Friday, March 12, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
You know how cagers always say 'I never saw him!'?
That's what you always hear on the motorcycle forums, riders almost always blaming an accident on car drivers. And while many many car drivers have no business driving while eating, talking on a cell phone or even worse, TEXTING, sometimes you truly can not see someone on a bike.
Before you form the lynch mob, bear with me. I have personal experience on this.
Several months ago, I was coming home from work in my Mazda van. As I turned onto the four lane street, a guy on a Honda Elite turned right on the street and settled in behind me. I always notice scooters and motorcycles, cause, well, I just do. So does my three year old, she wants a Ninja!
Anyway, we are going down a nice wide four lane street, in a straight line. This street is probably three miles long.
The entire time we were riding/driving down the street, I COULD NOT SEE THE HONDA. I was looking in my rear view mirror and when we were stopped at the red light, by turning around in my seat. It really shocked me when I could not see him while we were stopped. I thought he had turned off, but when the traffic moved, I caught a glimpse of him. He was in my blind spot the entire time, happily unaware that the guy in the huge van right in front of him could not see him.
So, take a second and imagine if I had not seen him turning onto the street right behind me.
That happened several months ago and was a real eye opener to me, both as a car driver and a motorcycle rider.
I had already figured out that riding close behind a car was a dumb move, but sometimes you have to. That ride home really made me aware of how big car blind spots can be.
Before you form the lynch mob, bear with me. I have personal experience on this.
Several months ago, I was coming home from work in my Mazda van. As I turned onto the four lane street, a guy on a Honda Elite turned right on the street and settled in behind me. I always notice scooters and motorcycles, cause, well, I just do. So does my three year old, she wants a Ninja!
Anyway, we are going down a nice wide four lane street, in a straight line. This street is probably three miles long.
The entire time we were riding/driving down the street, I COULD NOT SEE THE HONDA. I was looking in my rear view mirror and when we were stopped at the red light, by turning around in my seat. It really shocked me when I could not see him while we were stopped. I thought he had turned off, but when the traffic moved, I caught a glimpse of him. He was in my blind spot the entire time, happily unaware that the guy in the huge van right in front of him could not see him.
So, take a second and imagine if I had not seen him turning onto the street right behind me.
That happened several months ago and was a real eye opener to me, both as a car driver and a motorcycle rider.
I had already figured out that riding close behind a car was a dumb move, but sometimes you have to. That ride home really made me aware of how big car blind spots can be.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)