Ride To Be Seen

[RustyNails]

I have read a lot of posts here and on other forums about accidents between motorcycles and cages, most of the time the incident is blamed on the cage. The most common comment is that the cage driver says the he did not see the motorcycle. This affliction can be caused by any number of things. The flavor of the day is CELLPHONE.

 

While there are a lot of reasons why a cage driver doesn’t see a motorcycle there some things that you the rider can do to make sure that you are not one of those reasons.

 

1. Ride to be seen.

Where you ride on the road makes all the difference in whether or not you can be seen.

 

On a two-lane road or highway, if you are not riding close to the centerline you are invisible. Try this, next time you are on the road and there is a good sized vehicle coming toward you with a smaller vehicle behind it, watch that trailing vehicle as it weaves back and forth in its lane. Even a car or SUV can become invisible behind a larger vehicle.

 

If you are riding too close to the vehicle in front of you, you are invisible. This is especially bad at intersections on a busy street. If you are too close behind a car and there is a car that the driver is anxious to make a left and there is a gap between the car in front of you and one behind you that the turning car thinks he can make, he WILL not see you on your motorcycle. But if you are at least a couple of CAR lengths behind and in the left wheel track then the driver has a chance to see you. Whenever I approach an intersection and am behind a vehicle I position myself for maximum visibility, I sit tall in the saddle and look directly at the turning driver. This method I have found draws the driver’s attention to me.

 

When riding on multi-lane roads and highways the riding area changes with traffic and requires due diligence on the riders part, in California where splitting traffic is allowed, I found that the safest place to be on the freeways was the white line between the two farthest left lanes. I hope that one day splitting traffic is legal in all states.

 

California aside, multi-lane highway traffic varies and it is up to the rider to determine where he is the most visible. I have found that if I am traveling a long distance on a busy highway that the fast lane is the best place to be, I ride next to the white line between lanes. I do this so that I am visible to any vehicle around me. If there are two cars ahead side by side and two behind side by side you now can be seen by all four vehicles. This also has the affect of giving you an exit in case someone does something stupid. If a cage decides that your lane is greener than his, instead of veering left and possibly running into a k-rail or into the median, with a little throttle and slight adjustment of direction you can split between the vehicles ahead of you. Although it may be illegal, if it saves your life, who cares.

 

2. Ride aware. (Leave plenty of space around you.)

 

If you are aware of the traffic around you, then you are much safer. You can avoid incidents just by watching the traffic around you. If you scan your mirrors every few seconds then you will be hard to surprise from behind.

 

If you watch the driving habits of those in front of you, you can avoid most incidents ahead of you. If there is a driver that is driving steadily and he swerves a little and comes back in line then there may be a road gator or some other small obstruction ahead. Not too dangerous for a car but could be bad for a MC. If he slams on his brake and swerves then look for a path that will take you away from the hazard while looking to see if it was an animal that may travel into your path. This is a good time to mention that the brake is not always your best friend, sometimes the best way out of trouble is the accelerator.

 

I guess an example of that statement is in order. I had just bought my VR and was riding it home from Tennessee on I40. There were several tractor-trailer rigs in front of me in the right hand lane. As I was approaching the rear one he turned on his signal to move into my lane, I slowed down to let him over, as he passed the second rig he hit a two by four and threw it up in the air, there was a rig to my right and no where to go to the left. I saw that the board would fall before my front tire and accelerated so that I would go over it before it had a chance to bounce back up. It had the affect of breaking my exhaust collector, but it may have bounced up and hit the fairing or worse, me.

 

Animals are some of the most unpredictable objects you can encounter on any road. There is one very important thing to note about animals and that is if they are frightened, as by a vehicle on the road, their instinct is to get in front of the danger and try to out run it. So if you see a cow, deer or… on the side of the road there is a good chance that, even if it had no intention of crossing the road, your approach will cause it to panic and run in front of you. So the best defense is to slow down when you first see the animal and give it a chance to cross.

 

We also know that animals can run on the road from a totally invisible area and be a complete surprise. This again is where the accelerator and not your brake could be your best friend. Any of us who have ridden dirt bikes knows that if there is an obstruction in front of you that you either have to get the front wheel off the ground or at least unload it, take the weight off of it, if you want to go over the object. If there is no chance of not hitting an animal up to deer size then accelerating or at least not hitting the brakes could be the difference between life and death. By panic hitting the brakes you squat the front end and bring up the rear end, this is a recipe for disaster as more than likely you will endo.

 

By accelerating you have the advantage of momentum and have the possibility of either pushing the animal aside or going over the top of it. Yes, you will damage the bike, yes you may get hurt, but your chances of survival are greatly increased.

 

If the animal is larger than a deer then…

 

Remember, YOUR safety is up to YOU, NOT the other guy.

 

RIDE TO BE SEEN

[Freebird]

Excellent post and something that everybody should read over and over and over. It's easy to read such things but harder to get them embedded in your mind. You have to reach the point where evasive and other maneuvers become second nature.

[Marcarl]

Excellant post and I enjoyed reading it and will do so again. Would like to highlight one thing, THE THROTTLE IS YOUR FRIEND. No real experience with that yet, but it makes all the sense in the world.

Would like to add one thought to this as well:

What signals are we sending to the cagers around us? Case in point:

You are travelling down a city street, right hand lane , left track and you notice a cager waiting to make a left turn in front of you. Do you stay in the left track or move to the right track. At this point, think of what the cager may be thinking. If he sees a bike in the left track coming towards him, he may think, wait, if he sees a bike coming towards him in the left track and then veer to the right track he may think, oh he's turning so I'll turn now and then,,, whoopps.

Another one: We're making a right hand turn at an intersection, so we pull over to the right track and stop as required. Buddy behind us thinks, oh he's giving me room to go, and attempts it, but ticks the scoot. Block him, keep the left track and force him to stay behind. it's a signal to the cager.

The are many signals we send to other drivers by our positioning and our riding and with a bike it's very important for us to realize the signals we are sending out. Try to think for the other guy and ride accordingly

[RustyNails]

Thanks Don,

 

Practicing safety should be a constant activity while riding. Just the act of observing your environment is a safety maneuver.

 

 

Excellant post and I enjoyed reading it and will do so again. Would like to highlight one thing, THE THROTTLE IS YOUR FRIEND. No real experience with that yet, but it makes all the sense in the world.

Would like to add one thought to this as well:

What signals are we sending to the cagers around us? Case in point:

You are travelling down a city street, right hand lane , left track and you notice a cager waiting to make a left turn in front of you. Do you stay in the left track or move to the right track. At this point, think of what the cager may be thinking. If he sees a bike in the left track coming towards him, he may think, wait, if he sees a bike coming towards him in the left track and then veer to the right track he may think, oh he's turning so I'll turn now and then,,, whoopps.

Another one: We're making a right hand turn at an intersection, so we pull over to the right track and stop as required. Buddy behind us thinks, oh he's giving me room to go, and attempts it, but ticks the scoot. Block him, keep the left track and force him to stay behind. it's a signal to the cager.

The are many signals we send to other drivers by our positioning and our riding and with a bike it's very important for us to realize the signals we are sending out. Try to think for the other guy and ride accordingly

 

Good points Carl,

 

It is important to make the driver see you and not make any changes in your track. By making yourself known to the driver you are also sharpening your own senses and will be more aware if the driver is about to do something stupid, like make the turn anyway. I have observed drivers that will look me straight in the eye and I can see them thinking, "It's only a motorcycle, I can make it." They then proceed to turn, if I am not watching them I would not know their intentions until it was too late.

 

I ride knowing the fact that I am invisible to cagers so I ride with the attitude of LOOK AT ME, I am here.

[CrazyHorse]

If you are riding too close to the vehicle in front of you, you are invisible. This is especially bad at intersections on a busy street. If you are too close behind a car and there is a car that the driver is anxious to make a left and there is a gap between the car in front of you and one behind you that the turning car thinks he can make, he WILL not see you on your motorcycle. But if you are at least a couple of CAR lengths [u]behind and in the left wheel track[/u] then the driver has a chance to see you. Whenever I approach an intersection and am behind a vehicle I position myself for maximum visibility, I sit tall in the saddle and look directly at the turning driver. This method I have found draws the driver’s attention to me.
 
 
 

My only concern is if your traveling straight through an intersection and there is traffic lets say stopped making a left turn in the same direction your traveling and your in the next lane traveling straight and a guy is trying to make a left turn from the opposite direction. I would be in the right track not the left because you can see the driver turning left (opposite traffic) quicker and he can see you quicker because of the angles. If your in the left track and there is a car stopped to your left you will all of a sudden pop out from behind that car to someone turning left from the opposite direction. But due to the angles of observation you can see further down the right track then you can the left track if a car is blocking your vision to your left already but you have to be at least a couple of car lengths back for this to work or you face the same problem of popping out to the driver trying to make a left in front of you because your to close to the car in front of you that car in front of you is now blocking the respective drivers vision. Now I agree if there are no cars to my left I would be in the left track. Did I make sense? Be easier to show a drawing.

[Marcarl]

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My only concern is if your traveling straight through an intersection and there is traffic lets say stopped making a left turn in the same direction your traveling and your in the next lane traveling straight and a guy is trying to make a left turn from the opposite direction. I would be in the right track not the left because you can see the driver turning left (opposite traffic) quicker and he can see you quicker because of the angles. If your in the left track and there is a car stopped to your left you will all of a sudden pop out from behind that car to someone turning left from the opposite direction. But due to the angles of observation you can see further down the right track then you can the left track if a car is blocking your vision to your left already but you have to be at least a couple of car lengths back for this to work or you face the same problem of popping out to the driver trying to make a left in front of you because your to close to the car in front of you that car in front of you is now blocking the respective drivers vision. Now I agree if there are no cars to my left I would be in the left track. Did I make sense? Be easier to show a drawing.

When I get to your intersection, I'm turning around and going home.

But yes, absolutely correct.

[RustyNails]

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My only concern is if your traveling straight through an intersection and there is traffic lets say stopped making a left turn in the same direction your traveling and your in the next lane traveling straight and a guy is trying to make a left turn from the opposite direction. I would be in the right track not the left because you can see the driver turning left (opposite traffic) quicker and he can see you quicker because of the angles. If your in the left track and there is a car stopped to your left you will all of a sudden pop out from behind that car to someone turning left from the opposite direction. But due to the angles of observation you can see further down the right track then you can the left track if a car is blocking your vision to your left already but you have to be at least a couple of car lengths back for this to work or you face the same problem of popping out to the driver trying to make a left in front of you because your to close to the car in front of you that car in front of you is now blocking the respective drivers vision. Now I agree if there are no cars to my left I would be in the left track. Did I make sense? Be easier to show a drawing.

 

 

You're right Jim. That is why you have to pay attention to your surroundings and the situation of the moment. My statement was pretty general but as you have stated there are always situations where one solution is not the total answer but a guide.

 

The main thing is to be aware of your environment and adjust your position to accomodate any variables.

[Guest Swifty]

The main thing is to be aware of your environment and adjust your position to accomodate any variables.

Yesterday for me it was farm vehicles...a lot of harvesting of soy beans and tobacco going on around here now where farm vehicles are using paved roads to get to their fields and back. Some bigger combines have mirrors far out to the side. But in my case, doing a good clip, I approached this one tractor towing a tobacco trailer where I couldn't see the actual tractor pulling it, and I couldn't see any mirrors sticking out either. Despite the fact that there was Jamaican farm help riding on the trailer looking at me and swivelling their heads back to the driver I decided to slow right down. Just as I was about to pull into the passing lane the whole parade swerved left to head into a field. The labourers must have yelled, the tractor stopped suddenly sending everyone on it flying forward, but I was already down to their same speed, and managed to swing the other way behind them and pass it on the right. The farmer is now stopped blocking the whole road and I give him a big head shake while cruising by on the right. What bugged me most of all was this is the way a buddy of mine was killed in the 80s. Take care, good thread.

[Stoutman]

Rusty,

Good post.

One thing I try to keep in the back of my mind is blind spots. Everybody knows where their blind spots are when they are driving, toward the left rear and right rear of the vehicle, right? Well, I don’t think most cagers are aware that they have two more blind spots for motorcycles, to the right front, and left front. The support pillars for the vehicle’s windshield cause the blind spot. Those pillars are just the right size to block out the upright rider cruising down the road.

I have had multiple instances where an SUV has swerved into my lane from a position slightly behind me and to my left or right. I was lucky that my peripheral vision caught the movement and I was able to avoid a collision, although the last time my wife was on the back and I suffered bruised ribs from her reaction. I now ride with this in mind and keep myself out of the cager’s blind spots, both from behind, and in front. This is another case where the throttle is your friend.

Again, great post. If everybody keeps these things in mind we’ll all have a much better chance out there. I try to think about this stuff constantly. The number of different situations is infinite, so you have to keep it running through your mind and react and plan.

[Iowa Guy]

Another one: We're making a right hand turn at an intersection, so we pull over to the right track and stop as required. Buddy behind us thinks, oh he's giving me room to go, and attempts it, but ticks the scoot. Block him, keep the left track and force him to stay behind. it's a signal to the cager.

 

I'm experimenting with this one to see what is the best way to block the car behind me. I've had cars pull up beside me or pass me on the right when they are turning right when I have my right signal on and am in the left track. If I have the right signal on and am in the right track, they try to pass me on the left to go straight. I guess I am afraid to split the two tracks and stop in the middle because of the oil in the track and because the car may still try to pass on either side and really clip me. Any thoughts on this one?

 

 

Iowa Guy

[RustyNails]

I'm experimenting with this one to see what is the best way to block the car behind me. I've had cars pull up beside me or pass me on the right when they are turning right when I have my right signal on and am in the left track. If I have the right signal on and am in the right track, they try to pass me on the left to go straight. I guess I am afraid to split the two tracks and stop in the middle because of the oil in the track and because the car may still try to pass on either side and really clip me. Any thoughts on this one?

 

 

Iowa Guy

 

This is a sticky one. Me personally if I am going straight and am first in line at a light I will stay in the left track, look behind me and if I see that there is a a car that wants to make a right I will signal the driver that it is alright with me, this way I am not surprised when it happens and I find that the drivers are more cautious in passing me. If I am making a right and have to wait on pedestian traffic I move as far right as possible to allow traffic behind me to go straight. I think that by making these courtesies the drivers don't feel as hostile about having to wait and are more willing to be more careful in passing.

 

In doing this I have never felt threatened by a cage in these instances and it is a practice I adopted about 30 years ago.

[CrazyHorse]

Ride to be seen is great advice. Give everyone around you and yourself the chance to be seen but in the end it comes down paying attention to your enviroment and having a plan to attack it. Look where you want to go and not at the pole.