Agreed, there are lots of time and space rules of thumb etc that one needs to consider, even in a vehicle, and that was a good way to sum it all up for me.
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Two "4 second rules"
- Thread starter BCKRider
- Start date
greenwald
New member
Doug - I applaud you embracing Grodsky's lifetime of work dedicated to safer riding. He left us too soon, courtesy of those damned 'forest rats.'
The 2, 4 and 12 second following distances were never 'rules,' but rather recommendations, and for good reasons. As MSF instructors, we enlighten novices to these suggestions, and in doing so, we emphasize the dangers of being too close in traffic for effective reaction distance, as well as promote situational awareness ("head on a swivel").
As you can see from the multitude of responses to your original post, much can be discussed and learned in the interest of becoming a safer rider.
Thanks for posting.
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"Much to be learned" is for sure the one thing we all can agree on. A second might be that lots of real world experience can make a difference. I'm sure most of us would say we still learn new stuff even at our "advanced age"
The contributors to this thread appear all to be riders with lots of miles and years of experience- and they're still doing it despite what is between them probably hundreds of instances when injury or death was possible. That's too many escapes/avoidances to be all dumb luck and says that one can likely learn something from any of them- even if their way of thinking about the event and describing it isn't yours.
A friend of mine who wrote a few best sellers made his reputation studying and explaining to to others the different ways humans learn- what works for your own education is what ultimately matters- just as long as you get educated enough to tilt the odds in your favor. Learning from the "other guy" beats learning the hard way.
The contributors to this thread appear all to be riders with lots of miles and years of experience- and they're still doing it despite what is between them probably hundreds of instances when injury or death was possible. That's too many escapes/avoidances to be all dumb luck and says that one can likely learn something from any of them- even if their way of thinking about the event and describing it isn't yours.
A friend of mine who wrote a few best sellers made his reputation studying and explaining to to others the different ways humans learn- what works for your own education is what ultimately matters- just as long as you get educated enough to tilt the odds in your favor. Learning from the "other guy" beats learning the hard way.
Thank you, amiles
What a pleasant surprise to see this thread revived after six months! Clearly there are very different ways of thinking about these matters - and probably what counts most is that we ARE thinking about them.
While I am always interested in specifics, probably one's attitude is more important. I try to remind myself every time I get on the bike or in the car that my MAIN GOAL is to arrive at my destination with body and machine intact. Hopefully the specifics of speed, bike placement, and situational awareness flow from that one simple idea.
What a pleasant surprise to see this thread revived after six months! Clearly there are very different ways of thinking about these matters - and probably what counts most is that we ARE thinking about them.
While I am always interested in specifics, probably one's attitude is more important. I try to remind myself every time I get on the bike or in the car that my MAIN GOAL is to arrive at my destination with body and machine intact. Hopefully the specifics of speed, bike placement, and situational awareness flow from that one simple idea.
