Tips for car drivers on sharing the road

Hat tip to Rippin-Kitten for the alert on this link!

Here’s a link you can share with the cagers in your life – information from the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) on sharing the road with motorcycles, found on their new website www.forcardrivers.com

I don’t know about you, but riding a motorcycle has actually made me a better driver overall: I am more watchful, less likely to take up a distraction like talking on the phone, and I make a conscious effort to look for bikes year-round (because you never know when we’ll get a nice day in January!).

I do think, though, that most drivers forget over time whatever information they may have been given during Driver’s Ed regarding motorcycles. That’s why the MSF site is a good one, especially the Quick Tips page.

All the tips are good, but this one strikes me as something a long-time cager might “forget” over time:

Motorcyclists often adjust position within a lane to be seen more easily and to minimize the effects of road debris, passing vehicles, and wind. Understand that motorcyclists adjust lane position for a purpose, not to be reckless or show off or to allow you to share the lane with them.

I’ve had direct personal experience with drivers crowding me, or members of my merry band – in fact, last time our daughter joined us for a ride on her dad’s bike, some asshole scared her to death by following way too closely and way too aggressively. And I thought, “Are you serious? You would risk killing a dad and his daughter because you thought we were going too slow? DO YOU NOT SEE THE SLOW-MOVING CAR WE ARE ALL FOLLOWING??” (There was more to this thought-stream, but I’ll spare you the details.)

I’ll have more soon on another of the tips (the one about motorcycles and their stopping distance) – but for now, just wanted you to be sure to check out the site and use the comment section below to offer your “share the road” tips and stories.

Friday Fives: 5 Skills to Practice for Safer Riding

When I took my skills test to get my license, I didn’t understand why the entire test was based on slow-speed skills. After riding awhile, I finally figured it out: It’s not about whether you can go straight down the road and shift the gears – almost anyone can learn to do that. It’s whether you can control the bike, evade obstacles, and be safe in high-traffic or large-crowd situations that makes you a really good rider.

So, having brushed the chip off my shoulder regarding the importance of slow-speed maneuvers, I thought I’d share five skills you can practice that will help you feel more confident on the road, more in control of your bike, and overall a better rider. I’ve also included at the end a few links to websites that have good practice guides if you want more tips or more exercises to practice.

1. Right-hand turn coming off a stop.
Why it’s good to practice: It’s easy to go too wide, into an oncoming traffic lane.
Your goal: Keep your bike confined to the correct lane as you make your turn.
Tips: After checking for traffic, look ahead to the point where you want to end up – NOT into the oncoming lane and NOT at the yellow line in the middle of the road. Don’t apply the front brake when making your turn or the bike will go down.

2. Left-hand turn coming off a stop.
Why it’s good to practice: It’s easy to go too wide, into the opposite curb, when turning onto a two-lane street.
Your goal: Keep your bike in the correct lane and away from the curb as you make your turn.
Tips: After checking for traffic, look ahead to the point where you want to end up – NOT at the opposite curb. Don’t apply the front brake when making your turn or the bike will go down.

3. Starting from a stop on a hill.
Why it’s good to practice: You don’t want to stall the bike or roll backwards into cars behind you when it’s your turn to come off the stop sign or red light.
Your goal: Smoothly pull away from your stop without killing the bike and with less than a foot of roll-back.
Tips: Find a low-traffic, hilly neighborhood to practice in if possible. Slowly release the clutch til you feel it grab, then give just enough throttle to move the bike forward. Also practice this by turning right or left off the stop by combining with the tight-turn tips above.

4. Sudden Stops.
Why it’s good to practice: You need to get a feel for controlling your bike in a quick stop.
Your goal: Come to as quick a stop as possible without skidding or locking the brakes. 
Tips: Practice with a riding buddy so they are on hand to help if you go down or get hurt. Find an empty parking lot for practice. Ride straight, getting into second gear. Then “suddenly” apply both brakes with even but firm pressure. If you do lock the brakes, DO NOT immediately release them or you’ll be thrown high-side or low-side off the bike

5. Riding in a tight circle or Figure 8.
Why it’s good to practice: It will teach you to really control your bike, make tight turns successfully, and that “looking where you want to go” really works.
Your goal: Ride in a continuous ten-foot-wide circle or in a nicely-formed figure 8 with ten-foot-wide loops.
Tips: Watch instructional videos such as the Ride Like A Pro series to see how it’s done. Look where you want to go – looking across the circle at a point directly opposite you should take the bike in a nice tight circle. Feather your clutch for speed control; use the REAR brake, not the front. 

Here are a few other resources:
 http://ridemyown.com/articles/riding/index.shtml
 http://motorcycleassistant.com/motorcycle-practice-exercises/
 http://www.bcrider.com/practice.html

Tailgating *ssholes and you: a few coping strategies

Whenever we are out on the bikes, my husband likes to ride sweep – which means he likes to be the last rider in the line-up. (Here’s what happened when I tried riding sweep last summer.) He has said he does this because he wants to keep idiot cagers at bay – you know, the ones who insist on driving so close to the vehicle in front of them that they couldn’t possibly stop in time to avoid a rear-end collision.

I was thinking about this the other day while driving to my dad’s, and noticing one of those really huge pickup trucks that was so close on my bumper I couldn’t see his headlights in my rear-view mirror. The whole thing made me wonder what I would do if, in fact, I had someone tailgating me on the bike.

It seems to me there are a few options:

1). Tap my brakes and hope they get the hint before they actually rear-end me.
2). Give a wave or other appropriate gesture which says, “You are too close and should back off.”
3). Ride with a .38 Special tucked visibly into the back of my waistband. Good only if no cops happen to come up behind me.
4). When safe, pull off to the side and let them pass.
5). Pull up to a stoplight, shut off the bike, put the kickstand down, and walk back to the offender and ask them just what the hell they think they are doing.

Another one I’ve heard bikers talk about is to throw small objects from your pocket at the vehicle. Of course, you don’t throw your housekeys or other personal effects – you carry something specifically for this purpose. Examples might include small ball-bearings, chunks of busted ceramic material from old spark plugs, small pebbles, glass marbles, frozen peas, or even Skittles. While I can relate to the sense of glee one must get from exacting revenge in this way, it seems to me that these days you might only be provoking someone’s sense of righteous road rage.

What I usually do in the car is slow way down so I’m at least 5 mph under the speed limit, and wait for them to get impatient and go around me. I’ve never had that not work, so that’s probably what I’d do on the bike – followed by hand gestures if necessary. Or maybe even if not necessary. 

How about you – what’s your best strategy for discouraging tailgaters?