RIDING SAFELY!

Let's face it.  Oahu has some of the worst traffic in the USA!  Driving with "aloha" is almost turning into an exception and not the norm.  Drivers are getting worse as they try to gain an extra minute or two by driving more aggressively than before!

This blog serves two purposes :
A.  Hopefully it will keep other riders safe!
B.  A way for me to vent about some bad drivers I've encountered on the road.

Motorcycle riding is fun, but also dangerous.  Now we accept those dangers, and give respect to car drivers who could pummel us into the guard rail at a moments notice (or in-attention!).

There are good motorcycle riders and bad, just like there are good car drivers and bad, but I try to be more good on the road than the next guy...I kind of have a loose belief in both "The Golden Rule" as well as kharma!

Good drivers / any drivers

Now please, if you are a good driver, please do not be offended by what I write as I know I'll use the terms "stupid ass" and "dumbass" once in a while.  I don't mean you, but rather I'm referring to the memory of the person who did that "situation" to me in the past.  It's just a way for me to vent about the times other drivers put MY LIFE at their risk, despite my BEST and VALIANT efforts to prevent such situations.

Motorcycle riders

I know I will get a nod of agreement from you on many of the things I write below.  And hopefully it will give you a chuckle or two.  But mostly I hope you take away a better sense of riding safely!

This blog is just full of the things I have found are necessary to survive the roads versus stupid ass drivers who do things that could kill me if I wasn't watching and predicting their stupid behavior ahead of time.


These are just MY THINGS that have literally kept me unhurt against those dumbass drivers.

I know I'm not perfect, and I know that I make a mistake sometimes, but man, sometimes some car drivers NEVER LOOK or DON'T KNOW BASIC DRIVING RULES!

So I have to take extra care to account for those times when I encounter stupidity.

Most car drivers (thank God!) are good, but man, there are those few that...well, read below..

But first...here are some general things that are always in my subconscious when I ride.  Never thought of putting them into words until now...

The Zen of Riding!

00.  KNOW YOUR LIMITS
This means knowing your skills and not trying to exceed them.
This means knowing your current well being (feeling tired?) and adjusting accordingly.
This means your feelings on the current dangers around you, and not taking a risk just because others might do so.
This means many things...but mostly it means KNOWING YOURSELF!

1.   Be as VISIBLE as possible.
Question : What do most car drivers say after getting in an accident with a motorcycle?
Answer : Oh, I didn't see him!
This covers many things, like lane position, reference to other cars, speed, what you are wearing, etc., and I'll get to those as I write.

2.  Be as PREDICTABLE as possible.
This is also related to visibility.  But then a driver can see you before hand, then take a driving path based on what he last saw you doing...and if you end up doing a quick lane change while he's not looking, well...c'est la vie!

3.  Forgive and forget
The last thing you need is for some dumbass to get you rattled and then you are fuming about their dumbass actions and you become a dumbass yourself and compromise your own safety.  Just forgive and forget as quickly as possible and resume paying attention to your own safety.

4.  Always keep looking!
Keep an eye out for dangers and for bad drivers/bad driving behavior.

5.  Don't expect good driving / prepare for the worst
Well, this varies depending on the situation.  It doesn't mean expect all drivers to run all red lights, take up two lanes, etc.  Use caution, evaluate the dangers of a situation, and be prepared in case.  More details and examples later.

5a.  Give way to stupid drivers
No sense saying "I was in the right" if it will just get you hit.  Take control of the situation and just let them do what their stupid ass driving knowledge and skills were making them do.  End the dangerous situation by just letting them have their way...so that you can go on riding.

6.  Show your aloha!
If a driver does something nice, like stops when they SHOULD stop to give you way, or allows you to do a LEGAL/SAFE lane change that you were already signaling for 5 seconds to get into that open lane, give a wave of thanks anyways...it will encourage that behavior from them in the future to drive safely around other motorcycles....

6a.  But make sure it's not misunderstood as a wave of "I'm sorry"...

e.g.
I come to an intersection FIRST.  I signal for a left turn.  A driver opposite me comes to the intersection and stops after me.  I proceed to execute my left turn and there's no going back.  He starts pulling into the intersection almost hitting me....(If I could stop my turn I would, per Zen 5a above)

Well, do I wave or not?  I say NO because the driver will interpret this you saying sorry.  Remember, they were dumbass to begin with by almost cutting you off at the intersection, so no need to give a wave that might make them think more dumbass thoughts like they were right and you were wrong.

Just give them a quick shake of the finger, or shake your head, to let them know you think they were wrong, then go about riding and execute Zen 3 above.  Don't agitate them though...you don't want an angry driver after you.

...now onto some specific examples...

The Realities of Riding!

Riding gear

Being visible is very important to me.  So I went out and bought the brightest HIGH VISIBILITY YELLOW motorcycle jacket I could find.  It isn't as cool looking as a leather jacket, but drivers better damn well see me as I'm now a bright eyesore, blight on the landscape!

I'm sure it's saved me from accidents a few times, as I see drivers heads turn my way as I drive LEGALLY and SAFELY by.

Loud motorcycle

I'm currently debating on getting a louder motorcycle, so that drivers that don't SEE ME, would then have another "sense" to use...to HEAR ME.

SEEING and HEARING is enough...if they are using any of their other senses, then that probably means I'm halfway through their windshield already.  I'd rather them not use other senses like "taste me", "smell me" or "touch me"....

Hand signaling

If your current environment is presenting hazards where you think drivers' attentions may be lacking, go ahead and use hand signals to make your intent MORE APPARENT!  

A lot of times drivers will just get in a "zone" and "just drive" and their attention is not the best even if you are right in front of them.  

But if you do something different, like give a hand signal, then all of a sudden, what they see in front of them has suddenly changed, and hopefully you just grabbed their attention by doing the hand signal!

Car blind spots

Stay out of them!  These are usually to the back left or the back right of a car.

LOOK AT THEIR SIDE VIEW MIRRORS!  

If you don't even see a semblance of their HEAD, then you could be in trouble!

EVEN IF YOU SEE THEIR EYES, you could be in trouble.

If I see them glance at it, then I know they might be thinking of executing a lane change.

But I can't even count the number of times I stared at the side view mirror, thinking it's okay to pass a car LEGALLY and at a LEGAL SPEED, and staring at their side view mirror, and never see them give it a look, but then they proceed anyways to cut me off!

Can I get a nod of agreement from all you motorcycle riders!  Amen!

The blind spot can even be right on their side if you drive past their side view mirror's field of view!  This is NOT supposed to be a blind spot, as they are SUPPOSED TO LOOK...but you know how dumbass drivers drive and think : 

"Oh doodly dum...duh duh ummm it was clear when I kind of looked there 5 to 10 seconds ago, so it must still be clear....doobly doobly doo..."  I swear this is what they are thinking!  I mean what else can they be thinking?  Either they are stupid or they are just bad drivers....

Well, it could also be a lapse in attention leading to a mistake...we've all had those...me too...But it helps me to "forgive and forget" to imagine them this way.

Intersections

Wow...there are soooo many dangers here, I will have a lot of sub-sections here

Stoplights and the car behind you

If you are coming to one, TAKE A LOOK BEHIND YOU!

You don't want that car to HIT YOU!

a.  If you are still far enough away from that intersection, go ahead and SLOW DOWN A BIT.  Let that driver catch up to you a little bit.  That way you can establish your presence to him so that he will already be noticing you as you get to the intersection.

b.  If you are already at the intersection but he's still far away, SEARCH FOR AN EXIT STRATEGY (well, actually you should always have an exit strategy in all motorcycle riding situations) in case he does not stop/slow down!  DO NOT SWITCH GEARS TO NEUTRAL!  I know lots of riders do this, and I'm guilty too of it quite often, but you want to remain in gear in case he does not stop/slow down, so that you can drive away to your exit strategy!

c.  If he's still far away, ALSO FLASH YOUR BRAKE LIGHTS.  Don't blink them in a predictable, rhythmic rate...do it in an off beat way to get their attention that the light that's blinking is not some side street blinking light...I usually do it to the "shave and a haircut" beat.

ALSO, do some kind of visible arm movement with your RIGHT ARM!  Hopefully these things make them SEE YOU!  I usually do a "fake stretch" with my right arm.   Use your rear brake pedal to keep the blinking going...

Staying in gear means holding in the clutch with your left hand (duh!)....Just do this arm movement while he is FAR ENOUGH AWAY...as he gets closer, get back on the throttle, but keep flashing your brakes, and be prepared with your exit strategy.

<more to come>

Turns

a.  For me, when I go home, I have to stop at a stoplight first.  After it turns green, I make a right turn, then quickly make another right turn to get into my driveway.

Now, after that right turn at the stoplight, drivers have ALWAYS wanted to make that right turn then accelerate to get up to speed!  This does not help me and makes it more dangerous for me.

So what I do is, at the stoplight, once it turns green, I give a hand signal to give my indication to making a right turn.

Then I take the turn SLOWLY and SAFELY, trying to keep the car behind me AT MY SPEED so that he's always aware of me, and does not instantly speed up after the turn.

I then give my hand signal AGAIN to indicate ANOTHER right turn to go into my driveway.

Hopefully he noticed my first one, so that when he sees my second hand signal, he knows to slow down because I'm going to turn again.

The trick here is to not drive TOO slow and keep yourself in that dangerous situation.  You want to get out of that situation as promptly and legally and safely as possible.

Use good judgement here, and apply this to your situations!

<more to come>

The Clear Lane Danger!

Hmm...now how in the world can this be dangerous?  There are two lanes going in my direction.  My lane ahead of me is clear.  The other lane is backed up.

God I hate this situation.  

Even if there is a double line (that says the driver SHOULD NOT do a lane change), that will not prevent the dumbass driver from using their well honed driving skills and switch lanes to cut you off!  

So now you know...BE PREPARED for a driver who's pissed at slow traffic to do a quick lane change.

So...I drive a little slower.

MSF says stay in the driver's view, so that means riding to the side of center closer to the cars so that they can see you in that side view mirror.  

But then, in my experience, for drivers, having a side view mirror is no excuse to use it! (just joking...well, not really)

So, do I trust in the benevolent nature of the driver, that they will properly look at the side view mirror, switch on their turn signal, then begin their turn when safe?  For me, eh, well....no....

In my experience, drivers never look, or even begin their lane switch, getting part way into my lane, THEN ONLY AFTER THAT THEY TAKE A LOOK.

I want to follow MSF recommendations, but that will bring me closer to those bad drivers...so to compromise, I just go slightly off-center toward the side of traffic.  If I'm purely off-center, that brings me closer to the possibly offending vehicles, and gives me less of a chance to react.  So I compromise "side-view-mirror" visibility and increasing my reaction time, by just being slightly off-center.

This is just me.  Use your judgement on the situation for this.

<more to come>