This is Why I Don't Drive in the City

YamadudeXS650C

YamadudeXS650C

Central New York XS650
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I live 20 minutes outside of the city of Syracuse, and I never take the bikes into the urban streets or highways. Here is an example of the reason(s) why I avoid the big city. It happened yesterday:

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" A slow-moving tractor trailer struck a motorcycle and pushed the bike and its rider about 150 feet under the front bumper until another motorist alerted the truck driver, Onondaga County sheriff's deputies said tonight.

The motorcyclist, 27-year-old Steven McGill, of Brewerton, was sent to Upstate University Hospital with injuries that are not considered life-threatening, Sgt. Jon Seeber said. "

The truck driver said that he didn't see the bike.
 
Just about a month ago, here, a driver messing with his stereo slammed a motorcycle into a truck that was stopped at a light. Killed the rider at the scene. A week later the driver of the car threw himself off a 300 foot high bridge. You absolutely HAVE to pay attention when riding or driving. I have always tried to start slowing early to make sure the guy behind me notices but since that deal I am leaving way more room between the car stopped ahead of me and myself at stoplights.
 
Doug79 said:
Just about a month ago, here, a driver messing with his stereo slammed a motorcycle into a truck that was stopped at a light. Killed the rider at the scene. A week later the driver of the car threw himself off a 300 foot high bridge. You absolutely HAVE to pay attention when riding or driving. I have always tried to start slowing early to make sure the guy behind me notices but since that deal I am leaving way more room between the car stopped ahead of me and myself at stoplights.
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"You absolutely HAVE to pay attention when riding or driving..." "start slowing early...." Yup, I've incorporated these and other defensive maneuvers in to my bike driving increasingly over the 50 years I've been on the road. I keep my left thumb on the high beam switch to flash it if I think the driver wanting to enter traffic isn't noticing me, for example.
 
queenslegs said:
Its coming upon stopped traffic with the potential of drivers behind texting or whatever on their phone that scares the shit outta me.
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When I come to a red light I stop wayyyy behind the car in front of me and plan an escape route, all the while keeping an eye in the rear view mirror until there are at least two or three cars behind me. Every single time.
 
Lane splitting isn't the answer. If you can't trust people to see you when you're immediately in front of them, you certainly can't trust them to see you when you're sneaking up on them between two cars.
 
^One big thing you can do in the situation where you're moving is to keep some padding between yourself and other traffic. Not too hard to do usually because traffic likes to move in packs. I've done the brake light thing to get the attention of someone behind me too. You can get a thing to wire in that makes your brake light flash. I read where it triggered some driver's road rage though. Sometimes you can't win :)
 
xjwmx said:
^One big thing you can do in the situation where you're moving is to keep some padding between yourself and other traffic. Not too hard to do usually because traffic likes to move in packs. I've done the brake light thing to get the attention of someone behind me too. You can get a thing to wire in that makes your brake light flash. I read where it triggered some driver's road rage though. Sometimes you can't win :)
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I've been thinking of putting one of those strobe light bars on my FJR, but hadnt considered the possibility of road rage, a very unpleasant experience. I've had to outrun enraged drivers in the past on the FJR and MX-5 when I've passed them or such. Very unpleasant, and dangerous.
 
^I think if a brake light could set somebody off, anything could, so I wouldn't worry. Never had anybody purposely give me any trouble while I'm on a bike. Once or twice while driving a car. Funniest thing was a pedestrian wanted to give me trouble once. He was sauntering across the street as slow as he could, this side of a crosswalk and a stop sign. I stopped with plenty of comfort zone but after he got across he started heading for the passenger window to say something to me. But I was on my way home from the range and in the passenger seat was laying a bunch of targets full of holes. He made a nonchalant U-turn back to the direction he was going. It was funny.
 
I also installed the BACK OFF module on my bike before we left on our trip. Don't know how much good it does but I figure anything that makes me more visible is worth doing.
 
Precisely my thinking. Quite a few people pull up beside me and call out that "Hey, your brake light is flickering".

I just nod and say thanks.

Pete
 
its not just in the citys , a few yrs ago a bloke I know pulled up at a country rd T intersection which had a stop sign (so wasn't a sudden stop) car ran right up his arse while he sat there waiting on traffic , knocked him off his bike and parked itself on top of his bike .. the driver then attempted to drive off and just leave him and the bike on the rd.. luckily people pulled up and stopped the driver getting away , he was only badly bruised up and the bike was a written off (the driver of the car was a local so definitely knew of the stop sign)
 
Yup! Got a Hyper Light set up on my Suzuki, I also run a couple of VERY bright white LED modules on my front forks that you can see from way far off. As stated , traveling in a pack of cars can help protect you as you pass through intersections. But occasionally I find myself in city traffic all alone and approaching an intersection , I always look to see if there is a vehicle in the left turn lane just waiting to turn in front of me. If there is I practice the SMIDSY weave ( Sorry Mate I Didn't See You) motorcycles have a small frontal profile and can appear to a car driver to be further away than they are, they also disappear into the background easier. By doing the weave just a few times as you approach the intersection you help your profile stand out against the background, also the headlight weaving is very eye catching.

 
That is an excellent video Mailman - very good.

Everyone has (or should have) their own approach to safety at intersections and I have used the weave manuouver too. I also make it a practice to look carefully at the cross-street car and driver and if I don't like what I see, I simply pull over and wait. Another technique is to try to go through intersections just slightly behind the abreast position of a car or if available, a big truck. That way, I don't have to depend on a cross-street driver seeing me - I only need them to see the car or truck who is "escorting" me. ...and if they don't see the other vehicle, there is a good chance of them plow into the my "escort" vehicle rather than into me on my bike.

Anyhow - it's all about the odds, and I believe in stacking them in MY favour as much as possible.

I really like those UK safety videos - they always have lots of good ideas particularly for riding in dense traffic situations which prevail in Europe.

The only thing I've ever seen on these videos with which I totally would disagree was one where the instructor gave tips on riding a street motorcycle on snowy and icy roads. His tips included gems like: "don't brake or steer suddenly" and "ride only in the tracks of vehicles ahead" and "seek the bare patches in the road and avoid the actual snow".

I am Canadian and have a lot of winter driving experience and consequently, I only have one tip for that situation: DONT. The whole idea of riding a large motorcycle on a snowy or icy road is ...idiocy. There is simply no way to do it safely.

Pete
 
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