Witnessed an almost accident

  • Thread starter Thread starter flaminllama
  • Start date Start date
F

flaminllama

Guest
Forum Sponsor
I was crossing Elm street downtown (just east of University) and I noticed a biker in full protective gear, including a bright green reflective vest (like what the construction guys wear at night while working on the road). I thought to myself, wow, what a sensible rider...He must have no issues with visibility.

At the exact same instant, a stupid SUV almost collided with him trying to make a left turn! Luckily, the biker was able to stop in time (he skidded a bit) and then resume his ride as if nothing happened.

The guy was in a fluorescent green vest! Is this normal?? I just bought my bike yesterday, don't even have my M1 yet. I'm already approaching the bike with a healthy dose of respect (and fear). I was considering the bright green vest as well for myself (I don't plan on winning any fashion shows).

The SUV would have flattened the guy completely! Even though he was completely not at fault, he could have died.

I'm glad nothing happened, but now I'm a little freaked out. I don't think the SUV driver gave it a second thought...probably thinks the biker appeared out of nowhere.
 
Was this Rob Maclennan?

Yes, people being stupid and in a hurry and killing bikers is normal in the GTA. The only one interested in keeping you alive is you.

Ride safe.
 
Being Visible is great and all but more important to be the one looking out for potential danger yourself.

NEVER depend on / assume the other driver see you!

Do yourself a favor, I know you said you bought the bike before your m1 but don't ride it til you've taken a course.
 
It won't be the last near miss you see, especially after you start riding.

Take a course! Ride like everyone is out to get you.
 
I've lost count how many times I've been cut off. Most common is being cut off, only thing is because you're a bike it's much worse. At one point I was between an SUV and the centre median at which point I obviously hit the break.

Ride like everyone's out to kill you, but don't live in fear. You can choose not to commit any risk in life and knock your head in the bath tub. Or you can go out and do what you love in the most safest and sensible manner. You only have one life, so live it :)
 
Ymax said:
Being Visible is great and all but more important to be the one looking out for potential danger yourself.

NEVER depend on / assume the other driver see you!

Do yourself a favor, I know you said you bought the bike before your m1 but don't ride it til you've taken a course.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I'm writing the M1 test tomorrow morning. No riding until I take the M2 course with learning curves in mid September. I only bought the bike ahead of time because it was a great deal.
 
After a while, you learn to predict these situations. If you want to survive, you start doing things to prevent the collisions before they happen - and that includes preventing the collisions that would be someone else's fault.

You need to develop your own "sixth sense". If you are approaching an intersection and you can't see EVERY vehicle that is in or approaching the intersection, the automatic alarm bell needs to go off in your mind and tell you to do something about it ... like change position and/or slow down.

Even if you can see every vehicle, you need to do something to mitigate the risk if someone does something wrong. There is no simple "how to". You have to understand what is happening in the intersection and what other drivers are likely to do wrong, and then do something about it.

On country roads, if I have the right of way but spot another vehicle approaching a stop sign at a cross road, I'll speed up or slow down so that I don't arrive at the intersection at the same time, if they blow the stop sign.

On country roads, approaching a blind crest ... that is not the time for the oft-taught "blocking position". My preference is to be in the left side of the right car tire track. Far enough left (away from the edge of the road) so that a bicycle or pedestrian in my direction on the other side of that crest shouldn't be a problem ... far enough right that if an oncoming car is partially in my lane passing a bicycle or pedestrian coming up the hill from the other direction, it isn't likely to be directly in my path. And by being towards the right, if they see me at the last moment, it encourages them to go back towards their own lane ... rather than go for the opposite ditch directly across my path.

If there is a left-turner coming the other direction, and there is traffic going in your direction, often you can use another car travelling in your direction as a block ... the left turner would have to go through that other car in order to get to you. Failing that, make darn sure you are visible to the left-turner and SLOW DOWN - but don't slow down TOO much - don't make it visible, because otherwise the left-turner could mistakenly think that you are turning or stopping and promptly drive right across your path.

V-Tom (another moderator) has a link to articles about SMIDSY (sorry mate, I didn't see you) and what to do about it.
 
Last edited:
Anything within the law that you can do to make yourself more visible is always a good thing. For long rides I always wear a neon vest (Icon MilSpec), and it's mesh and doesn't make me any hotter riding. I haven't tampered with my indicator lights to make them smaller...haven't replaced my brakelight with some ambiguous LED unit. I want to be seen as much as I can. I still don't know where I stand (and where the law stands) with headlight and brakelight modulators but I certainly notice them when they are on bikes. I wiggle the bars a little approaching junctions and always go through them expecting some ****** to turn in front of me. When a merge lane comes up I always expect some tosser to try to merge into me too.
 
jc100 said:
I still don't know where I stand (and where the law stands) with headlight and brakelight modulators but I certainly notice them when they are on bikes.
Click to expand...

Headlight modulators are legal and the way they must operate is clearly defined in the law. AFAIK, flashing taillights could get you in trouble, however I have never heard of anyone catching a ticket for flashing taillights.

Good call on stock signals. With most fender eliminators, you think the riders are begging to be squished. I can't imaging paying hundreds of dollars to make your bike substantially less visible (but look how awesome it looks in the timmies parking lot!!! :0 ).
 
jc100 said:
Anything within the law that you can do to make yourself more visible is always a good thing. For long rides I always wear a neon vest (Icon MilSpec), and it's mesh and doesn't make me any hotter riding. I haven't tampered with my indicator lights to make them smaller...haven't replaced my brakelight with some ambiguous LED unit. I want to be seen as much as I can. I still don't know where I stand (and where the law stands) with headlight and brakelight modulators but I certainly notice them when they are on bikes. I wiggle the bars a little approaching junctions and always go through them expecting some ****** to turn in front of me. When a merge lane comes up I always expect some tosser to try to merge into me too.
Click to expand...

I looked up the Icon Mil spec - looks awesome (and fairly priced).
 
I have yet to have a serious issue with this but I know it's only a matter of time. I've had a few people see me at the last second but nothing where I came close to hitting them.
 
Even though headlight modulators are a good idea, and increase visibility.

My thoughts on them, is that oncoming traffic at intersections or people pulling out may think your flashing their lights to pull out or go ahead.

Just my 2 cents ..
 
flaminllama said:
I was crossing Elm street downtown (just east of University) and I noticed a biker in full protective gear, including a bright green reflective vest (like what the construction guys wear at night while working on the road). I thought to myself, wow, what a sensible rider...He must have no issues with visibility.

At the exact same instant, a stupid SUV almost collided with him trying to make a left turn! Luckily, the biker was able to stop in time (he skidded a bit) and then resume his ride as if nothing happened.

The guy was in a fluorescent green vest! Is this normal?? I just bought my bike yesterday, don't even have my M1 yet. I'm already approaching the bike with a healthy dose of respect (and fear). I was considering the bright green vest as well for myself (I don't plan on winning any fashion shows).

The SUV would have flattened the guy completely! Even though he was completely not at fault, he could have died.

I'm glad nothing happened, but now I'm a little freaked out. I don't think the SUV driver gave it a second thought...probably thinks the biker appeared out of nowhere.
Click to expand...

There is a great deal of difference between being visible and being perceived.

In the situation you describe (often referred to as the "SMIDSY") the driver's brain may have just a moment to decide what things in the environment are a threat and may result in a collision. The brain will filter out things that it feels aren't threatening. Research has shown that things that cross your field of vision are more easily perceived as threats. Things heading straight at you aren't crossing your field of vision and as a result the brain tends to ignore it. .

The brain also looks for threats it knows about.. for example the look af a car approaching is something the brain will tend to pick out as it sees it a lot and knows it's a threat. A motorcycle heading straight at someone tends to look a lot like a car at a distance and can get filtered out. Bright lights on the motorcycle can wash out cues as to the motorcycle's speed, distance, etc. Even bright gear can confuse the brain so that it doesn't realize a motorcycle is coming (if it is seen at all.. often doubtful when the bike is coming straight for the car and the bike itself is blocking the hi-viz.)

One thing that can help is a little bit of a waggle as you approach a SMIDSY situation. This can help you pop out of the background and allow the brain to realize you are a threat. To do this properly you need to understand when it matters and this has the benefit of teaching you to take a more active role in knowing what things are threats. Please take a look at the kinks in the first message in this thread I started to get it explained properly:

http://www.gtamotorcycle.com/vbforu...ing-that-will-help-you-stay-alive-this-season

..Tom
 
Being visible is good, but that doesn't make you immune to stupidity, selfishness & bad judgment
 
infernobuster said:
Even though headlight modulators are a good idea, and increase visibility.

My thoughts on them, is that oncoming traffic at intersections or people pulling out may think your flashing their lights to pull out or go ahead.

Just my 2 cents ..
Click to expand...

fair point.
 
After a while, you learn to predict these situations. If you want to survive, you start doing things to prevent the collisions before they happen - and that includes preventing the collisions that would be someone else's fault.

You need to develop your own "sixth sense".
Click to expand...

At times when I'm in complex traffic and shifting positions with vehicles etc I think - I'm not even aware of the subtle changes I make after riding so long...how the hell to get that across...watching drivers eyes, front wheels, what's happening 100 metres up ahead....even pulling out gas stations etc position the bike to enter traffic and yet negotiate sometimes off camber, gravel etc and after a time you do without thinking about it.

I'm getting confident in my son's riding from a positioning standpoint as well...thinking to myself yeah that's where he should be in this particular situation.

I'm always nervous at getting hit from behind and often keep to the left of the car ahead just a tad when coming to halt just incase idjit behind is not paying attention....
Dozens of "situational" decisions sometimes in a single minute in complex traffic .....

New riders just need saddletime to get comfortable handing their machine but I do think buddy up behind an experienced rider and try and observe the small details of positioning.

I concur on crests.....I've had a few "surprises" on the other side. :rolleyes:
Forum Sponsor
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom