Should I get used to this?

Been on the roads for 4 weeks now after passing my DAS and getting a Bandit
600. Been thoroughly enjoying myself riding round the roads of central
Scotland but getting a little hacked off at the amount of cars that
mysteriously pull out in front of me. That jacket I bought with the bike
must have one of those invisibility cloaks built into it! The latest one was
tonight, I'm driving along a road that has two lanes either direction and
I'm in the left most one where I should be as there is no other traffic
about. Then this silly bint[1] pulls out from the right hand side, from a
road where right hand turns are prohibited but she takes a right anyway!
This wouldn't be so bad as I said the road was empty but she swings right
over the road into my lane. On top of that the road is a 40 but she is doing
30, so I check my mirrors/shoulder, indicate[2] then pull out into lane 2.
As I'm level with her she decides my lane is better so she proceeds to come
over. By now I'm pi***d off, so drop on the inside and gesticulate to her
that she should not have taken that right turn[3]. She goes ape and tries to
take me off the bike. I stopped playing, twisted the go-faster handle and
carried on my merry way.
Now we all know this isn't the last time this kinda thing is going to happen
so I ask you guys this, this car came out of a leisure centre/gym thingy,
she was dressed in sports wear so I assume she is a regular, I got her car
make/model/colour/reg. What do I do next to ensure she doesn't do this
again, and remember, if it's not fun it 'aint worth doing!


[1] Probably translates as 'tart' down south!
[2] Still indicating after 4 weeks, most car drivers I know cease to do that
after 4 minutes of passing their test;-)
[3]I did, seriously, wave of the finger and a motion that indicated a fish
going round a tight bend, Vic & Bob would be so proud!

 

<snip familiar tale>

When you first pass your test everything is a near miss. You get used
to it.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, !Speedy Gonzales!

No, you should not get used to this. If it's really happening a lot,
you've got a problem. And I do mean *you* have a problem.

I can't remember the last time that someone "mysteriously" pulled out in
front of me. Some do pull out, but I'm usually expecting it[1].

You're *very* inexperienced at the moment, and that means you're very
vulnerable. Look at your tale again:

It happens. No biggie.

Now, you've seen her do something slightly daft. Antennae should be
twitching.

And there you go! Your gut should have warned you that was on the cards.

Don't be. It happens. **** off over the horizon, or this...

will happen.

Don't be a ****, or you'll turn into Sir.Tony.

Wind your neck in, and try to ride with people with a few more miles on
their clocks. Learn from them.


[1] Now watch some **** take me out tomorrow.

 

So basically take it up the arse this time and put it down to experience?!?
I must admit, have driven on the roads for some time with 4 wheels and never
seen this kind of selective blindness, really opens your eyes! Really makes
you wonder why there are so may bike accidents eh?

 

!Speedy Gonzales! wrote

This time maybe but for the future learn to pull a fucking wheelie off
the throttle. For a start it will have you keeping both hands on the
fucking bars.

^
*lack of*

 

That's a very negative way of looking at it.

Learn to anticipate what other road users ae going to do. It gets easier
with time and miles.

If someone does one stupid thing, do what you can to keep clear of them.
On a bike, the best way is usually to clear off at high speed. Getting
upset will make your riding worse and will make life less enjoyable. Take
the high ground and smugly acknowledge to yourself that you're a far
better rider/driver than they are. Condescension: that's the ticket.

Yelling at bad drivers won't do anything for them, either. In most cases
they won't have realised they did anything wrong, or even noticed you at
all.

 

Very few cars mysteriously pull out in front of you if your observation
is up to scratch. Suggest doing a further days training to improve that
and your anticipation skills.



That jacket I bought with the bike

It can feel like that, but if you see them first, you can prepare for
their dumb actions well in advance. It does come with time. If this is
regular for you, get that training done soon.


The latest one was

When did you see the car?, what was their positioning in the junction
like?, could you have anticipated it?.

When you're level with the car?, did you brake to allow her into the lane?.

Why would she have moved over?, is there a turn to the right ahead, or a
roundabout?. Maybe she was lost, maybe just dumb.

As Nigel said, she had already done one dumb move, so your guard should
have been up and you should have been prepared for further dumbness.
This is anticipation. It is a skill which develops in most people, but
can be taught. If you are having this happen a lot, I suggest again
signing up for a days training.


By now I'm pi***d off, so drop on the inside and gesticulate to her

She would be incapable of understanding obscure hand gestures and this
may have been the first time she was aware of your presence on the road.
She may have seen you before she made the illegal right turn but decided
she had enough time to make the turn. She is now probably somewhat confused.



She goes ape and tries to

I used to make wild hand gestures etc until someone pointed out to me
that doing so would enrage the driver. No biggie you might think, but
what is the drivers perception of bikes now?. What are they
concentrating on?, how narrow is their focus?. I don't want to be the
next rider to overtake them when all they have in mind is skittling
bikers. Also, if all you are thinking about for the next 10 miles is
'Bloody dumb bint cager retard <grr snarl gnash fume>', where is your
focus?, what has it done to your observation. It has taken your
concentration off the road. Instead of scanning 10 till 2 as far up the
road as you can see, you will be looking kerb to kerb 50yds ahead.



I stopped playing, twisted the go-faster handle and

Best thing to do.

You could just report it to the Police. They may(1) take no action, they
may have a quiet word. If they choose the latter, and she makes a
counter claim about your behaviour, and she will say you were doing an
enormous speed(2) riding like a nutter, threatening to kill her etc,
then what happens?.

A well worded and highly sarcastic note left under a windscreen wiper is
about as much as you can get away with. Slashing her tyres, keying her
door panels etc would just be seen as a random act of vandalism.
Although you can tie the two incidents together, it is unlikely she
would be able to.

Please don't think this is a dig at you, it isn't meant to be in any way
shape or form. You are a newbie. It would be better if you were still
alive, uninjured and still riding in a few years time.

Where in the country are you based?. I can recommend a school in the
North West ( Preston/Bolton ) if you are interested.

(1)OK, they are unlikely to even lift an arse cheek to fart.
(2)Yeah, I know. 'I didn't see them, they were travelling at 100mph'. It
is tricky to reconcile the two without much use of peyote or LSD.

 

!Speedy Gonzales! <> spewed forth the
following...

<snip>

Anticipation. Woo! Anticipations all you need..

Seriously.

Picture the scene. I`ve just come out of my road and turned into the
(fairly) busy main road by where I live. Quite a few parked cars obscuring
the view for anyone coming out of a side road. I spot the back end of a car
wanting to pull out. I`ve not seen the driver yet so it`s a safe bet they
may not have seen me. Ok. Drift right and give myself an escape route, also
give them a chance to see me better. Keep half an eye on them for movement.
Cover my brakes. Don`t let them off the potential "pull out knobrot" hook
until eye-contact has been made or you`ve passed them.
Even eye-contact does not stop a few of them, but by then you have your
escape route planned or you`re ready to stop on a sixpence and it`s no
longer quite the threat it could have been. Give them a lazy 2-fingered
salute and continue along your merry way.

Similar for buses letting passengers off. Assume theres a potential fuckwit
who`ll try to cross the road in front of the bus. Give yourself that extra
space and prepare for said fuckwit to step out.

In your case, once the driver had made that silly manouver, you know that
they`re not the sharpest tools in the box. Bear that in mind. With some
people it`s easier to either a) **** off into the distance or b) let them
past and out of (your) harms way.

After a while you`ll find yourself doing all of this without thinking about
it.. It`ll come with time and miles.

 

So true.

When new riders first appear here we get loads of "near miss" posts.
If they're regular riders it quickly disappears.

 

South of where? It's Arabic for "girl", iirc.
--
| ___ Salad Dodger
|/ \
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|_\_____/_| ..69339../..16127.../..3180./.19406
(>|_|_|<) TPPFATUICG#7 DIAABTCOD#9 YTC#4 PM#5
|__|_|__| BOTAFOT #70 BOTAFOF #09 two#11 WG*
\ |^| / IbW#0 & KotIbW# BotTOS#6 GP#4
\|^|/ ANORAK#17
'^' RBR-Visited:74 Pts:1630 Miles:5400

 

!Speedy Gonzales! wrote

On the phone? Pissed? Militant anti-biker? Who fucking knows and who
fucking cares. Perm any three from 20 different reasons and you will
probably be right but does it matter?

The learning curve it is steep and long.

Yes and no. I have been riding since before most of this lot were
beginning to evolve and I am still learning.

But more important, imnsho, is that I am not afraid to admit it.

 

So the general consensus, is keep any eye open for further daft driving and
just keep going, point understood and noted! Seriously though, no point
dwelling on the matter as I should have just came round her and rode off but
I would like to address the queries quoted above.
Firstly it is a 40MPH, urban road that has four lanes, two in either
direction with no central reservation. I was travelling in a west-east
direction at the 40, the road was clear but their are speed cameras so no
faster. The other vehicle came from my right on a junction where they are
only allowed to turn right due to previous accidents. The particular
junction is shaped like a slip road so it merges with traffic going in the
east-west direction. As I saw the vehicle approach it was indicating left
and shaping up to join the empty road, I was at this time about 25 metres
away, seeing the road was empty the car feigned a left then done a u-turn
right in front of me. As I was in lane 1 I assumed she would stay in lane 2,
no harm no foul. Instead she moves quite quickly from lane 2 to lane 1. She
was not yet up to road speed so at this time I pulled into lane 2. This is
where my inexperience comes to the fore! I stayed at 40! I didn't want to
speed so she was now alongside me, perhaps a couple of feet in front and
this is where she comes back into lane 2, causing me to brake and drop back
into lane 2. I understand her taking the right turn from her road into the
main road as it saves her a few minutes from doing a u-turn further down the
road but I don't understand the lane changes as there was no need.
Anyhow, it's all good experience, and as long as I can get on the bike the
day after, it is welcomed. As for further training, I'm pencilled in to do
some (RoSPA/IAM), with my school but it was suggested I wait 6 months to
improve my roadcraft after passing my test, as that is where/when the real
learning is done apparently!

 

Not really. Further daft driving is the standard, so keeping an eye
open for it is superfluous. Make no mistake; everything on the road is
there specifically to kill or injure you. All you have to do is make
sure it doesn't.

Soy.

 

Returning home today I was following a car, he turned left and I was
going straight on, as I started to accelerate, a car pulled out in
front of me, I slammed the anchors on, easily stopping before
collision, he slammed his brakes on and waved apologies, i waved back
and went on my way, It happens. Found out later, SWMBO had smiled and
waved back at him. Normally I woulda given abuse out, maybe I am
mellowing.

True, doesn't even make you feel good, just ready for the next
incident.

 

!Speedy Gonzales! secured a place in history by writing:

No. The consensus amongst those who've been doing this for any length of
time will be to expect daft driving wherever it might be possible. If you
don't, you'll be off the bike in the near future. What experience brings
is a better sense for the range of stupidity you're likely to encounter.

There is nothing sadder than a biker posting something along the lines of
'I had an off, but it wasn't my fault and this is why.......'. In here the
response will almost always be 'Sorry to hear that, hope your arm / leg /
balls / pillion better soon.....but it was your fault, because you should
have seen it coming.....'

 

Now that seems an odd idea.

"No No, don't take any extra training that might help you stay alive. Just
find out for yourself and then come back in six months so rather than give
you some good grounding, we have to fix all the things you're doing wrong."

I can understand it if you're some sort of mong who can't control their
bike, but for the other 99.99999% of the population being taught where to
look, anticipation and other things surely is good, whenever you do it.

As suggested, try joining your local IAM group (not your school) - tell them
you've got little experience and they'll (hopefully) pair you up
accordingly.

My opinion of my local IAM group remains positive, despite them failing to
find me a new observer for the last 8 months (though in fairness I haven't
chased it).

 

Having done the Dave Corden training a couple of times, do you really
think that you need to do the IAM course? I doubt it. I tried IAM
years ago and didn't gain anything from it, but learnt a hell of a lot
with Dave on my first w/e with him.

--
Lesley
CBR600FW
SBS#11 (with oak-leaf cluster)
BOTAFOT#101A UKRMHRC#12
BONY#54P BOB#18
Real burds don't take hormones, they rage naturally

 

Why do you think I haven't chased it? ;-) I joined very shortly after
passing my test (on a 'young persons cheap deal - included test' - but TBH
having done advanced training outside of the IAM I found that I had no
interest - as Cane has said several times, they take the fun out of
motorcycle riding once you've got the concepts down.

I know exactly when I thought "fck this shit" - it was out on an observed
run when the observer took my down a shit infested, narrow, rubbish lane. I
just stopped seeing the point of it all.

 

Well, no amount of thinking can counteract *all* of the non-thinking that
goes on on the roads.

Some people probably just feel that little bit safer in a car than on a
bike, especially if so much attention needs to be paid on a trip that you
can't actually just get down to enjoying the ride.

 

Now you've bought the BMW, you're full of stories of being out on the
bike. When you only had the R1, you never mentioned any occurrence
while out and about, doing the motorbicycling thing.

Funny that.