Modern Buddy

I was making a right turn off of a straight two lane road with a center turn lane and a speed limit of 50-55. There was very little traffic. I had my turn signal on way ahead of time and the car behind me wasn't very close. As I slowed down to make the turn I heard tires screeching behind me and getting closer. I couldn't look in my mirrors because I had to look where I was turning. I tried to make the turn as quick as I could to get out of the way. After the turn I was finally able to look in my mirrors and saw an SUV come to a screeching stop with another car right on its tail. They almost hit another car that was waiting at the intersection right where I had been.

My guess is that they were texting or something because there was plenty of room for them to go around me unless they didn't see me turning until the very last second. It kind of shook me up and actually made me think about whether I want to keep scooting.

Sorry to hear about the near miss. But at least it was a miss!

With morons driving all over of the place, riding a scooter can be dangerous. It can be discouraging to see all the mistakes, errors, and plain bad driving happening all around you...

When slowing or stopping for an intersection, traffic or obstacles you should always scan the mirrors. Riding in traffic or even alone, check the mirrors to see what's behind you.

Check your six continually, 'cuz in my opinion that's the most vulnerable direction to get hit from.

My philosophy is to treat every car, driveway and intersection as a potential accident. I imagine every car invading my space, every intersection or driveway hiding a vehicle waiting to hit me. It seems paranoid, but after you ride like that for a while it almost becomes automatic.

Just make sure it doesn't become too automatic, expect the unexpected.

I've managed to ride over 30 years unscathed, and I'd like to believe it is my defensive driving and not blind luck that has kept me from getting into a wreck

Drew wrote:I couldn't look in my mirrors because I had to look where I was turning. I tried to make the turn as quick as I could to get out of the way. After the turn I was finally able to look in my mirrors...

I'm not going to lie to you, you could have gotten snuffed. However, there are two pieces of of good news here. First, you didn't get snuffed. Second, you now know that you have the right stuff to survive riding on the streets. You may choose not to continue riding, that's up to you, but now you know. The rest is just technique and practice.

gitsum79 wrote:
When slowing or stopping for an intersection, traffic or obstacles you should always scan the mirrors. Riding in traffic or even alone, check the mirrors to see what's behind you.

Check your six continually, 'cuz in my opinion that's the most vulnerable direction to get hit from.

My philosophy is to treat every car, driveway and intersection as a potential accident. I imagine every car invading my space, every intersection or driveway hiding a vehicle waiting to hit me. It seems paranoid, but after you ride like that for a while it almost becomes automatic.

Just make sure it doesn't become too automatic, expect the unexpected.

Very true I do the same.

gitsum79 wrote: With morons driving all of the place, riding a scooter can be dangerous. It can be discouraging to see all the mistakes, errors, and plain bad driving happening all around you...

When slowing or stopping for an intersection, traffic or obstacles you should always scan the mirrors. Riding in traffic or even alone, check the mirrors to see what's behind you.

Check your six continually, 'cuz in my opinion that's the most vulnerable direction to get hit from.

My philosophy is to treat every car, driveway and intersection as a potential accident. I imagine every car invading my space, every intersection or driveway hiding a vehicle waiting to hit me. It seems paranoid, but after you ride like that for a while it almost becomes automatic.

Just make sure it doesn't become too automatic, expect the unexpected.

I've managed to ride over 30 years unscathed, and I'd like to believe it is my defensive driving and not blind luck that have kept me from getting into a wreck

+ about a billion to this.
I too ride as if each vehicle is going to suddenly swerve into me and I have developed the skill/habit of frequently checking behind me. In both mirrors. Everything gitsum79 wrote is true and sage advice, but, seriously, once you get the hang of it, it DOES NOT take away from the enjoyment of riding.
It ends up just being another layer of what is happening while riding.

You definitely have to make your own decision as to whether you keep riding but if you keep at it and just hone your radar skills, you can still enjoy the road.

I check all directions constantly. because the worst is some boob swerving out of lane, or texting while trying to 'beat the scooter' up a hill.

It is a dog fight out there, and if you are going to be a pilot you gotta know what is going on all around you.

glad you ok I seen a truck driver that I trained last year. He got ran by a off duty cop that was using a cell phone came out of a side road got my friend's nija by the back tire. Spent 2 weeks in the hospital some nasty looking scars on his legs

almost?

not even close!

good thing, ride safe

I do usually keep a close eye on my mirrors especially when I'm at a stop light. In this instance, I had been checking my mirrors and knew about how far the car was behind me . Since my attention was on the turn and the car that was pulling up to the intersection I didn't see how fast the car behind me was closing. Fortunately, when I heard the screeching tires I was able to keep calm and just try to get out of the way. I did learn a lesson to watch my rear even more closely.

I am not going to quit riding. But it did make me rethink the risks.

Drew wrote:I do usually keep a close eye on my mirrors especially when I'm at a stop light. In this instance, I had been checking my mirrors and knew about how far the car was behind me . Since my attention was on the turn and the car that was pulling up to the intersection I didn't see how fast the car behind me was closing. Fortunately, when I heard the screeching tires I was able to keep calm and just try to get out of the way. I did learn a lesson to watch my rear even more closely.

I am not going to quit riding. But it did make me rethink the risks.

Sounds like you were doing the right thing. Keep it up!

I once read that in a four-lane street intersection (2 lanes North, 2 lanes South, 2 lanes East, 2 lanes West) there are 24 conflicting flows and 36 conflict points.

iMoses wrote:I once read that in a four-lane street intersection (2 lanes North, 2 lanes South, 2 lanes East, 2 lanes West) there are 24 conflicting flows and 36 conflict points.

...and multiplied by the number of boneheads contending for passage through it...exponentiated by those of them on the phone...

So the sum of all those factors will hereafter be called:

The Quantum Moron Theory.

Wherein you cannot possibly know all factors from all morons at all times, and also you cannot know if you are included in said morons because observing whether or not you are a moron changes the behavior?

skully93 wrote:...you cannot know if you are included in said morons because observing whether or not you are a moron changes the behavior?

Should not one should award oneself full points for, ah, Non-Moronia if one is on a scooter?

Built-in contraints while scooting make traffic-ADD behavior like texting, Starbucking, making-up-eyelidding, and nasal-mining difficult if not impossible on a scoot.

Points subtracted, of course, for flip-flops, wheelies, SUI, showing-your-ass hooliganismo, or wearing one of those little orthodox-Harley plastic beanie helmetoids, just because you look like a dork.

redhandmoto wrote:look like a dork.

I opted for the brightest of bright yellow hi-viz jackets available. The field sheer mesh tex. I probably lost some cool points and look like a power ranger, but I can't stress enough how much it's improved my visibility to other drivers and eliminated the majority of close calls. It's gotten to the point of paranoia that I ride without my top case if I'm not using it, so that more yellow is visible behind me.

BootScootin'FireFighter wrote: I opted for the brightest of bright yellow hi-viz jackets available.

I hear ya. I wear the fetching "DOT High-Viz" day-glo green. Visible to intelligence satellites in high earth orbit, visible to Helen Keller: cagers still don't see me.

You might want to try using hand signals in addition to your blinkers.

I've taken to using hand signals over the last month and WOW what a difference it makes in getting the attention of other drivers.

I'm glad to hear you avoided being hit.

I agree Hi-vis clothing and hand signals are a good idea. But I really believe that in this case that they were texting or something. If their focus was elsewhere and they weren't even looking out the windshield, they wouldn't have seen me any sooner if I was wearing a Hi-vis clown suit and waving my arms.

They actually stopped within ten feet of T-boning the car that was waiting at the stop sign. If I was a second slower I would have been slammed in between them. There was plenty of room on the road for them to go around. I think when they looked up, saw me and that they were drifting to the right they panicked and just slammed on their brakes and forgot to steer. I know it's all speculation but I'm just trying to make sense of it in my own mind.

Glad that you made it unscathed. The decision to ride or not to ride is a personal one and whichever you ultimately decide, you're not wrong. I know a guy who used to ride a small 250cc motorcycle on quite long tours and got whacked on theway home by a guy who pulled out in front of him from a driveway. He recalls he was looking the driver directly in the eyes before the impact but the driver (who, to his credit, immediately stopped to render what assistance he could) swears he didn't see him before he hit.
Bottom line is this guy would LIKE to ride but can't get the nerve to do it again.

Small scooter or large motorcycle, they still don't see you. At least on the scooter, you are on a lighter machine with hopefully better control.

Even in a world minus cell phones, I think that being in a car (or "cage", if you must) gives one a false sense of security brought on by the physical separation from the surrounding atmosphere. You're in your "safe place" and have your destination in mind and everything in your way, including the intervening miles, are hindering your progress. The feeling dulls your senses.

The only thing you can really do is be constantly vigilant because your life DOES depend on it. Even in a "cage."

skully93 wrote: ...some boob swerving out...

Whoa! Not to take away from the seriousness of this post yet... can't believe someone didn't jump on that...

Drew wrote:I really believe that in this case that they were texting or something.

I have gotten in the habit when riding as I pass some idiot texting while driving I will purposely slow beside them and glancingly stare until they put the darn thing down, sometimes it even takes a horn (and the Buddy horn get’s their attention) to get their attention.

One thing we did (that may not have helped you it sounds like) is install the brake light mod on all three of our scooters. I want the girls to be safe when they ride too! Anyhow, my wife had a guy on a scooter start following her out of Dallas one day and followed her up into Frisco where he finally caught up and stopped by her only to ask her if she knew her brake lights were blinking. We have had other scooter riders mention this on group rides too. Bright flashy lights DO get your attention – and may save your life. Even with this, I am always scanning mirrors – even more so when stopped.

The upside is that it caused you to think about it – and that may save your life some day, or encourage you to sign up for a MSF course or advanced course as a refresher.

Common place occurrence, not that I'm making light or anyone's personal experiences, we all know I've had mine.
Seems to me that these situations are going to happen more and more. OUR safety is dictated by OUR vigilance, "watching your six" is the prime directive, it is a matter of personal survival.
I was thinking of this same situation just the other day, my conclusion; The 'joy of the ride' is gone simply not there any more as I spend so much time with my head on a swivel watching my six, my nine, my three, my seven thirty, well........ you guys get it!
Is Hi-viz the answer? Will we NOT get hit because they see us better?
Working Surveying on the roads I always wore an orange vest and I've been hit, the comment always was "I didn't see you" Sure they gotta say that, or else it's considered 'attempted vehicular homicide'

Sure, I actually see the riders wearing the new slime green vests on the road better than I see those who aren't, but then again, I'm a rider, we've ALL noticed that since we've started riding we see more, have become better/safer drivers.
It's just a matter of personal survival, watch your six, your three, your nine, your eight forty five, your five fifteen....... You guys 'get' it!

Thank You, was this verging on a 'rant'? YES probably.
Four days I had to commute to work this week, I had five or six close calls, I'm tried........

And I'm getting one of these this week.
http://www.myproship.com/index.aspx?StI ... ku=6490544

Can't agree more with everyone! I've only been riding scooters since February of last year and ALWAYS (try to, anyway) keep my eyes and head on a swivel and treat all exits, on ramps, side streets, driveways as the exit for the "Arkham Institute for the Driving Insane"! And the inmates are making a break for it!
Everyday I'm never disappointed by at least one fellow driver.
It's still the best way to travel and commute, I wish I had started earlier.
Keep scootin'!

The other day I was riding by an accident that had just happened. The police weren't even there yet. A big truck had rear ended a tiny car that was stopped at the end of a long line of stopped cars in a turn lane to get on the highway. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the truck driver was probably texting and then looked up and rammed into the parked car at about 35mph. The tiny car was squashed like a beer can.

All I could think of is what if that was me on my scooter parked at the end of that line? I would've been toast. I'm always paranoid stopped at lights. I always try to check my 6. But every once and a while I forget.

Consumer Reports cited a university study in their August issue where only 8% of people texting while walking noticed a bright purple and yellow clown on a unicycle ride by them. If people can't even walk when texting, how do they expect to drive?

And no, I didn't stop to help the poor crushed car occupants. I was 2 lanes over in heavy traffic. And everyone was rubbernecking looking the wrong direction for me to safely change lanes without getting squashed myself.

OK, well I had my 'rant' I even said something to my son, he gave me this, someone had given it to him, he wears a PT belt when he rides, minimum military requirement.

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/1/ ... zmap=16062

I ride wearing one of those construction vests most of the time, but I added some elastic in the sides 'cause it ballooned up around my neck the first time I rode with it. Now it fits snugly. I don't mind if I look weird. I'd rather be seen!

KABarash wrote:OK, well I had my 'rant' I even said something to my son, he gave me this, someone had given it to him, he wears a PT belt when he rides, minimum military requirement.

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/1/ ... zmap=16062

FWIW, IMHO The yellow in your other link shows up a lot better, though the orange in this link is better than nothing.

michelle_7728 wrote:

KABarash wrote:OK, well I had my 'rant' I even said something to my son, he gave me this, someone had given it to him, he wears a PT belt when he rides, minimum military requirement.

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/1/ ... zmap=16062

FWIW, IMHO The yellow in your other link shows up a lot better, though the orange in this link is better than nothing.

It also comes in yellow:

k1dude wrote: I'm always paranoid stopped at lights. I always try to check my 6.

Me, too. I even try to leave enough room between my scooter and the car in front of me so that I could escape if I saw a car coming that wasn't stopping. I got in this habit after I got hit from behind (in a car, thank goodness) at a stoplight in 2008.

jrsjr wrote:

k1dude wrote: I'm always paranoid stopped at lights. I always try to check my 6.

Me, too. I even try to leave enough room between my scooter and the car in front of me so that I could escape if I saw a car coming that wasn't stopping. I got in this habit after I got hit from behind (in a car, thank goodness) at a stoplight in 2008.

I've been rear-ended 3 times since 1977. Hmm. That didn't come out right.

All 3 times I was at a stop light. All 3 times were repeat drunk drivers. Fortunately all 3 times I was in a big truck with custom reinforced bumpers.

k1dude wrote:

michelle_7728 wrote:

KABarash wrote:OK, well I had my 'rant' I even said something to my son, he gave me this, someone had given it to him, he wears a PT belt when he rides, minimum military requirement.

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/1/ ... zmap=16062

FWIW, IMHO The yellow in your other link shows up a lot better, though the orange in this link is better than nothing.

It also comes in yellow:

Yeah, actually it is a s-lime green/yellow one he gave me.
Apparently his 'section sergeant' in his National Guard unit passed out a bunch of them to all the guys in the section who ride when they passed their MSF class.....