Almost killed by a Bus this morning

[Akzle]

Great, so an assertion is made by someone and I'm asked to reasearch its validity on my own. This is such a wonderful and helpful forum. What if I just ride my bike like I stole it, that would get everyone's attention and I'll be super safe.....

Sent from my F8331 using Tapatalk

you should bawwwwwwwwww more. it's so endearing.

[FJRider]

Perhaps I wasn't so clear in my Friday evening rant ...

Logic might suggest ... if there was no need/pressure to brake ... there was no need to rant ...


In other words ... just your average day in Auckland traffic ...

[GazzaH]

It was a learning opportunity, one of many for any sufficiently alert and cautious rider/driver. I have vivid memories of scary incidents I survived going back to when I used to cycle to school, a loooooong time ago - every one of em taught me something, if only, on occasions, "I'm a lucky bugger".

[caspernz]

Logic might suggest ... if there was no need/pressure to brake ... there was no need to rant ...


In other words ... just your average day in Auckland traffic ...

Funny you say this. Recently I've been spending a bit of time driver training in Auckland traffic with a chap who resides in the calm of rural Waikato. His somewhat frantic responses to the cut and thrust of off-peak motorway traffic were bemusing. Then at times he'd be watching me pilot the truck and couldn't work out why I calmly kept a decent gap and made very few brake applications. Maybe he needs a Go-Pro to record all the near misses he can easily avoid...

[Luckylegs]

ARA bus drivers were always cunts. Especially the fat boonger ones.

D'ya blame them given those god awful green uniforms. Now those IRA bus drivers......

[awayatc]

everything that can go wrong.......
will go wrong....

So I drive/ ride accordingly, and very rarely get "caught out" by idiots.
More often then not many of the things that could go wrong don't go wrong, restoring my faith in humanity , and make me far less annoyed when somebody does fuck up.

I get at times a bit annoyed when I see somebody deliberately being a dick, but overall I shrug it off, and hope others will react likewise when I "fuck up" myself......

[Old Steve]

I don't have any trouble with buses on Onewa Rd. I think all the drivers for Birkenhead Transport are excellent, they indicate before pulling out and they double hazard flash when you let them pull out into the traffic ahead of you.

Yes I used to see a lot of emergency braking when riding a white Honda ST1100, black jacket and pants with a fluoro yellow hi-viz and white helmet in Central Queensland, I could almost bet on cars on side streets having an nose dive slow down or stop when they saw me. But I was always aware that they just might not see me, so didn't rely on the Police look alike factor.

Though I like the Birkenhead Transport Bus drivers, I'm not so happy about taxis - it's a taxi that got me on my way to work one morning.

[LinkNZ]

Started a similar thread on this a few months ago.

https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/s...ing-red-lights

Upper/Queen St & K Road intersection has to be one of the worst. Being paid minimum wage is not an excuse to run a red light and endanger passengers, other motorists or pedestrians.

[jasonu]

Haven't seen an ARA bus in quite a few years...

From what I have read on here they have been replaced with another bunch of equally big cunts.

[Moi]

From what I have read on here they have been replaced with another bunch of equally big cunts.

Yeah, you're not wrong...

[caseye]

...this should be in the Friday Night Rants thread...my nieces cousin, my sisters niece was blown up in Manchester, she is full of shrapnel and burned and close to death...her 14 year old friend is dead...that's murder...

Hoping she comes home asap and is helped to come back from a most terrifying experience, thoughts and condolences re her friend. Makes a MOCKERY of such minor things as our OP's experence this morning.

[swbarnett]

Could you kindly site those overseas studies, I'm curious to read because my personal experience as a driver is completely different.

Likely because you actually have a good situational awareness. To drivers that don't it matters not because they're not looking in the first place.

I wear all black on a nearly all black bike (grey scoop). My observation is that most drivers do see me (maybe they hear my Yoshi first). And those that don't I'm ready for.

[iYRe]

Could you kindly site those overseas studies, I'm curious to read because my personal experience as a driver is completely different.

As pointed out, it is possible that you are one of the exceptional drivers. There are actually quite a few studies to be found online... Just google it

Even trying to be aware, and super careful and observant I have occasionally pulled out on a bike or a cycle. I feel like shit for ages afterwards too. But you know, you have 3 screaming kids and your wife bitching at you all at the same time and even the best driver might be distracted just at the wrong moment.

Some things I have learned from my years (motorbiking, cars, and cycling) in the CBD:
1. People cant hear your loud exhaust. Back in the day in their Mk3 Cortina, yeah, but in a modern japanese/euro with sound proofing and your ipod blasting your your mobile PA... no way. Even in my budget honda I am lucky to hear a harley with straight pipes after it has gone past.

2. Bright lights and fluro help with about 20% of drivers. About 79% of the rest will never see you, so you have to see them. Besides that, half the frickin people in auckland wear fluro so it doesnt stand out any more, and lights, unless they are blinding everyone are no good unless the person registers what it is that they are seeing.. and they dont.

3. A loud horn is a god send.

4. If you learn to use your senses, and learn to look for hazards, to anticipate, you will mitigate most problems.

5. Dont ride passively. I see people every day meandering along getting pushed around by cars, squeezed out of lanes and so forth. You cant do that. You have to put yourself into safe positions on the road, whether it is at the lights or on the motorway. Letting the 4 wheeled vehicles dictate to you how much room and where you can ride on the road is a death sentence. Trust me, I have had, and seen friends die (and watched many near misses) because of this