Fucked by a cager tonight (5 Feb)

[Lucy]

If I read his story right, carlosliu was first at the lights - there were no cars to shelter behind. In a case like this you have the choice of staying where you are and being hit from behind, or moving forward through a red light and being hit side-on.

I don't like this kind of choice.

No, the problem was he stopped for an amber light. Must be new to Auckland.

I've been through lights thinking 'oops I really should have stopped for that one', then looked in the mirror and four cars have gone through after me!

[bezajel]

No, the problem was he stopped for an amber light. Must be new to Auckland.

I've been through lights thinking 'oops I really should have stopped for that one', then looked in the mirror and four cars have gone through after me!

Eek, this happens to me all the time. I can't believe some of the lights people run through. I dunno what's wrong with stopping, anyway, I like to be at the front of the lights!

Though if there aren't people stopped behind me already, I tend to flash my brake light when someone's approaching.

[klingon]

... if there aren't people stopped behind me already, I tend to flash my brake light when someone's approaching.

I put on my hazard lights, then sit there looking like a meerkat trying to see in every direction at once. Having been hit from behind once, I never want to experience that again! It hurt!

[sunhuntin]

Some bikes have very heavy clutch springs. So putting the bike into Neutral is easier on the wrist.

thanks for that. didnt think, lol.

klingon... not sure about where you are, but i was looking at the road this morning while at the front of a set of lights. i have worked out that theres enough room in front to shoot forward into the ped crossing lines to avoid being rear ended. if angled right, you could avoid going into the intersection entirely.

[klingon]

thanks for that. didnt think, lol.

klingon... not sure about where you are, but i was looking at the road this morning while at the front of a set of lights. i have worked out that theres enough room in front to shoot forward into the ped crossing lines to avoid being rear ended. if angled right, you could avoid going into the intersection entirely.

Yes, this is true of a lot of intersections but not all. It would really be a judgement call at that moment (having mentally rehearsed it, just as you were doing this morning).

How fast is the car behind you going? Is it likely that you will be safer if you move forward by a metre, or does that just make it more likely that you'll get pushed into oncoming traffic when they hit you?

In some of the intersections on my commuting route, turning cars cut the corner quite badly so (depending on the light phase) there's a pretty high chance of being hit by a turning car if I move forward, even if I just move up to the painted line on the road and don't go over it.

At the intersection where I was hit, I had stopped at a stop sign. There was very little room in front of me (no pedestrian crossing) and I had to be quite a long way forward to see oncoming traffic from my right. The road was on a long hill, and cars coming from my right would be going damn fast by the time they reached that intersection. There was no way I was going to shoot forward unless I was sure the road was clear - in which case I would have gone anyway and not been hit!

I've gone over that scenario many times since then, trying to work out what I could have done differently at that particular intersection. So far I haven't come up with a viable answer.

[samgab]

I put on my hazard lights, then sit there looking like a meerkat trying to see in every direction at once.

Haha, very funny mental image there, a meerkat sitting at the lights on a motorbike looking all around...

[klingon]

Haha, very funny mental image there, a meerkat sitting at the lights on a motorbike looking all around...

That's exactly what I look like. A meerkat wearing a fluoro vest.

[bezajel]

I put on my hazard lights, then sit there looking like a meerkat trying to see in every direction at once. Having been hit from behind once, I never want to experience that again! It hurt!

I don't have hazard lights!

[Ixion]

Can you do the "chee chee chee" noise instead?

[Max Preload]

Having been hit from behind once, I never want to experience that again! It hurt!

Toni Marsh... is that you?

[Cynos]

The most important time to be checking your mirrors is when you're slowing to a stop in a vulnerable spot within the prevailing traffic.

Indeed, you can never trust the person behind you. Too many times I see people texting when approaching stopped traffic. >_<

[klingon]

Toni Marsh... is that you?

LOL smart alec

[samgab]

Indeed, you can never trust the person behind you.

Yeah, apparently that's what they say in jail too...

[motorbyclist]

The most important time to be checking your mirrors is when you're slowing to a stop in a vulnerable spot within the prevailing traffic.

it is also recommended to weave a bit so at to make yourself more obvious and to help the cager realise you are 20m short of the line - often they assume you've stopped ON the line like a cage does, and dont/cant perceive that you aren't cause we're too small

Are the cops charging them with careless? If so just call them and tell them the excess and they will claim it back for you when he goes to court. Also if you have any injuries at all let them know cause it makes it a much better charge

BAHAHAHAHAHAHA

if only

the cops do shit all - that is a personal matter not a police one, and if the police DID get your excess, why not do the whole thing and pay for the bike?

i can tell you from experience that you will only get out of an excess if the other party admits fault

if you aren't insured (or in my case my brother wasn't insured for my bike) you're fucked. small claims doesn't actually force anyone to pay, even after the 3rd successful hearing - meanwhile the unlicensed driver is forced to pay a fine and is prevented from getting a licence for another few months

Yeah, that's the great thing about having full insurance. You just fill out the form explaining what happened, and they do the rest, and you get a cheque in the mail.

exactly.

provided you don't go through the part where you disagree on the excess, the sum insured, the value of the vehicle, and whether or not two months is an acceptable time to sort everything out.