Be Careful Out There!!!

[molly]

BOY! I learned today that we truly ARE invisible to cagers! I was on my lunch hour from work, had to run into the gas station to get cigarettes. Made it about two blocks from work, when a little old lady proceeded to pull out in front of me. She was at a stop sign, and I had the right of way. Not a big deal, just let her pass, with a toot of my horn. SHE IS a little old lady, after all! Bought cigarettes and left the gas station. There are two exits at this gas station, one at one end of the parking lot, and one at the other. I was closest to the exit on the right, so I made sure traffic was clear, pulled out, and was on my merry way. All of a sudden, a HUGE state truck hauling tree brush pulled out of the left exit, about 6 feet in front of me! I almost locked the bike up trying to stop, but was only in 3rd gear, so it was not a problem. I yelled at the guy (not too nicely) and he just smiled and waved, making me even madder! I noticed he was taking the same route that i had to take to get to my house. We both had to go over a HUGE 4 lane bridge, and I know my bike is way faster than his big state truck. I followed him until it was safe to pass, (both lanes go the same direction, so there is NO oncoming traffic) and then pulled around him. I noticed his window was down about half way, so while passing him, I yelled at him again! (Again, not too nicely). Then, I headed home, in total AWE of how BLIND people can be on the road!!!! Just a reminder that I hope all of us are extra careful while riding. Some cagers seem to treat us like we have "bullseyes" on our backs! SHEEESH!

[jonathan180iq]

I wouldn't get so mad. I mean, I get pissed too when people don't seem to pay attention to you. However, sometimes it's an honest mistake. So, yelling at a person who didn't know anything was wrong doesn't accomplish anything.

Now, when little kids driving their mother's sedan cut you off on purpose and turn around to see your reaction, then you have a reason to be pissed. Even then, it's usually best to keep your cool and just blow it off.

"Has anger solved your other problems?"

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by molly

BOY! I learned today that we truly ARE invisible to cagers!

Then sometimes "stuff" just happens.

Being mindful that oncoming vehicles turning left are the biggest hazzard for bike riders, I make it a point when riding in town to try and stay relatively close to some cages so that the "pack" has higher visibility. I think that works.

One day a few years back, however, I was "inside" a pack doing maybe 30, cars in both lanes in front of me and one back and to the right; should have been pretty secure.......until "grandpa" in his big Lincoln pulled out of a driveway about 40 feet in front of all of us. 13 tires smoked.....all but my front. The car in front and I veered to the center left turn lane; the guys in the right lane took to the shoulder. Good thing there was no oncoming traffic in the turn lane and no signs or poles on the shoulder. Nobody bumped anything (except the curb) and grandpa didn't even notice what happened. Everybody lucked out, especially me. Probably several sets of soiled undies though.
:roll:

[molly]

Yeah, it DOES make me mad. It is a total disregard for other lives! AND This guy clearly thought it was funny. MAD??? ME?!?!?! You bet!

[jpgast]

I had a guy in a van pull in front of me yesterday kind of the same way- I was taking my bike home during lunch because rain was moving into the area- the sky was darkening up and the wind was starting to pick up, so I wanted to get home before I got soaked (again).

As I turned the corner headed to my home, I saw this minivan sitting in the road with his wheels pointed left toward a driveway- I thought "this guy has got to see me" and started to slow down- I was probably doing 25 to 30 at best. As I got closer to the guy, he gasses it and pulls right in front of me- I locked both wheels and came to a sudden stop (I didn't even hit the horn- I just wanted to make a quick controlled stop). As I sat there just looking at the guy, he leaned over to the open passenger window and said he was sorry and that it was his fault.

I guess the way that I looked at this was that this man seemed sorry for what he had done- he should have seen me with my headlight, but he apparently didn't- I was able to stop the bike with the only thing to show for it being a slight black mark on the pavement where the rear wheel locked.

The other thing that I had to take into consideration was that I have pulled out in front of people by mistake too- I had accidently done it the previous night while driving my car. Although that night I realize that I had made a mistake, I can't say that I was impressed with the gestures and words that the other driver made.

Of course, the other thing about this story is that in both cases, the 'offending' driver realized that they made a mistake and did not laugh or gloat about it- that would just be poor tact.

[molly]

Yeah, I would have almost felt SORRY for the guy if he had seemed contrite in any way. I realize we all make mistakes, and I myself have made more than my share. BUT....I glanced up at him the moment i got the bike stopped, and he was laughing! Then, when i went to pass him on the bridge, he looked at me and laughed again!!! I do not know if it was because i ride a bike, i am a woman, or whatever. If he had even mouthed "Sorry", I would have waved and been on my way. There are some people around here, (i guess most anywhere) that will TRY to make a motorcyclist screw up and get hurt. I had a guy "racing" me on the 4 lane highway last week, when i was riding my Sportster. I needed to get into the right lane, and each time i tried, he would speed up. I glanced over at him (he had a girlfriend in the passenger seat) and tried to make him realize i needed to get into the right lane. He WOULD NOT let me over, again, the harder i tried, the more he laughed. I finally slowed to about 45 mph, so he slowed too. Rode for about 60 yards, opened up the throttle a bit (bike has better pickup than his cage) and left him way behind. I finally got into the right lane safely. I am not saying that every driver is trying to hurt a motorcyclist, but you never know who is and who is not. They do the same thing here when we ride our horses. I WILL NOT ride my horses anywhere near the road, as many people think it is fun to go by and blow their horns or gun their engines trying to spook the horse out from under the rider. Someone once threw a bottle out of a moving car at my sister while she was riding her horse along the road. The horse spooked and threw her into a ditch, and then fell on top of her. She wound up in the hospital with several broken ribs. So yes, Jonathan, I am normally a very nice person. I believe MOST other people are nice too. But when they pull stunts like this, I have a hard time remaining "politically correct"!!!

[Water Warrior 2]

Granted there are some dolts out there that should be put down, we are still invisible to the majority of cages. Both our bikes have headlight and breaklight modulators to help prevent a bad day. I do like the fact that the 250's front signals are also running lights along with the headlight. I think they are a big plus for safety on a smaller bike.

[Stretch]

Molly,

I fully understand your frustration but I agree with what everyone has been saying about the ineffectivess of getting angry. What is that old saw about teaching a pig to sing: wastes your time and annoys the pig! Before I finally broke down and bought my GZ I used to commute to work (36 miles round trip) on a very old touring 10-speed. I was hit a couple of times, had loads of near misses, and was beyond invisible. What kept me alive was the amusing game: "What would idiot boy do?"

Playing is simple. As you tootle along, look at everyone around you on the street, sidewalk, in parked cars, hiding in bus shelters, sleeping in the gutter, everyone. Then take a second and think: assuming that person is an absolute lulu, wacked out of his or her mind on their inexpensive drug of choice, uninsured, unemployed, and more than likely having done without any physical affection for a very long time, what would the wacko do that will cause me the most harm and damage? Over time you develop a creative list of possibilites based on life experiences (for instance, someone committed suicide last week on the freeway I commute on: he stopped his car at the edge of the road, opened the door and just slowly walked directly into 80 MPH traffic - I will bet the first dozen cars that came up weren't expecting that little bit of strangeness). Fortunately, I have found that while most of the time the person who I am mentally playing with isn't actually a certified basket case, those occasions when the "idiot boy" label is a good, proper, and accurate assessment happen often enough that imagining the worst case scenario ahead of time has saved my bacon and a short rib or two.

While the game does keep you alive, it doesn't help with the frustation of seeing just how inane your fellow humans can be. But since many of the crazies out here in SOCAL are armed, I keep my comments to myself. So I just give them a grin and my "there but for the grace of God, go I" internal headshake and look ahead for the next idiot boy... :drool:

-Bob

[Badbob]

Yelling and making hand signals a cagers is probably a bad idea.

Keep in mind that when you tiny bike tangles with any cage you loose. A big truck and a little twitch of the steering wheel and you get a trip to the hospital while the truck driver gets to say "I didn't see that little motorcycle officer."

You can't win this sort of exchange.

Yes, I have done a bit of yelling at them myself. :blush: I try really hard not to.

[LilNinja77]

Ok so I'm late to this thread but thought my input would be somewhat useful. Over on the ninja250 forum not long ago we had a member post about a local rider that was killed. He and a cage had collided (seemed to be a side-swipe) and he did one of the stupidest things a rider can do....he followed them home. Well by time they all arrived, the father of the driver had stepped outside with a pistol and shot the rider in the back while he was riding away. Point is that we as riders can never take idiot cagers personally, despite how easy it is to do so. Molly, if you think it's bad already, just imagine being on a little sportbike around this area.......well, I'm assuming where you live is just as pro-cruiser/anti-crotch rocket as my area., we're relatively close so I just assume. I've had trash and fastfood thrown at me while riding, cigarettes thrown at me, the universal idiot who won't let you over until you drop down a gear and blast past him, and my favorite was a big jacked-up white ford pickup who decided the most amusing thing to do was play "run over the sportbike".

Here's the story for that one: Approaching a turn I yielded to the truck, who had the right of way. The driver waved me on, so I proceeded through the turn and he followed. About time I shifted up in to 3rd gear I noticed this jackass was coming up fast and wasn't gonna slow down. It was at this point that I first revved the ninja up to 12k. Further up the road I put my turn signal on and was gonna go for the first driveway I could find.....no dice, it's hard to slow down and turn when the truck behind you won't slow down to let you. Now this little backroad only has a handful of driveways so I knew things would be difficult. Everytime I would try to slow down enough to turn, I could hear the truck accelerate more (you know those huge mud-covered trucks with no exhaust and 32 inch tires). Now I knew that about a half mile further up the road was a railroad track that I absolutely MUST slow down for on the motorcycle, not doing so will result in lots of airtime followed by lots of pain....I've watched people make that mistake. Coming out of a turn I saw my answer, a driveway on the opposite side of the road that was a straight-shot for me. On this little road there was no physical way that the truck could match my moves, so I swallowed hard and went for it. I tore the hell out of that gravel driveway, but I was safe and didn't drop the bike. I waited a couple minutes and got back along my way. It was about that time that I remembered the faulty lights at the upcoming intersection.....you can sit there all day on the bike and it'll never switch for you, so I decided to run through the gas-station parking lot on the corner and merge directly on to the intersecting road. The truck was parked there and it was then that I noticed the gun rack in the rear-window......and it wasn't empty.

What would've happened if I had gotten too worked up and stopped to yell at them....well I might be dead. So instead I finished riding home, hugged my mom and dad, and drank more than a few beers. Every cager is out to kill you, just remember that only a few of them actually mean to. Be safe and stay cool, nothing's worse for your safety than getting angry and emotional while in the saddle.
Ride safe