and the tiger sometimes.

I still can't get the car to wheelie though.

You need a 7.2L supercharged V8 Pontiac

[rocketman1]

Sure has, Thats why I advocate that all cage drivers should spend some time on a motorbike / scooter to see how looks & feels from our point of veiw.
I dread knocking someone off their motorbike or pushbike come to that. I always look twice and watch out more for motorbikes, pull over a bit to let them past on the highway, and give way in more time.
I must admit that in my opinion there are alot of good cage drivers out there. Most will move over for me or wait that bit longer for me to pass at intersections when Im on the bike compared to when Im in the car.
In other words I feel better treated on the road as a biker by cagers. Strange but true.
Yes there are a few idiots in cagers, but I would say the majority are good dudes.

[DangerMice]

Yup, it sure has. I'm also on the lookout for bikes a lot more too. Checking the wing mirror a hell of a lot more for bikes filtering & always move right over for them.

[Big Dave]

Nah, not really. No difference.

[Smifffy]

In the cage I got Mass, Airbags, ABS and an air-horn. Get outta my way!

[Urano]

definitely!

i've been sentencing for years that driving licenses have to be conceded "in sequence". after all you cannot have a truck license without a car one.
why should you obtain a car one without ever been on the road on the "weak side"?

being a rider force you to pay more attention at what you have around, trying to figure out what that car is going to do, and look at the tarmac, at the intersections, under the steady buses to see the leg of a running child... so on...
a bike also shows you that you can wait a second to answer that damn cell phone, or that you will not starve if you eat the sandwich when you stop, or that you can surely stop to smoke...

it's not an opinion too.
i remember to have red a statistic where it was pointed out that car drivers with motorbike licence are less involved in accident: i'll post you if i'll find it out...

[Conquiztador]

it's not an opinion too.
i remember to have red a statistic where it was pointed out that car drivers with motorbike licence are less involved in accident: i'll post you if i'll find it out...

Makes sense. If you have a bike license you will be riding bikes more than the ones who does not have bike license. Therefore you will be driving less cars, therefore the chance of a car accident will drop.

[Urano]

uhm...
i don't think it could be read in this way, leading the reduction from the "less time behind the steering wheel"...

anyway, here a google translation from an article posted on the site of the italian highway patrol association quoting the etsc:
http://translate.google.com/translat...e%3D28.05.2008

[YellowDog]

Of course being a motorcyclist does make you a better car driver.

You can always identify them by the fact that they let you pass rather than trying to squish you.

IMO - road users should be made to pass a motorcycle test first before being able to drive a car on the road. It would make the roads a lot safer (eventually).

[schrodingers cat]

sorry........just to clarify...........was it you or the lemmings that were desperate for a feed and shortland street??

I was keen for a feed. Only.
I know this is a nice safe place but some shames are too great to speak out loud.
And the meal was PIZZA not Quiche LOL

I see quite a few of you are suggesting bike first, car later when you get your licence. 30 years ago that was pretty much wht happened. Cars were expensive! Most of the folks I grew up with got a car licence first so they could drive their parents car but the 'mode of personal transport' they owned was a bike

I think the problem now would be that if you lobbied for the need to hold a bike licnese first all the (hovering) helicopter / PC parents would wave statistics at you and scream murder of our youth.
Perhaps Car licence at 18, Scooter licence at 16. Their choice then.
And maybe the fear of their little darling getting skittled on the road would translate to attempting not to skittle anyone elses little darling.

Ahhh Eutopia!

[Scuba_Steve]

definitely!

i've been sentencing for years that driving licenses have to be conceded "in sequence". after all you cannot have a truck license without a car one.
why should you obtain a car one without ever been on the road on the "weak side"?

being a rider force you to pay more attention at what you have around, trying to figure out what that car is going to do, and look at the tarmac, at the intersections, under the steady buses to see the leg of a running child... so on...
a bike also shows you that you can wait a second to answer that damn cell phone, or that you will not starve if you eat the sandwich when you stop, or that you can surely stop to smoke...

it's not an opinion too.
i remember to have red a statistic where it was pointed out that car drivers with motorbike licence are less involved in accident: i'll post you if i'll find it out...

Me and a few others reckon learners should be 2 wheeled, & then once proven you can ride you either step up to a full bike or restricted car (which will be more like the learners car now). Yes there will be some accidents in the learners area of course but most of these should be single person non-fatal accidents and on the whole NZ would end up with some of the best motorists in the world.

& I think it was the AA who's study found bikers to be the best/safest drivers on the road.

[p.dath]

I definately am a safer cage driver as a result of leaning to ride.

One thing that I find that bothers me now is that the 'A' pillar (in the cage) is always in the road preventing me from seeing around the corner as easy.