Left turning vehicles are the devil! | GTAMotorcycle.com

Left turning vehicles are the devil!

RodneyBR

RodneyBR

Well-known member
Site Supporter
Yesterday evening I was heading towards an intersection and there was the van turning left. Anticipating that this person probably doesn't see me, I made myself noticeable by changing tire tracks. Sure enough, the person didn't see me and started to make the left, but as soon as I changed tire tracks the person jammed on the brakes. I wasn't a super close call, but it shows that people in cars just don't see you unless you make yourself really visible.


I'm new to all this, so have only had a few incidences, but I bet you experienced riders have some stories to tell!


[video=youtube;jJ2Nby6pau4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ2Nby6pau4[/video]
 
happens to me almost everyday in the morning commuting to work down town Toronto. People just don't have patience. Now I started to flick my high beams as im approaching the intersection and a car is waiting to make a left turn, just in case. You never know.
 
Madness, but flicking lights could indicate to the other drive that you want them to go. Flicking lights means something different to everyone.

key3thermal said:
happens to me almost everyday in the morning commuting to work down town Toronto. People just don't have patience. Now I started to flick my high beams as im approaching the intersection and a car is waiting to make a left turn, just in case. You never know.
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I went over the hood of a car (toyota corolla - surprised?) turning left into a driveway on my parent's old street
 
I wouldn't flick my lights... To me that says "I see you, go ahead and turn". I flick my lights for the rigs when I know they need to merge in to my lane I'll let them know the tail of the trailer is clear of my vehicle and that he can move over. If I have an oncoming vehicle passing another car and is in my lane and making me nervous I'll also start flashing my headlight as I start to slow down as in a "wake up ****** bag" followed by the finger once they cut back in to their lane.
 
rmemedic said:
I wouldn't flick my lights... To me that says "I see you, go ahead and turn". I flick my lights for the rigs when I know they need to merge in to my lane I'll let them know the tail of the trailer is clear of my vehicle and that he can move over. If I have an oncoming vehicle passing another car and is in my lane and making me nervous I'll also start flashing my headlight as I start to slow down as in a "wake up ****** bag" followed by the finger once they cut back in to their lane.
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Some ****** driving a carload of us at night in a snow storm from Kingston to TO (you know that evil stretch of nothing where if you slide off to the inside they won't get to you until April) saw all the trucks flashing lights and thought he'd do it too.... just as a trailer's butt was even with the drivers door. Aye carumba!!! After I reamed him out he said he didn't really know why they were flashing. He thought they were just kind of saying "hi" to each other. Good lord.
 
oh crap. alright no more flicking. I though you did it to tell the person "Hey, im here. Don't move".
 
Left turning cars I hear is the number cause for accidents involving motorcycles.

Also, flicking high beams is hit n miss, there is room for confusion in doing that. What is better is to swerve side to side in your lane. That sort of movement is good at attracting attention.
 
68303b7c02de6d5a8a0cef3f9b2e7915.png
 
Is there going to be a video of every motorcycle experience?

it happens. you lived. learn from it, life goes on.
 
Not all, but I'll be posting new videos when I feel like it. Why, are they upsetting you? If they are, please choose not to watch. Personally I'd like to see more people posting video content on their experiences, suggestions, gear, etc..
nfq said:
Is there going to be a video of every motorcycle experience?it happens. you lived. learn from it, life goes on.
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Charlie-brm said:
Some ****** driving a carload of us at night in a snow storm from Kingston to TO (you know that evil stretch of nothing where if you slide off to the inside they won't get to you until April) saw all the trucks flashing lights and thought he'd do it too.... just as a trailer's butt was even with the drivers door. Aye carumba!!! After I reamed him out he said he didn't really know why they were flashing. He thought they were just kind of saying "hi" to each other. Good lord.
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Holy crap! That had to be a bowel-loosening moment.

I see a lot of near-accidents with people trying, badly, to communicate with other drivers. It's so easy to misunderstand and do something dangerous, like turn left in front of you.

I usually just keep a close eye on the left turner, cover my front brake and proceed with an escape vector in mind.
 
RodneyBR said:
...Anticipating that this person probably doesn't see me, I made myself noticeable by changing tire tracks. Sure enough, the person didn't see me and started to make the left, but as soon as I changed tire tracks the person jammed on the brakes... it shows that people in cars just don't see you unless you make yourself really visible...
Click to expand...

The reason the driver did not see you is because to his conscious mind in autopilot, you were not there. This is called Inattentional Blindness. By changing tire tracks you alerted his autopilot because your movement was out of the ordinary, his conscious mind broke through his standard visual filters, he then recognized you as a rider, and stopped.

As humans we need to process a lot of stimulus, visual and otherwise. To cope with this overload we have input filters that separate the important from unimportant. These filters act even before the conscious mind is even involved. The more distracted (multitasking) we are, the more we rely on our filters to cope. A motorcycle is small and not a threat to a car. Drivers may filter out a rider altogether. The driver is, essentially, blind to your motorcycle, no matter what you wear.

Motion camouflage, or SMIDSY (Sorry Mate I didn't See You) is also a theory you should read about. V-Tom is a strong believer of this theory.

We cannot change innate human physiology, but if we understand some of the underlying mechanisms, maybe, we can use this knowledge to make our riding safer.
 
key3thermal said:
oh crap. alright no more flicking. I though you did it to tell the person "Hey, im here. Don't move".
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Dont rely on any flicking of the lights or anything like that, there is no standard and it means something different to everyone. Keep aware of your surroundings, ride definsively. There is no universal language when your on the road, other then the standard things like turn signals.
 
I had a really strange one this afternoon coming thru Elora.Three young mennonite girls in a horse drawn buggy turned left in front of me.She clearly did not have complete control.Maybe the hypermotard spooked the horse a bit.I thought for a second that it was going to run over me,but she (the girl) stood up in the buggy and hauled his head around in time.Didn't stop him tho! The other two girls were laughing their heads off.Wish i had the vid on.
 
Nah, people completely missing their turn and driving into the bush is the debil.

[video=youtube;6VEZtjKyabg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VEZtjKyabg[/video]

Left turning vehicles is just something that you don't have 100% control over. Act accordingly and it shouldn't be an issue.
 
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While I agree that this is a problem, some riders go out of their way to make it harder to see them.

Why not buy some camouflage graphics for your bike?

5739f.1.jpg
 
nfq said:
Is there going to be a video of every motorcycle experience?

it happens. you lived. learn from it, life goes on.
Click to expand...

He's a newb, and now we all have to be newbs right along with him as he posts a thread and video every time anything happens. /sadface

7 frickin minute video about left turning, seriously? Who does that?? :confused1:
 
TorontoBoy said:
...

Motion camouflage, or SMIDSY (Sorry Mate I didn't See You) is also a theory you should read about. V-Tom is a strong believer of this theory.

We cannot change innate human physiology, but if we understand some of the underlying mechanisms, maybe, we can use this knowledge to make our riding safer.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your eloquent explanation!


Here's a video that explains it a bit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqQBubilSXU&feature=player_embedded

Here's futher reading:

Why Cars don't see bikes (SMIDSY)

SMIDSY detailed report

..Tom
 
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