Be Careful Out There

[Dana in Philly]

Whew!

Got cut off three times on the way in to the office this morning. Twice from the left by drivers ignoring yield obligations, once from the right by a 3 series BMW anxious to pull out. Wag of the finger the first time, horn for the second, horn and middle finger and yelling for the third. Finally just put the high beam, took a few deep breaths, and tried to concentrate on the present moment.

It was inattentiveness each time. It's hard to miss a way yellow R1100S with a rider in black Vansons and a silver helmet. You can't miss it. You just pull out before you finish doing your looking. That's how they do it sometimes here in the City of Brotherly Love.

Good thing *one* of us was paying attention.

Funny thing is, yesterday was cream.

[tomn]

Dana, good you came through, I take Fridays off so I manage to avoid crazy driving of Friday, worse than other 4 days.
Silver blends to background and not so conspicuous, black is hole in visual
perseption, and no matter how bright a bike is, it's only a small thing relatively motionless (compare to bicycle which has constant pedaling oscillation) -

[Steve Carlton]

Agree with Tom on the black and silver. But I'm not willing to go hi-vis yellow, either. I always run high beams, except in traffic when it gets dark. Not that that would have helped, but it couldn't have hurt. I try to pay attention and look, but once in a while I don't see a biker as soon as I'd like.

Your thread title reminded me of that line Michael Conrad would say at the end of the briefing on every episode of "Hill Street Blues."

[Dana in Philly]

Yeah, I stole his line.

[Hong Kong Nick]

Velcro the licence plate onto the licence holder ... it's safe at high speeds ...

... easy on, easy off ...

... easy off is good for kicking the mirrors of fools that pull-out / cut you up / drive whilst using the phone/shaver/applying makeup ...

[Dbltailexit]

best safety gear i've bought for the street is the $ 300 headlite bulb, with the earie blue tone just about everyone see's it.
I also have the loudest horn available but that's an after the fact item.

[Dana in Philly]

Man, even flippin' the wrong fella the bird here can get you shot. I won't even go near kickin' mirrors. I calm myself, pull off the road if necessary for a bit. I can't control everything, but I can try to control my reactions.

Did I ever tell you guys about my Philly shootin' story?

I was driving home, and I was in North Philly, about five cars away from a light, on a neighborhood street. Suddenly I hear fireworks. What the? Suddenly, the cars in front of me have their backup lights on and are backing up right toward ME! The car in front of me hits my front bumper.

While I'm still reacting to this weirdness, I see what it's about: maybe 30 feet to my left, on the sidewalk, is a kid -- maybe 16, maybe younger -- and he's got an automatic pistol out, arms extended, and he's calmly -- very calmly -- emptying that pistol at some unseen person across the intersection.

I didn't even have time to duck, much less the reaction speed.

Kid turns around after empying the pistol, and walks away down the sidewalk. At which point the guy in front of me and I, we quickly check our cars for damage, then scram out of there before whoever the kid was shootin' at comes back with friends.

That's Philadelphia.

Gotta be a little careful here. Folk can be touchy.

[Rapid Dog]

I gave up riding to work...figured I was cutting my odds of survival...shame, I was all about saving fuel and doin' the right thing for the planet. Fhuckit. Too many a-holes out there to kill ya.
Safer in a cage.

[bradzdotcom]

Two things i always assume while street riding:

Nobody in a cage can see me. i'm invisible.
Those that might, by 1-in-a-gazillion chance, actually see me....will try to kill me.

then ride accordingly with two fingers always over front brake, high beam always on, often modulating.

extra points awarded for identifying "murderers-to-be".
points taken away when sheet is thrown over face as cage driver tells cop "He just came out of nowhere!"

[Dana in Philly]

Yup, that's pretty much my method -- 'cept for the high beam -- although it'll be on today going home, for sure. Make a game of it. It's good practice for spotting wildlife when you're in the country.

[RoLoo]

Originally posted by Hong Kong Nick
Velcro the licence plate onto the licence holder ... it's safe at high speeds ...

... easy on, easy off ...

... easy off is good for kicking the mirrors of fools that pull-out / cut you up / drive whilst using the phone/shaver/applying makeup ...

...and the 'easy on' is good for ... ????

[johnty288]

It seems to me that it is worse this year. Particullarly cars from the right at intersections--not stopping, not even trying to make eye contact, etc. And I agree that Friday is the worst day of the week, particularly going home.

[Mr. Deltoid]

Uh oh, here it is again.Check out Mike Judge's Idiocracy.After watching this tragicomedy you will understand your traffic problems.The dumbing down is complete, the human race is in a downward spiral, watering down the gene pool in a orgy of ignorance.It will get worse folks, unless selective breeding is the law of the land.If we regulated human breeding like cattle, we would be in much better shape.Good luck in this religious fueled kill em all and let god sort em out society