Getting someone's attention

TwistedKestrel

TwistedKestrel

King of GTAM
Site Supporter
Forum Sponsor
Riding on the QEW eastbound today, near the Centennial Pkwy slow down, I noticed a Civic that had an obviously flat tire. Traffic was slow but did not come to a complete stop so I couldn't pull up beside him and yell at him - I honked at him, flashed my lights, but could not get the driver to even acknowledge my presence. When traffic started speeding up again I backed off and waited for the inevitable... sure enough, there was smoke, then the tire departed the vehicle. He managed to pull over semi-safely to the left shoulder, at this point there wasn't really anything more I could do for him so I just carried on.

I'm just wondering what I could have done better to save his afternoon. I'm sure he did actually see me, he probably just thought I'm an insane biker trying to start a level 10 road rage incident for no reason. And I didn't really want to pull up beside him in motion in case he then decided he needed to start defensive maneuvers, or whatever - it could be perceived as hostile.

Make sure your TPMS works and/or check your tire pressures, I guess
 
You tried your best and maintained your safety, that is all you can do.
 
I've tried similar in less dangerous situations, and it's amazing how hard it is to communicate that someone has their high-beams on or has left a signal on. Most seem to perceive any communication as a threat and do their best to studiously ignore.

Then again, I was driving along the coast in Northwest Italy a couple years ago, and if you know that terrain, the autostrada is either bridge or tunnel, nothing in between. Someone passed us on a two-lane stretch, then proceeded to slow down straddling the line, so I couldn't pass back either way. It took me ages to figure out that I didn't have my headlights on in the tunnels, which is a fat ticket if caught. They did me a huge favour, but I was an oblivious idiot cursing them out for about five minutes straight...
 
The most I will do is signal folks that are driving at night without their headlights on. I pull the parking brake a notch in the car so the DRL will go off, then turn the low beams on and off a couple of times. Cutting the DRL and turning the low beams on is more noticeable as a deliberate signal, and is less likely to be interpreted as aggression than flashing the high beams. Can't do that on the bike, though.

For any imminent dangerous situation I'm just going to get as far away from them as possible.
 
I usually warn cars when they dont have their lights on, i find pulling up beside the driver usually results in nadda. I pull a bit ahead so that im in their FOV and then gesture back at them. Most people get it after a few attempts.
 
A guy in front of me had his golf bag & clubs fall off a trailer a few years ago. It happened at an intersection so the clubs pretty much didn't leave the bag and there wasn't any visible damage. I honked and flashed my lights as he pulled away, but he didn't stop. I picked up the bag and was off in hot pursuit. Flashing, arm out the window waving, honking but still nothing. I followed him for about 10k until he FINALLY pulled over on a side road. As soon as I got out of the truck I grabbed his golf bag and he was shocked, embarrassed and grateful.
 
Similar. Was a following a guy who had a flat on his trailer. Pulled along side and repeatedly pointed to his trailer, then moved on past him. Pretty sure he followed me until he heard things grinding.
 
Maybe it should be mandatory to have your phone number on the back of your vehicle so somebody can text you.
 
xrljoel said:
A guy in front of me had his golf bag & clubs fall off a trailer a few years ago. It happened at an intersection so the clubs pretty much didn't leave the bag and there wasn't any visible damage. I honked and flashed my lights as he pulled away, but he didn't stop. I picked up the bag and was off in hot pursuit. Flashing, arm out the window waving, honking but still nothing. I followed him for about 10k until he FINALLY pulled over on a side road. As soon as I got out of the truck I grabbed his golf bag and he was shocked, embarrassed and grateful.
Click to expand...

Wow, that's almost the distance between the Gardiner and 401 along Yonge! By Dundas or maybe Bloor, my nephew would have been very happy to get a new set of clubs.
 
Relax said:
Wow, that's almost the distance between the Gardiner and 401 along Yonge! By Dundas or maybe Bloor, my nephew would have been very happy to get a new set of clubs.
Click to expand...
LOL. I followed him along Hwy.2/Dale Rd. and north on Hwy 28 out here in Port Hope. It was only a few minutes.

The drive you noted would have taken long enough for me to learn how to play golf.
 
xrljoel said:
A guy in front of me had his golf bag & clubs fall off a trailer a few years ago. It happened at an intersection so the clubs pretty much didn't leave the bag and there wasn't any visible damage. I honked and flashed my lights as he pulled away, but he didn't stop. I picked up the bag and was off in hot pursuit. Flashing, arm out the window waving, honking but still nothing. I followed him for about 10k until he FINALLY pulled over on a side road. As soon as I got out of the truck I grabbed his golf bag and he was shocked, embarrassed and grateful.
Click to expand...
I was working in a parking garage and heard a regular banging noise. Then a SUV drove past me with the liftgate open, hitting every low pipe.

In the back was a set of golf clubs. The driver must have spent a fair bit of time at the 19th hole to not notice the noise. Liftgate took a beating.
 
A couple of years back my Santa Sack fell off the back of my bike during my annual Santa ride.

Normally lots of honking, people waving, and jockeying for position to get a glimpse or pic of Santa on his bike.

The fellow that picked up my bag ended couldn’t get my attention. He eventually got ahead of me and stopped traffic on hwy so he could get the bag to me.
 
TwistedKestrel said:
I honked at him, flashed my lights, but could not get the driver to even acknowledge my presence. When traffic started speeding up again I backed off and waited for the inevitable... sure enough, there was smoke, then the tire departed the vehicle.
Click to expand...

If the tire was bad enough that this happened and the driver did not notice until it came off completely, I'm not sure there's anything you could've done.

You could have had a whole fireworks display shooting off of your bike, some people are too oblivious/on drugs/mentally ******/drunk/etc. to notice anything.
 
adri said:
If the tire was bad enough that this happened and the driver did not notice until it came off completely, I'm not sure there's anything you could've done.

You could have had a whole fireworks display shooting off of your bike, some people are too oblivious/on drugs/mentally ******/drunk/etc. to notice anything.
Click to expand...
I regularly see pedestrians ear plugged into their smart phones and focused on the screen. Basically, dumb and blind to the world around them. In cars, add tinted windows.
Forum Sponsor
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom