Motorbike filtering...

mjt · 11 Sep 2009 at 20:10

whilst queuing for the blackwall tunnel once, i moved further into my lane and even folded in my mirrors so that i bike could get passed.
he was so surprised that as he went past, he stopped and gave me a nod. i think he was more surprised than me

no harm in being helpful. i usually move to one side of my lane to let bikers filter through anyway. give them more space..

op sounds like a bit of a tosspot really

helpimcrap · 11 Sep 2009 at 20:17

Liquidfox said:
So you caused Criminal Damage because someone wouldn't let you filter? High five!

fair play to him. amazing how that makes people consider their own safety.

that said, it was a mild over reaction.

if he'd have have tried to make you swerve then yes - knock it off.

FWIW i've seen a lot worse with bikes and they were, in my eyes, entitled to be a little 'annoyed'.

Lister · 12 Sep 2009 at 10:35

mjt said:
whilst queuing for the blackwall tunnel once, i moved further into my lane and even folded in my mirrors so that i bike could get passed.
he was so surprised that as he went past, he stopped and gave me a nod. i think he was more surprised than me

no harm in being helpful. i usually move to one side of my lane to let bikers filter through anyway. give them more space..

op sounds like a bit of a tosspot really

Good Lord! You let him pass and even moved the mirrors, good man! No wonder he was shocked.
Most drivers who have just sat there for several 100miles not even noticing, then when the bikers blast past at a given chance, get a nice birdy :/

Ones that crack me up the most are the drivers that try and race/keep up with you... Enraged that you passed them.

Dr Who · 12 Sep 2009 at 10:56

Whilst it is true some bikers do sit in blind spots, they dont just teleport to the blind spot, had the car driver been using his mirrors correctly, he would have seen the bike approaching his blind spot. Once it was no longer visible, he should know to take some care.

Ofc this statement is not always true, as it is also possible for a bike to approach from a completely blind angle, but it is true a lot of the time.

Glaucus · 12 Sep 2009 at 11:00

Dr Who said:
Ofc this statement is not always true, as it is also possible for a bike to approach from a completely blind angle, but it is true a lot of the time.

You also forgot the fact you can not look all the time in the mirrors only a quick glance every few seconds or so.

Dr Who · 12 Sep 2009 at 11:05

AcidHell2 said:
You also forgot the fact you can not look all the time in the mirrors only a quick glance every few seconds or so.

You dont have peripheral vision? Only tunnel right?

Glaucus · 12 Sep 2009 at 11:07

Dr Who said:
You dont have peripheral vision? Only tunnel right?

you can't see anything in a mirror with peripheral vision.

Dr Who · 12 Sep 2009 at 11:07

AcidHell2 said:
you can't see anything in a mirror with peripheral vision.

er I can, maybe you cant, certainly enough to see headlight approaching and make me look in more detail.

Glaucus · 12 Sep 2009 at 11:08

Dr Who said:
er I can, maybe you cant

I bet you can't. you will be moving your gaze towards the mirror.

Unless your mirror is the size of a dustbin lid, peripheral vision will not work.

Dr Who · 12 Sep 2009 at 11:10

Sorry but you are wrong, if your mirrors are set properly, you can see lights approaching, but anyway, my mirrors are used more than most, and being a biker as well I use lifesavers even in the car.

Sounds like you have a slight case of tunnel vision Acid, your perception being your reality and all that!

Glaucus · 12 Sep 2009 at 11:12

Dr Who said:
Sorry but you are wrong, if your mirrors are set properly, you can see lights approaching, but anyway, my mirrors are used more than most, and being a biker as well I use lifesavers even in the car.

Sounds like you have a slight case of tunnel vision Acid, your perception being your reality and all that!

I was also a biker and use lifesavers even in a car. Your peripheral vision is not that good. Yes you can see lights coming if it's gloomy but certainly not the majority of the time.

Dr Who · 12 Sep 2009 at 11:16

No, lets get this correct, YOU can't see bikers the majority the time, please don't try and tell me what I am capable of.

Glaucus · 12 Sep 2009 at 11:20

Dr Who said:
YOU can't see bikers the majority the time,.

where did I say that.
peripheral vision simply is not that strong you will be glancing towards the mirror unconceusly.

Dr Who · 12 Sep 2009 at 11:48

The point is it doesnt have to be, the great thing about motorcycle headlights is they move, and as a result produce a flickering in a mirror which, if you train yourself to look for, can be spotted. You didn't state "you" can't see bikers the majority of the time, you said "I" cant see bikers the majority of the time.

Yes you can see lights coming if it's gloomy but certainly not the majority of the time.

Which you have no way of knowing unless you have been in my shoes or head. YOUR peripheral vision and mirror positioning may not be strong enough to see them, but you have no idea how good mine is.

This is my point about your perception being your reality, and that doesn't translate to what other people are capable of.

Yes, as soon as a see a flicker in a mirror, I DO look more closely, but its through training myself to use my vision more carefully that this has been achieved. The problem is, when most people drive a familiar journey, they almost go into a kind of trance and at the end of it, cannot even remember driving the journey. Everything is done subconsciously, and as a result their observation skills aren't what they should be. When they drive a very unfamilair route, their observation skills suddenly improve immensely.

The safest drivers are those that can bring about that level of awareness when doing an everyday route!

burns · 12 Sep 2009 at 11:58

Dr Who said:
The problem is, when most people drive a familiar journey, they almost go into a kind of trance and at the end of it, cannot even remember driving the journey. Everything is done subconsciously, and as a result their observation skills aren't what they should be. When they drive a very unfamilair route, their observation skills suddenly improve immensely.

In that case it doesn't matter if we have superhuman perception or not, bikers should be riding in way that takes into account the way "most people drive", not just the few that drive well. Is it really that hard to position your self in the middle of a lane when following a car?

Django x2 · 12 Sep 2009 at 12:01

Sorry guys, we are all missing something right?

Isn't this the 3rd story in two days about someone on a bike hitting a wing mirror off a corsa?

iaind · 12 Sep 2009 at 12:40

This was the original one, the guy's serious and an idiot.

Someone then made a thread saying they were a corsa driver and someone knocked their wing mirror off, trying to be funny.

Then someone else, in a feeble attempt to be funny, saw the second thread but not this one and decided to post a thread about being a motorcyclist.

All in all, lots of funny people in Motors past few days

Dr Who · 12 Sep 2009 at 12:45

burns said:
In that case it doesn't matter if we have superhuman perception or not, bikers should be riding in way that takes into account the way "most people drive", not just the few that drive well. Is it really that hard to position your self in the middle of a lane when following a car?

Most bikers ride with the perception that all car drivers are morons already, however, sady some of them are morons as well.

Lister · 12 Sep 2009 at 12:54

Well cars should check their mirrors more, and some bikes should take a little more care.

/End...?

iaind · 12 Sep 2009 at 12:57

Dr Who said:
Most bikers ride with the perception that all car drivers are morons already, however, sady some of them are morons as well.

It's my personal belief that the majority of car drivers are morons. Likewise, I think the majority of bikers are morons too.

Why? Partly because its safer to treat everyone on the road as an idiot, but mostly because I'm yet to find any supporting evidence that the majority of the general public are anything but morons