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small rant: vehicular spacing

ultracyclist

New member
Earlier this spring I started a thread on "the one riding skill that we can improve on".
My improvement opportunity is trying to maintain proper space behind the vehicle in front of me or continually positioning one self for "clear air".

Well, guess what...
It is very difficult doing this because (expletive deleted) drivers are cutting in, cutting me off, they are not looking for (expletive deleted), they doing this while drinking lattes. talking on the cell phone, smooching, grabbing parts of SO or "friends", reading a book, petting animals, disciplining children, or adjusting Sirius/XM Radio.

Now I do not mean to rant, but my next purchase is going to be a Steible Horn. I cannot afford the 20mm Gatling Gun.
 
I know what you mean about these unskilled self absorbed drivers seat occupants. I just let them do it. I ride traffic with an icy, calculating, emotionally flat demeanor. I let the cage cluster**** run adequately spaced either behind, or in front, of me. A train of cages 25 feet apart going 70 is no place to ride, or drive, for that matter. And I never ride next to a cage.

As a teenage punk, my first introduction to and daily motorcycle riding classroom was on the tender streets and freeways of Los Angeles. Your ATGATT doesn't help you before the fact. Your braking equipment and skills are worthless without adequate time and space; ditto handling. Peope still do not see, or just as likely do not care if they do see, your hi viz farkle and gear.

You have identified possibly the most important factor for safe urban riding. You just have to work it until it is hardwired; you do it without even thinking about it.
 
Got behind a giant Buick the other day, no driver visible. Pulling alongside, I spied a 80yr old grandma, TEXTING at 50 mph (traffic was moving about 70)


There is no hope.
 
Just make sure you have an escape route and always try to ride behind something that you can see through the windows. ( Tinted windows don't help.) Gives you a little more room for human error.

Yes the 3 second rule for following a vehicle will have other vehicles cutting in front of you. There's not much you can do but as a bike will always come out second best in an arguement with a car.

When driving in these types of conditions you want to make yourself as visible as you can. ie: Wear a bright coloured and highly reflected vest. Don't dress all in black. You become invisible.
 
In the local SoCal area, there is NO 3 second rule. If you are managing it, you can access a 1-2 second area in front of you and somewhat less behind you. If I have to choose, I will take more room ahead so I can use it as required for what happens ahead and to the side. We have a somewhat unique freeway enviornment populated by mostly everyone driving 10-15 OVER the posted limit; but included are 5% driving at 10 mph under and 1% driving at 25 over and having a grand time weaving in&out of everyone else. Just throw in a few hyper motivated lane splitting bikes and its a great concert to watch from the high seat of my GS.....I really think that having a HIGH view is an advantage when it comes to safety. Talk about situational awareness being important ..... there is no rest in this kind of traffic....
 
88 feet per second

From the past, when we used to check radar guns with a tuning fork- 60 miles per hour is 88 feet per second. Not much time to realize, think, react. Out here, even at 70 mph any space that a car will fit in, will be filled by a car. It seems that there is a lot of luck involved. I seem to have missed the memo but not the terror/surprise of it being OK to take an exit from the 3rd lane!:gerg
 
Funny about the tuning fork, I had a colleague who would whistle into the business end of a hand held radar unit & try to get a particular speed to indicate. His brain is probably fried lo these many years later.

I too like to think of my speed in terms of feet per second. This is a much more practical indication when thinking in terms of spacing ones self in traffic and how quickly one must react. I wonder if a little FPS to MPH calculator (like they have on the Northwestern Traffic Institute template) would be a good discussion point in driver training classes.

I can remember back in the mid 60's a friend of mine while doing his student driving being criticized by the instructor for not enough following distance. He defended himself by pointing out that whenever he left the prescribed distance someone would cut right in. I think that just about all of us whether in an auto or on a bike do a balancing act between safe following distance and "defending" the space ahead of us.
 
Earlier this spring I started a thread on "the one riding skill that we can improve on".
My improvement opportunity is trying to maintain proper space behind the vehicle in front of me or continually positioning one self for "clear air".

Well, guess what...
It is very difficult doing this because (expletive deleted) drivers are cutting in, cutting me off, they are not looking for (expletive deleted), they doing this while drinking lattes. talking on the cell phone, smooching, grabbing parts of SO or "friends", reading a book, petting animals, disciplining children, or adjusting Sirius/XM Radio.

Now I do not mean to rant, but my next purchase is going to be a Steible Horn. I cannot afford the 20mm Gatling Gun.

I think you may have over-reacted - the cost of gattling guns have come done considerably in the last few years. Worth a look! :brow
 
I try not to give enough room for someone to cut me off. To some that makes me a tailgater. By relative terms in traffic around Sacramento, that wouldn't be so.

That rarely leaves a safe stopping distance in front of me, but I always try have an out route available, whether it is an open space in a lane next to you or a shoulder. My most reliable strategy is extra vigilance. Watch for drivers who are exhibiting signs of not paying attention and avoid them or get past them.

Some prefer to back off and stay back from the clueless. I don't like that strategy because it leaves the clueless in control of my place in traffic. If I can put a few cars between me and the texting granny, the guy paying more attention to his phone than the road, or the mom looking over her shoulder yelling at kids, I do. They are behind me now and less of a worry. If I back off for them, they are still ahead and a constant worry until either I or they exit.

Once I'm out of town and out of traffic, I can then back off to more comfortable and sane following distances. Usually the only survepises I need to deal with closer to home are the deer, squirrels, and other critters. Much better than traffic.
 
Group buy!!!!!

Bloody tough to handle the "kick" them babies pack though, particularly at speed.

One of he many things I appreciated about riding in France is that they are very much bike conscious and a) they do not tailgate you, but b) and this gets SOME getting used to, bikes have special dispensation to circulate between the lanes so in traffic, the only people tailgating your case are other bikers!!
 
THE STEBEL HORN WORKS!

I put one on my R1150R this winter and it really works.

First use was when a car pulled from the emergency lane onto the interstate as I was occupying "it's" space on the highway while a car was on my left. The driver hit the emergency lane again.

The second time was a floppy-eared hound pup running down the middle of my lane while chasing a bicycle. The poor thing hit the shoulder and nearly did a summersault trying to see what was about to get it. The pup jumped of the road too :whistle

Be warned: These things are LOUD and there is just no polite way to use them!
 
E Page

Ummmmmm...............

You must do an awful lot of hard and late braking in order to stay alive?

Your style of riding would make me a bit nervous.
But then again, we all ride our own ride.
 
My biggest gripe I have with MOST cycle riders is they follow other traffic WAY TO CLOSE! It is not brand or style specific either, every brand and style of bike is represented by riders following way, way too close.

I was the same way, years ago. Always charging up on other vehicles, ready to zip past, to the next piece of road vermin (also known as cagers). Once I became a MSF instructor 17 years ago, I finally started to live and ride what the MSF teaches. What a difference in comfort level, for me, and what a difference in seeing things develop and happen in front of me, with plenty of time to plan and pro-act instead of react. I tell my MSF students that "backing off" when some jerk takes the nice space cushion you just created is not giving in to traffic. Its actually actively controlling your safety zone. And really NO one on the road is more responsible for doing that, then the rider of the cycle.

A 2-second following distance is the suggested minimum. More is better yet. But! Even the 2-second following distance is only as possible as traffic allows, and as other road jerks allow. Really though, if you are active at trying to maintain or increase your following distance as best you can and as best the traffic allows, you are doing wonders to reduce your risks. It really does work, if you work it. Try for the 2-second minimum, and more if you can achieve it.

If when riding in traffic you are often finding yoursefl taking evasive actions, or you find cars are "suddenly" taking your lane/space, or if you find yourself in frequent hard braking/slow-down situations, you may really need to evaluate your riding style. Back off. Creat and maintain as much space as you can. Its a very active process that you have to remain aware at, to keep as big a space as traffic allows. I have seen riders in 70 mph traffic, dead center behind the vehicle just ahead of them, and maybe 20' back. NO WAY anyone can consistently react with any measure of risk reduction in that situation.
 
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Ummmmmm...............

You must do an awful lot of hard and late braking in order to stay alive?

Your style of riding would make me a bit nervous.
But then again, we all ride our own ride.

No, not really. I just stay extra alert while in the heavy traffic and remain in control of my ride rather than letting others control it to my detriment. If I worked on trying to leave extra space, I'd be doing a lot more heavy braking because of the drivers who would see it as an invitation to jump in front of me.

That happens a lot more to me when driving my truck, which takes longer to slow and isn't as responsive at the throttle. I fall back a little, someone cuts in far more often than not.
 
Little rant here too! Law enforcement officers really like to issue speeding tickets because they have a gadget (technical device) to corroborate their professional opinion that you were going to fast. It is called a radar gun. This avoids almost all the he said, he said, she said, etc. that can occur in court.

They didn't used to have an equivalent gizmo to corroborate their opinion that you were following to closely, weaving erratically, or any other misdeeds they might observe. So tailgating and aggressive "me first" driving became the urban norm, not the exception.

Now many patrol cars are equipped with an appropriate gadget to back up the officer's opinion - the dashcam or onboard video camera.

If the powers that be within police departments wished it to happen bushels of tickets could be written for following too closely, failure to maintain a safe distance, tailgating, reckless endangerment, or whatever that jurisdiction calls such misbehavior any time of the day or night; all backed up by incontrovertible vidographic evidence. But they don't do it. Citizens wouldn't like it. Politicians would hear about it. Police Chief's jobs would be jeopardized. The Patrol Captain would get blamed and earn a new job posting to the records room or worse.

So drivers will continue to run into each other and us. Lots of folks will get hurt. A few people will die. Until the population demands effective enforcement which it/we will never do.

So once again, let the games begin. Remember, a recent survey disclosed that more than 90 percent of all drivers surveyed believe that they have above average driving skills. ?????

Which explains why I will go to rather great lengths to avoid urban freeways when possible; to avoid major cities entirely when possible, and to ride primarily in the non-urban west where folks are polite, cordial, and often not in a huge hurry.
 
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