Motorcyclists Against Dumb Drivers
"You Need to Ride Smart Until Dumb Auto Drivers
Get Smart."
Motorcyclists Against Dumb Drivers Says: Learn
How Dumb Auto Drivers Cause Motorcycle Accidents - Get Into
Their Empty Brains - Anticipate Auto Driver Stupidity -
Separate the Hazards Ignorant Auto Drivers Create - Learn
the Strategies for Avoiding Dangerous Auto Driver Idiocy On
the Road.
1. Help Motorcyclists Against Dumb Drivers Cure
Auto Driver Ignorance of Motorcycle Safety Issues and the
Motorcycle Accident Avoidance Strategies Which They Must
Adopt to Insure The Safety of Their Two Wheeled Friends.
First, recognize that riding a bike will never be as safe
as riding a car until auto drivers are forced to become
educated on motorcycle safety issues and the motorcycle
accident avoidance strategies which they must adopt in order
to prevent serious injury to their two wheeled friends. Help
Motorcyclists Against Dumb Drivers cure Auto Driver
Ignorance. Educate Your Governor. Demand that auto drivers
get mandatory education on motorcycle safety issues and
motorcycle accident avoidance strategies as a part of their
drivers education. Demand that auto drivers pass
examinations which liberally include questions on motorcycle
safety and motorcycle accident avoidance strategies. Demand
that auto drivers be denied drivers licenses unless they can
first demonstrate competent knowledge of motorcycle safety
issues by answering all motorcycle safety and motorcycle
accident questions correctly on their drivers licence
examinations.
You Are Going to Have to Ride Smart Until Auto
Drivers Get Smart.
There is a base of motorcycle accident statistics that
provide important insight into the most common causes of
motorcycle accidents. The vast majority of motorcycle
accidents are caused by auto driver stupidity. It is
important that motorcyclists appreciate the most common
accident scenarios so that we can anticipate them, and to
the extent possible, minimize our risk, until auto drivers
get smart - meaning until they get the appropriate driver
education with respect to motorcycle safety issues and
motorcycle accident avoidance strategies.
The Most Common Causes of Motorcycle Accidents -
Auto Driver Ignorance.
Statistically the most common cause of auto accidents is
auto drivers pulling out from side streets into our paths
and turning left in front of us at intersections. Auto
drivers often claim "I didn't see him." Some have
interpreted this as a problem with "motorcycle visibility."
Motorcycle visibility is not the cause of these accidents.
The cause of the accidents is that auto drivers don't look
for motorcyclists. Sure, they know that the streets are not
populated solely by cars, trucks and busses. But they don't
open their eyes, squint, or whatever they have to do, to
look for oncoming motorcyclists in order to insure our
safety. Why? There is some speculation on the point. One
body of speculation is that auto drivers just don't give a
damn, meaning that motorcyclists don't pose a danger to
them, so they don't look out for motorcyclists as they would
for an oncoming car or bus. Sure bikers are smaller than
autos, but that is not an excuse. Perhaps another reason
they don't look out for us is that they don't realize the
enormous danger they pose to bikers and hence what they
should see as their enhanced responsibility to use special
care to make sure they recognize the oncoming bike and avoid
placing the motorcyclist in danger. Whatever the species of
auto driver ignorance, you must recognize that auto drivers
will pull out in front of you from side streets, and will
turn left in front of you, and so you must not assume that
they will respect your right of way. Auto drivers are also
ignorant of the fact that their rear view mirrors have holes
in them large enough to obscure a motorcyclist riding or
passing in an adjoining lane. They are ignorant of the fact
that they need to turn their dumb heads to look before
changing lanes if they want to avoid causing motorcyclist
injury or death. Auto drivers don't realize that motorcycles
generally can stop more quickly than cars, so they tend to
fail to allow an adequate number of "car lengths" in front
of them to avoid hitting a biker who must make an emergency
stop (usually to avoid the idiotic antics of another
ignorant auto driver.) Until auto drivers get smart - that
is until they are forced to become educated on motorcycle
safety issues and motorcycle accident avoidance strategies,
Motorcyclists Against Dumb Drivers provides what it
considers to be some good strategies for avoiding the stupid
moves of ignorant auto drivers. The motorcycle riding tips
are NOT meant as a substitute for a state qualified
Motorcycle Training Course. Motorcyclists Against Dumb
Drivers strongly recommends that every motorcycle rider, no
matter how experienced, obtain a state approved motorcycle
training course. Nothing we can write or say can substitute
for it.
(1) Use your eyes constantly. Until Auto Drivers
Learn That They Need to Open Their Eyes, Bikers Are Going to
Have to Open Their Eyes More Widely and Actively Scan and
Anticipate Auto Driver Stupidity.
You must actively scan for the potential hazards when you
ride. The most critical area for you to scan is the distance
it will take your bike to travel in 14 seconds, with the
immediate 4 seconds of travel distance being the zone of
greatest danger likely to require immediate response. Keep
you eyes active, moving around this danger zone, looking for
potential hazards. Of particular importance to avoid the
most common cause of motorcycle accidents, look carefully
for cars approaching intersections from all directions, and
do NOT expect that ignorant auto drivers will respect your
right of way. Assume that they will not "see" you. Be
particularly wary of cars stopped at intersections at side
streets who may pull out into your path and be equally wary
of cars approaching from the opposite direction which may
turn left in front of you. Stay aware of the cars in your
adjoining lanes. Move quickly through their rear view mirror
blind spots when you pass by them. Look out for cars parked
on the side of the street, keeping alert for a turn
indicator light or break or reverse light, and occupants in
the driver’s seat. Auto drivers parked along the side of the
road may decide to pull out into your lane of traffic
relying on their rear view mirrors, without turning their
heads to look for an oncoming motorcyclist. Also scan for
road defects, pot holes, gravel, oil, and consider
pedestrians and animals which might run out into your path.
(2) Separate your hazards. If you see more than one
potential hazard, separate them so that you will only have
to deal with one at a time.
As you scan the distance you will travel over the next 14
seconds, you will probably recognize a number of potential
hazards. You can maximize your ability to employ your
accident avoidance strategies, maximize your escape routes,
maximize your ability to "swerve," those two rapid fire
counter-steers that sometimes will save our lives, if you
can deal with the idiotic driving antics of one ignorant
auto driver instead of two. For example, on a freeway, if
you are in the right-most lane and you see that there is a
car approaching from behind you in the lane to your
immediate left and another car entering by the freeway ramp
to your right, slow down or speed up in anticipation that
one or the other or both of these predictably "dumb" auto
drivers may do something predictably stupid. If you can deal
with the stupidity of the driver entering on your right
without simultaneously dealing with the auto driver on your
left, you will have a greater chance of avoiding an
accident.
(3) Provide Ample Space Between Your Bike and The
Auto Driver Ahead of You, Keeping In Mind That the Auto
Driver Behind You Will Not Be Able to Stop As Quickly As You
In An Emergency.
It is "common knowledge" that motorcyclists and auto drivers
must "leave sufficient car lengths" between them and the
vehicle in front to permit sufficient time to brake or stop
without hitting the vehicle in front. The problem is that
both auto drivers and motorcyclists fail to gauge the
appropriate distance. For auto drivers, the problem is that
they are ignorant of the fact that motorcycles can stop more
quickly than cars in an emergency. For motorcyclists, it is
not just a matter of figuring the distance it will take you
to brake or stop of the auto driver in front of you slams on
his brakes. You have to consider also that the auto driver
behind you, because he is ignorant that you can stop more
quickly, has left insufficient space if you brake.
Therefore, you must leave sufficient car lengths between
your bike and the car in front of you to slow at the speed
it will take the car behind you to brake if you don't want
to your bike and body pinned between the unforgiving metal
of these two cars.
(3) Choose Your Position In Your Lane of Traffic to
Minimize the Risks Posed by Dumb Auto Drivers
"Position in your lane" can be thought of as left, middle
and right. Let's be clear: Left is where a cars left tires
would ride, middle is where cars spill their oil, and right
is where the car's right tires ride. There is no "correct"
location in a lane that is always best. To the extent that
you have a preference, lose it. Your choice of lane position
should always be dictated only by your analysis of the
immediate road hazards, your predictions about the relative
immediate dangers auto driver stupidity, and analysis of
your opportunity for accident avoidance strategies. Please
consider when choosing your position in your lane: (a)
providing the best and greatest number of escape routes; (b)
increasing your visibility to the cars you are approaching
at intersection, in your adjoining lanes and parked along
the side of the road, (c) avoiding auto driver rear view
mirror blind spots, moving to the opposite side of the lane
and moving quickly through the blind spots; (d)
communicating your driving intentions, placing yourself so
that auto drivers can see your turn indicator lights, and
your arm signaling your turn or lane change; (e) increasing
your ability to observe potential hazards; (f) avoiding road
defects/surface hazards; and (g) "protecting your lane" from
other motorists.
(4) Ride within your limits and the limits of your
bike.
A stretched and radically raked Harley chopper is going to
have more limited ability than a sport bike for accident
avoidance, such as swerving, at any given speed. So you need
to consider the limits of your bike. You need to know your
bike. And if you've just purchased a new bike or are riding
a friends bike, cool it for a while until you get to know
the bike. Each biker also has his own limits. Yeah, guys -
each of us has our limits. You may have been riding for 20
years and may have attended half a dozen racing classes. You
still have your limits. Our limits are a function of our
individual reaction times, our level of experience riding,
our level of experience riding the particular bike we are
riding at the time, and dozens of other factors. All of us
can ride with roughly equal “relative safety,” recognizing
that we all face the same hazards, including those posed by
dumb drivers, if we ride within our limits and the limits of
our bikes. Riding "within" our limits means not pressing up
against our limits. If you figure you can take a turn at 50
mph, take it at 40. It is only a small percentage of
motorcycle accidents which are caused by our own negligence,
but lets eliminate motorcyclist stupidity so that we can
focus on auto driver stupidity.
Ride Safely, friends. You've chosen to live
life like an eagle in flight rather than a caged in bird.
But now you don't have a cage. So Ride smart until the bird
brains get smart.
Motorcyclists Against Dumb Drivers
http://www.motorcyclists-against-dumb-drivers.com/bikers-rights-3.html
