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Stupidity & Smiling

P

Pat Carol

Ambassador
I have taken notice of cage drivers that really drive like crap and always manage to never see me when I am on one my of motoyrcycles. I always keep a sharp lookout for people like this due to their lousy operation of a motor vehicle.
These people always seem to pull off a major screw up while behind the wheel. Today this lady driving a Ford Exscursion decided to switch lanes without looking in her left mirror. At the same time she was hitting the brakes. Luckily I kept back far enough ( I thought ) so I was not in the danger zone. I was always to be able to see the drivers face. I figure if I can see them, they can see me.
Well that did not work. The lady slammed on her brakes in the right lane then let off the brakes and swirved into the left lane almost making me a road pizza. She then went back into the right lane and was stopped at the light at an intersection next to me.
I looked over to the right and this broad smiled at me. I asked her to roll her window down and then asked her if she had seen me when she did her lane changes. She stated yes. I then asked why she was smiling due to the fact that could have killed me. She had no reply.
These cagers screw up on a regular basis. Then if you beep the horn on the bike they sit there and smile while/after screwing up. Why do people do that? :banghead
Is it part of the teachings in drivers education to smile at the guy or gal on the motorcycle that you just about killed?

Take Care & Ride Safe
Pat Carol

Stupid People Shouldn't Breed
 
Hey, at least she (they) look at you. Up here in the PNW they won't look at you at all. They just look straight a head and hope that the .357 Magnum you have pointed at them won't go BOOM.

Sometimes I wish, I just wish I could actually do that... :D

No Sir, they won't look at you even when they know they just about killed someone, some other road user...

Maybe I'll go back to knocking off side mirrors, just to get their F*$king attention.

Sorry I had a mini-rant...

I'm better now. :kiss

Doc
 
We've covered this elsewhere, but allow me to repeat: the human brain is "wired" so that a portion (the hypothalamus, I understand) does some filtering of incoming information. The filter makes a decision about whether the incoming information (sight, sound, smell, etc.) is of any interest to the conscious part of the brain.

To prevent overload, a majority of incoming is dumped straight into the "mental toilet". Life is too busy to pay attention to every passing tree, every crack in the road, every sign.

If the brain has some history of being interested in something, the filter sends along the incoming info to the conscious. If the brain has no history of being interested in the subject, it gets ignored. If you have a history of being stopped by John Law, your filter will probably pass along the sight of a police cruiser or a blue light.

A person who is not interested in motorcycles (has no history of paying attention to motorcycles) literally may not comprehend a motorcycle. It's called "inattentional blindness". Sorry, but that punches a big hole in the theory that flashing lights, lout pipes, and Yosemite Sam mudflaps will ensure that you are "seen". You may be seen or heard, but that information may not get to the drivers consciousness.

Of course there are lots of people who do recognize a motorcycle, but don't think motorcycles are legitimate motor vehicles. There are others who recognize a motorcycle, but are pissed off at motorcyclists because of the actions of some of our "bros". There are lots of people who are just aggressive, self centered, and uncaring. And psychologists have suggested that about 1 out of every 10 people has a severe mental problem.

So, whether it's a matter of inattentional blindness, or some other human problem, a large part of surviving traffic on a motorcycle is learning to predict what other drivers are going to do, and getting out of their way. There is really no point in trying to educate other drivers or extract an apology from them.

That's not easy, because our egos (especially young egos) demand that other people give us respect. But our survival depends on being astute enough to turn down the ego and turn up the predicting/avoiding skills.

If your ego needs stoking, be proud of your superior knowledge and riding skills that allow you to negotiate a very hazardous situation and survive it.

pmdave
 
stupidity

Super post, Dave, as always.

I think that in North America bikes are not in the main stream, so for most people they're off the radar screen. Most people are not interested in them, don't care about them, and don't understand how they perform.

In Europe, by contrast, they are accepted as "normal" conveyances, probably because a lot of Europeans have used them as transportation at one time or another.

I also think that a lot of riders (myself included, for sure) have pissed cage drivers off at one time or another by doing manoevers, such as passing on double solids, or lane splitting, that you can't do in a car. And the resentment builds up over the years.

I don't have any stats, but is does seem that the incidence of road rage is increasing, and we need to be careful about how we respond to aggression.

Rinty
 
I've seen another situation...

This situation is that a person in a 4-wheeled (or more) vehicle will purposely change lanes or turn in front of your simply because they have the upper hand, and expect that the person on the motorcycle will stop or yield rather than crash.

I had a guy in a gravel truck stare, point and laugh as he did a left turn on a green light right in front of me. He saw his chance, and took it. I've had other drivers do similar things as well. There's no excuse for this type of rude, obnoxious and extremely dangerous behavior.
 
BubbaZanetti said:
Excursion

that one word tells me all i need to know
Click to expand...

Yep. Surprised there wasn't a cell phone involved. I'm considering making a pair of gloves with a big patch of reflective material on the back and a strip right down the back of the middle finger. Not very nice, but some days.... I may need to float that on another site, along with the many uses of dead D cell batteries. Ripping off mirrors too scary for me.
 
This one isn't something that only happens when I'm on the bike- in fact it's worse when I'm in the car because the car is wider- but WTF is wrong with everybody's left-turning skills these days? They all cut it as sharp as they can, and if another driver is turning left onto my street while I'm attempting to turn right onto theirs I often just have to stop and watch them make a face like I just shat in their Cheerios when they nearly hit me.
 
Advise from New Orleans

SFDOC said:
Hey, at least she (they) look at you. Up here in the PNW they won't look at you at all. They just look straight a head and hope that the .357 Magnum you have pointed at them won't go BOOM.

Doc
Click to expand...

A friend in New Orleans many years ago told me never carry a gun on a motorcycle. Tank bags just will not hold enough ammo to achieve a decent level of satisfaction. Though I do not think he ever considered driving a sidecar rig, yea thatÔÇÖs the ticket!
:bottle
 
RandyB said:
Yep. Surprised there wasn't a cell phone involved. I'm considering making a pair of gloves with a big patch of reflective material on the back and a strip right down the back of the middle finger. Not very nice, but some days.... I may need to float that on another site, along with the many uses of dead D cell batteries. Ripping off mirrors too scary for me.
Click to expand...

I liek the glvoe idea. Been thinking about dedicating some SOLAS tape to it myself... so they can DEFINITELY see the finger.
 
moa84843 said:
A friend in New Orleans many years ago told me never carry a gun on a motorcycle. Tank bags just will not hold enough ammo to achieve a decent level of satisfaction. Though I do not think he ever considered driving a sidecar rig, yea thatÔÇÖs the ticket!
:bottle
Click to expand...

As long as the sidecard has a minigun on it :=)

We DO ride BMW's after all :=)
 
I try to use such moments to practice my "zen" skills. There are idiots out there. They will try to kill you. It's a fact of life. Anger will not help the situation. Learn to let go of the anger. "Be here now."
 
Speaking of left turns, last weekend I was riding down the road no more than a half mile away from home, and some idiot in a little Civic in the oncoming lane tried to pull a left turn into his subdivision RIGHT in front of me, while looking directly at me. An "oh sh__" moment ensued but I ended up safe. Of course, he looked at me like I was the careless one. Then pretty much the exact same thing happened again this last weekend.

If I had been riding the BMW instead of an old beat-up Yamaha enduro, I definitely would have needed some toilet paper, and maybe decked out sniper sidecar.

I'll never forget that gas station surveillance video on ebaumsworld where the situation ended up as bad as possible. Not only did the motorcycle get trashed, and the guy flew off, but no one seemed to even react. If the driver did eventually get out, it was way too late for my taste.
 
Burnszilla said:
If you want to scare them and you have spare time, just keep following them. They will notice you.
Click to expand...

I did that once--about 30 years ago when I was more full of myself. But these days people are more aggressive, and some might take your trailing them as an excuse to do something really hazardous to your health.

My advice: get over it and get on with the ride.

pmdave
 
More on left turns

I have learned the hardway that when stopped at a controlled intersection that allows left turns, look at both the oncoming cages waiting to make a left turn and the cages on your right making or trying to make left turns.
If the cage is driven by an elderly driver (either gender), be prepared to MOVE!
 
crazydrummerdude said:
...If I had been riding the BMW instead of an old beat-up Yamaha enduro, I definitely would have needed some toilet paper, and maybe decked out sniper sidecar. QUOTE]

Assuming the other driver actually forwards the view to the conscious and recognizes an oncoming motorcycle, there are some optical illusions that enter the equation. A motorcycle appears to be farther away than a car, because of the narrower image. A wider motorcycle will appear to be closer than a narrower motorcycle. A narrower bike will appear to be approaching slower than it actually is.

Having the headlight turned on, or even on bright, does not help the driver comprehend what's happening, since the size of a headlight is not large enough to provide spacial clues about it's speed and distance.

Theoretically, the more your bike looks like a car, the more likely it will be to be "attended to" (seen, comprehended, and properly judged for speed and distance.)

And, a driver might assume that your approach speed is about the same as other vehicles, even if you are riding faster than traffic.

So, when riding a smaller, narrower bike, especially if you are zipping along much faster than traffic, expect other drivers to underestimate your approach speed and distance, and be more prepared for evasive maneuvers.

When approaching a potential traffic hazard, slowing down a mere 10 mph will reduce your actual stopping distance by approximately half.

pmdave
Click to expand...
 
I hope Vince gets my "Surviving the Streets of America" series going again soon. I address what Dave just said about making yourself look three-dimensional to approaching cages.

And, although I carry a gun for work, I'd never jepordize my career or life over pulling it on someone unless I really needed to. And, I'd have to really need to...

I just tell myself to take a deep breath and find my "Zen" spot. Then continue on with my life.

Doc
 
Having taught various forms of cage driving for the gummint, here's what I taught my teenaged kids:

Look at the driver, not the car. Where he looks, he goes. Usually.
If they're on a cell phone, stand on the brakes. Especially if it's a teenaged girl. Since I have a daughter, no foul. I may add huge SUVs to this.
In Arkansas, dealer, handicapped and Oklahoma tags are indicators of potential disasters. YMMV.
Slow down and look for escape routes whenever there is any doubt. If there is any doubt about what they are doing, there is no doubt you should be getting ready.

Originally Posted by moa84843
A friend in New Orleans many years ago told me never carry a gun on a motorcycle. Tank bags just will not hold enough ammo to achieve a decent level of satisfaction. Not to mention if you get off the bike in a hurry, you'll forget it. I've heard. Hypothetically, of course.
 
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