Forced out of my lane TWICE on this morning's commute

[PacWestGS]

[sarcasm]I fully realize this entire episode is simply a conspiracy by you and Lamble to force me into lane sharing, against my will[/sarcasm]

Yes, (almost) tongue fully inserted in cheek LOL

I've gotten so good at riding in traffic I can practically drive everyone's car at the same time. At least that is how I have learned to ride.

ANTICIPATION - if someone is thinking they can, they will...

How's it going dvandkq? (sorry you had a bad day, it happens)

 

[henzilla]

somewhat difficult to shift with

Not with the Touratech adjustable lever!

 

[darrylri]

I almost never use my horn in traffic. (And it's not because I can't remember which thumb to lift up.) My experience is that abruptly wakening a distracted driver to their alleged main task often results in a violent and random movement of their vehicle. Maybe they'll move back out of your way... and maybe they'll move fully into your way.

You've got to drive for the other guy, because he obviously isn't doing it. If you're trying to get around some slow traffic, and doing so is going to put you into the blindspot of some other driver, the odds are not disfavorable that they're going to move into the open spot you're eyeing, too. Don't do it unless there's room to get around them or brake when they do it. Otherwise you're gonna get merged into.

 

[kbasa]

I almost never use my horn in traffic. (And it's not because I can't remember which thumb to lift up.) My experience is that abruptly wakening a distracted driver to their alleged main task often results in a violent and random movement of their vehicle. Maybe they'll move back out of your way... and maybe they'll move fully into your way.

You've got to drive for the other guy, because he obviously isn't doing it. If you're trying to get around some slow traffic, and doing so is going to put you into the blindspot of some other driver, the odds are not disfavorable that they're going to move into the open spot you're eyeing, too. Don't do it unless there's room to get around them or brake when they do it. Otherwise you're gonna get merged into.

Great advice.

 

[ALIENHITCHHIKER]

dvandkq,

See the cars for what they are - obstacles in the road to be dealt with with skill and precision. They are no more than slow witted cows which have wandered onto the roadway - large, potentially dangerous, and prone to stupidity.

You are a motorcyclist. You are cool, dispassionate and focused and you are superior to their pitiful breed. What you experience astride your machine is incomprehensible to their limited bovine mentality.

They cannot ruffle your feathers. They cannot break your focus. They cannot touch your soul. When they take your space you deftly move aside, for you understand that their mass can hurt you, but they will never earn your respect.

Ride on Bro!

 

[Crow18]

Three things I've found that help with my commute:

1. Go in to work after the morning commute dies down a little. Where I am, there is a noticeable difference in traffic volume from 8:55 to 9:05, and the ones who are still on the road after 9:00 aren't in as much of a tearing hurry. This means you have to stay at work later, of course.

2. Find a surface route home. I have about 5 different low-traffic routes that I mix and match on the way home, depending on what the weather is like, how soon I need to be home, etc.

3. When you're on the freeway, try and figure out how each driver will try to kill you. It makes a fun (ha!) little game, it helps you spot most of the idiots before they jump in front of you, and it helps you control your anger. Getting angry does you no good, and probably throws off your reaction time.

Maybe it's just me, but I really don't trust horns. If you have a horn that sounds like a semi or a freight train or an old Buick, most people are going to look around for a semi or a freight train or an old Buick. Not like I have any hard data to back that up, but people see what they're looking for, and no horn exists that conjures "motorcycle" in people's minds.

 

[cjack]

This morning I was "merged in to" twice in separate incidents, both on Interstate 5, our main north-south highway through Western Washington and downtown Seattle.

In the first instance, I was in the HOV lane, stuck behind a slow-moving bus. I merged right into the far left general purpose lane and was in the process of passing the bus when a Honda Civic merged into my space and forced me to grab a handful of brakes and swerve back into the HOV lane behind the bus. I have two VERY LOUD horns, and I was blaring them constantly while the car was merging into me, yet the driver never looked my way even once.

In the second instance, I was in the far left lane and again moved into the center lane to pass slower traffic in the left lane. As I was passing the slower traffic on the left, a guy driving like a bat out of hell in his Ford Explorer cut me off as he merged into my lane from the right. Again, my horn was useless and the driver never acknowledged my existence. The SUV driver continued to drive like a maniac, illegally using HOV lanes and a HOV-only exit ramp through downtown Seattle. I use the same exit ramp, and attempted to contact the driver at the red light at the end of the exit. He had the nerve to mimic dialing 911 on his cell phone to report me to the police. I would have gladly welcomed police involvement at that time.

Immediately upon getting to the office, I wrote a letter to my state legislators demanding that the state conduct a motorcycle awareness campaign, and demanding that the state increase routine patrols of our highways during peak commuting hours. When there is an accident, the State Troopers show up right away, but I rarely see them simply patrolling the highways and looking for traffic violations. I specifically suggested the State Patrol deploy their beautiful fleet of R1150RT-Ps to area highways, as that would accomplish two goals - a greater law enforcement presence during the commute, and more high-visibility motorcycles out on the roads with me.

Otherwise, I'm going to be fighting back, leaving boot prints on the doors of cars that merge into me. If the police won't enforce the traffic laws, I will.

Bad choice of action. The best thing to do when other drivers violate your right of way is to keep safe if you can and stay alert and away from them. I think the best way to survive the streets is to blame only yourself if you get hit. You, if you did something stupid, or you, if you let someone do something stupid to you. You may not see it this way, but it is a prescription for enjoying the ride and living a long and healthy life...with a little luck thrown in.

 

[Threeteas]

Conspiracy theory

Yep, that's where lane sharing would have come in, although I must protest, as I had nothing to do with paying drivers to behave that way towards you, in fact, they volunteered, along with many, many more, to perform such actions on a daily basis and not just to you, but to anyone be they on bike, in car, or using any other form of transport.

Horns don't work well. They rely on the other party taking action and you can't rely on them doing that as your situation proves.
Swerve/change position, or adjust speed, are your only options.

Ride safely.

 

[OfficerImpersonator]

You are a motorcyclist. You are cool, dispassionate and focused and you are superior to their pitiful breed. What you experience astride your machine is incomprehensible to their limited bovine mentality.

They cannot ruffle your feathers. They cannot break your focus. They cannot touch your soul. When they take your space you deftly move aside, for you understand that their mass can hurt you, but they will never earn your respect.

Ride on Bro!

I love this post!

 

[blake]

one thing that i've noticed before and it seems to play a key role in your experience.
the HOV lane is the inner most lane in most urban areas. this puts the passing lane to the right of it. many times people in the HOV lane aren't the fastest vehicle, so you're passing them on the right, moving into what most people are thinking of as the "fast" lane.
i know in some cities probably partly b/c of this issue, you aren't allowed to enter/exit the HOV lane except in certain areas (solid white line).

you also admit that you were moving into a vehicle's blindspot. i think these 2 things combined caused the problems.
good luck on the ride home.

 

[OfficerImpersonator]

one thing that i've noticed before and it seems to play a key role in your experience.
the HOV lane is the inner most lane in most urban areas. this puts the passing lane to the right of it. many times people in the HOV lane aren't the fastest vehicle, so you're passing them on the right, moving into what most people are thinking of as the "fast" lane.
i know in some cities probably partly b/c of this issue, you aren't allowed to enter/exit the HOV lane except in certain areas (solid white line).

you also admit that you were moving into a vehicle's blindspot. i think these 2 things combined caused the problems.
good luck on the ride home.

Our (Washington State's) HOV lanes are, for the most part, the far left lane. The HOV lane is seprated from the far left general purpose lane by a solid white line - however, at least here in Washington, motorists are allowed to merge into/out of the HOV lane at any time.

I know California uses two double yellow lines - one on each side of two foot "median" - to separate the HOV lane from general purpose lane traffic and that it is illegal to exit or enter the HOV lane except in specific merge zones.

In my first instance, I was indeed passing slower HOV lane traffic on the right, in the "fast" lane the first time I was merged into. The second time I was riding in the "Express Lanes" (reversible lanes), which for most of their length don't have an HOV lane. I was passing slower traffic clogging up the far left lane by riding in the middle lane. A driver merged into "my" middle lane from "his" far right lane.

 

[bob_m]

I commute on the motorcycle infrequently however this morning I did. Before I had gone half a mile, while I was still in the rersidential neighborhood with slow traffic (yea right) and stop signs, a lady was running hot into an intersection where she had a stop sign and I did not. She hit the brakes, but saw that I was slowing (for the obvious reason) so she just rolled right on through.

AND SHE WAVED! WTF?

I just shook my head and dismissed the incident.

 

[newstar]

Charlie Gibson did a piece on World News tonight about drivers and their bad habits in Seattle. In particular, they are after drivers who cut to the front of the line at merges, ferry boardings, etc. The police are stopping them and treating them like 8th graders by sending them to the back of the line and making them wait their turn.

Not really related to this particular situation but made me think of this thread.

 

[wmubrown]

Don't get mad, get of a set of these:

Seriously,

SUVs and minivans are particularly worthy of caution. Sometimes kids are on board and the driver is distracted many different ways.

Are those gatling guns or flame throwers?!?? Each would be rather effective I should think...

 

[BRADFORDBENN]

It isn't just the motorcycle that this happens to, I have seen it happen when I am driving the car or when I am riding in the company semi truck. People just do not look around. So be vigilant no matter the vehicle you are using.

Yup I am amazed that people miss a 13+Ton 65 foot long 13 and a half tall tractor trailer.

 

[PacWestGS]

It isn't just the motorcycle that this happens to, I have seen it happen when I am driving the car or when I am riding in the company semi truck. People just do not look around. So be vigilant no matter the vehicle you are using.

Yup I am amazed that people miss a 13+Ton 65 foot long 13 and a half tall tractor trailer.

But those vanity (side) mirrors (they put on cars) are SOOOOoooooo small why bother looking...

98% of the US population were never taught how to adjust the side mirrors on their car - let alone use them.

A glance (eyes only - head/shoulders level) you should NOT be able to see the side of YOUR vehicle. But most people adjust them so they can see half of their car in the mirror and the other half needs major head movement (away) to see the lane next to them.

Just like motorcycle mirrors (some are much worse than others and some downright suck) you should not see anything but MAYBE the tip/edge of your elbows in them - a clear view behind you and mostly the lane to the right and left in the right and left mirror.

I adjust mine so that a head check is necessary for that which is about 90-degrees to my side and I need to move a bit to see directly behind me. Otherwise, I can quickly glance in them to see what is in the safe space to my left and right. On all my vehicles, cars - trucks - and bikes.

 

[globalrider]

But those vanity (side) mirrors (they put on cars) are SOOOOoooooo small why bother looking...

I often wanted to take my boot to a side mirror or a hammer to a turn signal assembly. The look of the driver's face would be priceless. Hell, you don't use them...therefore you don't need them.

98% of the US population were never taught how to adjust the side mirrors on their car - let alone use them.

Yeah, they adjust them to look down the side of their vehicle to the lane behind them instead of to the area where their field of vision when looking ahead ends.

 

[mrich12000]

The drivers of the non carring

 

[ALIENHITCHHIKER]

Hey mrich1200 !!!

Thanks for my new desktop wall paper

Now that's who you are, I don't care what's funny.

 

[boney]

I can understand the frustration. Sometimes drivers irk me as well, but I try to take it in stride. The last thing I want is a confrontation with someone in a vehicle that is more stable and outweighs mine 6 fold. I just shake my head and keep riding. I dare never say "now I've seen it all" as someone will always come along and prove me wrong.


[seeing things as a driver]
The problem with motorcycles in general is that they are hard to see and sometimes behave in an "unpredictable" manner with regard to the rest of traffic. I've been caught off guard by many a motorcycle while driving my cage. But rest assured, the first one to put a boot to my car will find himself under my wheels before he gets that boot back on his foot peg. I can come up with 1001 defenses as to why I panicked when the motorcyclist attacked me.
[/seeing things as a driver]


Precisely why I stay outta the way.