This is better...Originally Posted by onearmedbandit
Weekend cruiser
This is better...
You're just jealous because the voices only talk to me
mini meeeeeee
An extremely frequent occurrence. I've lost count of the times I've blasted the horn (car and bike) at selectively blind motorists and they sit staring wildly straight ahead of them so as to not see you. The body language is always the same - tense hands on their steering wheel, rigid arms and hunched forward to the steering wheel, nose almost touching their damned windscreen!
I lahk to moove eet moove eet...
Katman to steveb64
Forum whore
I'm not arguing with you, however I will argue that no matter how much training you throw at everyone, YOU will always be responsible for YOUR safety.
Instead of SMIDSY, how about NPMISY.
Last edited by onearmedbandit; 24th November 2010 at 20:45.
dodgy is as dodgy does
And part of being responsible for my own safety is demanding that the external factors that place me at risk are attended to. Our beloved leaders are very keen to see the road toll drop, so here's a way that we could see lives saved.
Getting back to my original argument, I do not believe that the majority of people who "failed to see" another vehicle then subsequently hit them didn't see that vehicle. I believe they saw it, but their subconscious brain didn't send the right signals to the conscious brain, therefore it's a simple matter of reprogramming them by making people aware of the ramifications of hitting smeone else.
I know the modern way is to be passive and put up with things the way they are, but why should we put up with the degree of apalling driving that I see every day just because we can drive defensively? I can lock my house, so does that mean the police should stop policing and prosecuting burglaries?
Don't blame me, I voted Green.
Forum whore
Like I said, I'm not arguing that there is room for improvement across the entire spectrum, just that I will always rely on my abilities first and foremost, before I assume that someone else is doing their very best to avoid causing an accident.
There will always be burglars. But they tend to go for the easy jobs. So if you only have a lock on your door, and expect that the police will have done their job and taken care of the burglars already, well expect to get burgled. However, if you have an electrified boundary, 5 big fuck off dogs, motion sensors attached to traps, reinforced entry points to your dwelling, then the chances you'll get burgled are far less than the guy up the road.
For most of us however, that isn't practical. So instead we have contents insurance. We get burgled, it sucks, but insurance will replace your material items. Now you can also have insurance on your bike and gear, but I've yet to come across an insurance policy that ensures you will suffer no physical harm. So when it comes to riding, I have that electrified fence, I have those 5 hungry dogs, I have the motion sensors etc. It sucks that I have to do this, but I'll say it again, no matter how much you improve other road users you need to be responsible for your own safety, to which I know you agree.
In an ideal world something would happen immediately to improve everyones attention etc when using our roads. But seeing as that won't happen overnight, or ever for that matter (to a level where the average person - ie not a skilled professional- can command a 1-3 tonne missle on the road) then I'll change what I can, my attention.
To sum up, yes I believe that all road users in NZ need to be made more aware of the attention skills required to drive a vehicle. I believe that our licensing system is too lax. I believe that the vast majority of drivers are more concerned with their shopping lists/radio station/stomach/sex life/bills/work/home life/children/etc then they are with operating a vehicle in close proximity to other vehicles speeding towards them separated by a white line. I believe that the government is more interested in catching speeders then actually educating drivers (one wins voters, one loses them).
However, most importantly I believe fuck all is going to be done about this. And most certainly not by this afternoon. So instead of devoting any of my decreasing grey matter to what I'm hoping others might be doing, I concentrate on what I'm doing.
Fair weather rider
Perhaps the fault lies with our no fault ACC scheme. It has lead to a mindset that says, I don’t have to pay for my mistakes and I can’t get sued so I will do the f*** what I want. Bring some individual accountability into it and perhaps we will see a change in attitude
dodgy is as dodgy does
"A Whakatane motorcyclist has died after a crash in Bay of Plenty yesterday. Police said the motorcyclist was travelling towards Rotorua about 3pm when he collided with a car that was coming out of a driveway in Awakeri, a farming area southwest of Whakatane.
The motorcyclist was airlifted to Tauranga Hospital with serious injuries and died early last night, police said. The driver of the car, the sole occupant, was taken to Whakatane Hospital with minor injuries.
Police were investigating but did not believe alcohol or speed were factors." http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=10690009
SMIDSY strikes again. I bet the car driver is wishing like hell they'd stopped and looked a little more carefully.
Don't blame me, I voted Green.
Forum whore
That's terrible to hear. Did the car not stop at all when turning out their driveway? I know whenever I see a car coming out a driveway I pucker up a bit. Brakes are covered and I'm watching the car like a hawk to try to establish it's intentions. If I can't, I'll come to almost a complete halt.
Fuck don't get me wrong, I'm not a perfect rider. I still make mistakes. Everyday. But there are flags I look for, and driveways are one of them, especially on the open road.
Forum whore
"Police said the motorcyclist was travelling towards Rotorua about 3pm when he collided with a car"
What a crock of shit.
The following is not a crock of shit.
"Police said the driver exited a driveway onto the road without looking, directly into the path of a motorcyclist traveling toward Rotorua, around 3pm."
This blatant anti-motorcycling, "haha another motorcyclist died" campaign has got to stop.
If a man is alone in the woods and there isn't a woke Hollywood around to call him racist, is he still white?
dodgy is as dodgy does
Poor car being hit by a motorcyclist.
That's why we need to change our attitude and stop being so fucking apologetic and passive. Yes, of course we ride as defensively as possible and do everything in our power to avoid crashing, but we need to stop blaming ourselves for the fault of others.
Don't blame me, I voted Green.
Forum whore
You're confusing blame with responsibility. It doesn't matter who is to blame when you're dead.
You CAN take responsibility for avoiding "accidents" like that one. "Apologetic and passive"? Sensible and alive more like.
If a man is alone in the woods and there isn't a woke Hollywood around to call him racist, is he still white?
Forum whore
You don't have to own the problem to be safer.
Everyone blames everyone else for the problem, but basically it doesn't matter whose fault the problem is, it's the biker who comes off worst.
Own the solution. Ride defensively.
Forum whore
It isn't a problem. It's how it is.
If a man is alone in the woods and there isn't a woke Hollywood around to call him racist, is he still white?
dodgy is as dodgy does
No, I'm not. I take full responsibility for everything to do with my motorcycling, including the fact that I ride the things (which are innately dangerous), but I do feel comfortable levelling some blame at TPTB that aren't addressing a major hazard that impacts on MY safety.
And no matter how incredibly careful and skilled I am, somewhere out there is a crash I can't avoid. I just hope like hell I'm never where it is.
Don't blame me, I voted Green.
The instructions are simple...
The way these things are invariably reported makes it a problem.
The not-so-subtle meaning being that motorcyclists are always in the wrong. As a non-motorcyclist once said to me "You guys are the ones killing yourselves on those death traps. It's always in the papers."
Do you realise how many holes there could be if people would just take the time to take the dirt out of them?
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