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Author Topic: Why they didn't see you  (Read 568 times)

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hipshot

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Rocket67

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Re: Why they didn't see you
« Reply #1 on: September 12, 2017, 06:38:14 AM »

Fantastic explanation.  This reinforces the saying, "ride like you are invisible" and actually gives evidence to show that you likely are.  I don't care what anyone says, loud pipes do save lives.  I can see people look for me when I am approaching to their left or right and if I don't see them recognize I just blip the throttle and they know I am there.  I am going to post this on FB for my cyclist friends. 
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-Scott
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hipshot

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Re: Why they didn't see you
« Reply #2 on: September 12, 2017, 07:42:16 AM »

Some common mistakes I have seen are always driving with high beams on; this actually makes it harder for other drivers to gauge your speed and distance, especially during the night.  I see many people driving in a blind spot; they get in a vehicle's rear corner and stay there.  Lots of cagers don't check before changing lanes, and a great many cagers incorrectly utilize their side mirrors as rearviews rather than overlapping the rearview mirror to see their blind spot.  Far too many bikers follow too closely and many are tailgating the car in front of them while they have their feet propped on highway pegs a long way from their brake pedal.

If you work wrecks you will see that a lot of people pull out in front of trains with LOUD horns and bright lights, tractor-trailer rigs lit up like Christmas trees, police/fire/EMS vehicles with light bars and sirens on, and other very visible vehicles.  Just being seen -- or heard -- doesn't guarantee that you will be noticed.  A sight I will never forget as long as I live is the memory of a woman who pulled up to a stop sign yakking on a cellular phone.  She was looking right at me and yakking her head off the entire time as I approached, and just as I entered the intersection she pulled out in front of me.  She insisted that she never saw me.  She saw me all right; she just wasn't focused on anything other than her conversation and the sight of my approaching vehicle never registered in her mind.  That's why the politicians who holler for hands-free cellular legislation disgust me so much.  Holding a phone in your hand isn't dangerous; forgetting what you are doing is what makes you have a wreck.  You hold the steering wheel in your hand or hands while you are driving a car.  You hold the gear shift lever with a manual transmission.  You hold the handlebars on your motorcycle.  As much time as cops spend on the radio while driving, if holding the mike in your hand was dangerous we'd all be dead.  So how have I survived thirty-plus years of 20-30 minute, 100+ mph pursuits while talking on the radio the whole time?  It's about focusing on driving rather than a conversation, and not about holding something in your hand.  If all cellular telephones were hands free, we;'d still have a lot of wrecks by drivers lost in a conversation, with both hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.

Take every precaution to be sure the other drivers know you're there.  But still drive defensively, and remember that not all drivers see in their minds what they see with their eyes.
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matap

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Re: Why they didn't see you
« Reply #3 on: September 12, 2017, 08:11:16 AM »

Fantastic explanation.  This reinforces the saying, "ride like you are invisible" and actually gives evidence to show that you likely are.  I don't care what anyone says, loud pipes do save lives.  I can see people look for me when I am approaching to their left or right and if I don't see them recognize I just blip the throttle and they know I am there.  I am going to post this on FB for my cyclist friends.

What are you cyclist friends going to blip?!
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"Talk low, talk slow and don't talk too much" - John Wayne

Rocket67

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Re: Why they didn't see you
« Reply #4 on: September 12, 2017, 08:34:40 AM »



What are you cyclist friends going to blip?!

No, they do not have engines. 
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-Scott
2019 FLHXS

matap

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Re: Why they didn't see you
« Reply #5 on: September 12, 2017, 12:33:52 PM »



What are you cyclist friends going to blip?!

No, they do not have engines.

I know they don't, but WHAT are they going to blip?
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"Talk low, talk slow and don't talk too much" - John Wayne

Rocket67

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Re: Why they didn't see you
« Reply #6 on: September 13, 2017, 06:31:19 AM »



What are you cyclist friends going to blip?!

No, they do not have engines.

I know they don't, but WHAT are they going to blip?




« Last Edit: September 14, 2017, 06:21:47 AM by Rocket67 »
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-Scott
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Chad

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Re: Why they didn't see you
« Reply #7 on: September 13, 2017, 09:20:09 AM »

Hahaha!!  :bikerider:
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RIP Torque Dec.18,1975-Apr.29,2009

HeadGuess

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Re: Why they didn't see you
« Reply #8 on: September 13, 2017, 04:49:07 PM »

I like that one!
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matap

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Re: Why they didn't see you
« Reply #9 on: September 14, 2017, 08:15:28 AM »

I like those new EPA compliant slip-ons.  O0 
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"Talk low, talk slow and don't talk too much" - John Wayne

aries

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Re: Why they didn't see you
« Reply #10 on: September 14, 2017, 01:31:38 PM »

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xcaliber

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Re: Why they didn't see you
« Reply #11 on: September 20, 2017, 03:48:03 PM »

The new BRC classroom addresses much of this. Not just the book but classroom excercises.
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