marauder@fluke.UUCP (Bill Landsborough) (02/17/86)
After reading Todd's article I wanted to post this observation and see if other riders have noticed the same thing. I have noticed that when a rider like Todd is very cautious and wears orange and does all of the right things to make himself visible including driving under the speed limit in the proper lane, that automobile driver tend to intimidate them or try to intimidate them. This is typically the tail gaters and the lane cutters which he described. On the other hand is the rider in full, black leathers with no helmet and very dim or non existant headlight. Noone ever rides his tail or cuts him off (at least semi-intentionally) or squeezes him out of his lane. His visibility is marginal to poor yet everyone around him knows exactly where he is and makes sure not to violate his rights. My conclusion is the projection of fear on the part of the motorcyclist. If you project the message that "I am afraid you might not see me and may hurt me", they will squeeze you like a bug if you are in their way. On the other hand if you project "If you mess with me you are going to pay dearly" attitude and look like you can back it up, noone will drive within 40 feet of you. Interesting creatures, we humans... Bill Landsborough ---- "Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude... Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
donch@teklabs.UUCP (Don Chitwood) (02/19/86)
This is a most interesting subject and one that I often ponder as I am biking, particularly on a long ride. I happen to wear a black leather jacket, a black Nava Helmet, and sometimes black leather pants. My cycle is a black Moto Guzzi 850T. The choice of black apparel was suggested by Langlitz Leathers, who made my jacket (marvelous jacket and great folks to know and deal with). Their comment was that the black leather was a better choice for durability and spill protection owing to the processes used to produce it. My original choice was a light brown, which was a more supple leather, but they queried me about my wants and riding style and strongly suggested the black. What is interesting is how people respond to me when I'm shopping or otherwise on foot but still fully "leathered". I get quite a fear or apprehension response from many people, so much so that I take pains to open up the jacket to disarm the "black appearance". Oddly, I find myself having a reserved response to other bikers dressed similarly if I don't know them. As far as traffic is concerned, I have rarely been a target, to my knowledge. On the other hand, I assume that nobody else on the road sees me, a point of view that has saved my skin numerous times. Whether or not my driving style or apparel has any influence on how I'm treated on the road, I know not. To me, the greatest driving hazard on the road is a wood-chip truck. What with all the lumber industry around here, one often encounters these huge semi trucks with a load of wood chips loosely held in my a mesh structure. The wind picks up the wood chips and even a full face helmet is no protection against a cloud of chips. They get in my eyes and the agony is extreme. Vision goes to hell. Another one is dump trucks with a load of gravel. They constantly shed gravel and rocks, particularly with every bump. A rock the size of a football once carommed off the back of a dumptruck I was following on the freeway. The rock was spinning erratically across the road in front of me, so there was no way not to hit it. Happily this was in my car; unhappily it wiped out two tires, tweeked the steering and dented two brand new alloy wheels beyond use. On a bike, I probably could have avoided it if seen. The moral: be alert at all times. Also a little bit of aggressiveness (NOT obnoxious-ness) can help define your space on the road. All for save driving! Don Chitwood TekLabs Tektronix, Inc.
marria@diablo.ARPA (Michael Marria) (02/20/86)
Followup-To:net.cycle In article <3099@vax4.fluke.UUCP> marauder@fluke.UUCP (Bill Landsborough) writes: >After reading Todd's article I wanted to post this observation and see >if other riders have noticed the same thing. > >I have noticed that when a rider like Todd is very cautious and wears >orange and does all of the right things to make himself visible >including driving under the speed limit in the proper lane, that >automobile driver tend to intimidate them or try to intimidate them. >This is typically the tail gaters and the lane cutters which he >described. It has been mentioned that the gnarlier look will have a better effect at commanding attention of those drivers who might not respect such fundamentals as `public' roads etc. There is also (my experience) a difference achevieved in the type of headgear one sports. The full-face helmet, for starters, relinquishes your apparent human factor. When a motorist cannot see your eyes and face, you become a non-entity, a machine. This is greatly to your disadvantage particularily as you cannot establish eye contact. Very important. (not to mention the general visual and auditory direction losses suffered) With this in mind, the open-face helmet is more advantagious. The non-helmet (don flame proofing) is clearly the best. You have full visibility, auditory and can establish immediately to the potential, hazard-in-the-cage that yes, you are watching him/her/it. As we all know, no helmet is safer than wearing one anyway. Black leathers, beard, a motorcycle that looks like it belongs on the hi-ways (not at Toys-R-Us) will without a doubt get lots of attention from everybody.(unfortunately at times) 463,000 miles upright 50 feet down wrong still riding -- Michael R. Marria glacier!diablo!marria Stanford University (415) 497-6240 marria@su-aimvax.ARPA
phil@osiris.UUCP (Philip Kos) (02/20/86)
> .... My conclusion is the projection of fear on the part of the > motorcyclist.... > > Bill Landsborough I have noticed similar behavior since I got rid of my old CB450 and picked up a new Sportster. In my case, I don't *try* to project an "If you mess with me..." attitude, I make all reasonable efforts to be visible, and I didn't run out and get a dozen tattoos and some official Hell's Angels colors, but it does seem like my change of mounts has gotten me a lot more respect on the roads. (I *do* wear the black leather, but that's because it's still the most common color.) On the other hand, it hasn't made people antagonistic to me at all - children wave and folks are just as friendly and talkative when you stop along the road. So maybe the intimidation only affects the bad drivers. Phil Kos The Johns Hopkins Hospital Baltimore, MD - - - - - - - Always remember: 90% of the drivers out there don't see you, and the 10% who do have been paid to take you out. RIDE PARANOID.
animal@ihlpa.UUCP (D. Starr) (02/20/86)
> ...My conclusion is the projection of fear on the part of the > motorcyclist. If you project the message that "I am afraid you might > not see me and may hurt me", they will squeeze you like a bug if you > are in their way. On the other hand if you project "If you mess with > me you are going to pay dearly" attitude and look like you can back it > up, noone will drive within 40 feet of you. > I've noticed a similar effect since I started riding Harleys four years ago. For some reason I seem to get noticed a lot more on a black Sportster than on a bright orange Suzuki (my riding apparel didn't change). I can only attribute this to the car pointers seeing me as a Bad Dude because I ride a Hog. On a similar tack, the MSF rider courses emphasize the idea of striking an "aggressive" lane position. That is, occupy as much of your lane as you can, in a way that forces car pointers to give you space. (i. e., sit in the left track of the lane, and hold this position when being passed, to force the car to go all the way into the other lane--and to leave yourself an out if the fool doesn't!) Everybody I've ever known who's managed to avoid car/bike accidents for a long time (including myself) seems to agree that you end up playing a continual game of chicken with the cars; if you let them push you around they inevitably will. If you really want to get respect from the car pointers, though, try dressing your bike and yourself like a cop. Put a big silver star on the gas tank and a huge CB antenna on the back, dress yourself in blue uniform pants and shirt, and wear one of those worthless half-helmets. No joke, THIS REALLY WORKS! When you go 55, *everybody* goes 55, and nobody intrudes in your space. The only drawbacks to this approach are legal (the line between legality and "impersonating an officer" is very thin, and subject to local interpretation), and the fact that many of your riding buddies may prefer not to be seen with you. Dan Starr
marauder@fluke.UUCP (Bill Landsborough) (02/25/86)
In article <1134@ihlpa.UUCP> animal@ihlpa.UUCP (D. Starr) writes: > >If you really want to get respect from the car pointers, though, try >dressing your bike and yourself like a cop. Put a big silver star on >the gas tank and a huge CB antenna on the back, dress yourself in blue >uniform pants and shirt, and wear one of those worthless half-helmets. >No joke, THIS REALLY WORKS! When you go 55, *everybody* goes 55, and >nobody intrudes in your space. The only drawbacks to this approach are >legal (the line between legality and "impersonating an officer" is very >thin, and subject to local interpretation), and the fact that many of your >riding buddies may prefer not to be seen with you. > > Dan Starr Thats a good idea Dan until the duped car drivers realize that they have been tricked and are still right next to you in traffic. Then retaliation becomes their goal.... The ideal trick would be to follow someone about 100 yards behind them so they can't recognize that it is a masquerade. Boy that sure bothers me when someone does it to me! Bill Landsborough