Loud cans save lives?

Originally Posted by DanDare

I come from a family of Firemen and one of their gripes is people not moving out the way. Suppose its rubbed off on me.

One time my old man was answering a shout in Croydon and a couple of old f*rts
sat at the lights and didn't move an inch even when they went green. ( The lights not the old fogeys )

I got beeped by a bus for not moving out the way yesterday as a police car with sirens was approaching. Clearly not everyone is aware you aren't supposed to go through red lights for them - its their job to drive round you. This is the red lights at old street roundabout where going through = running a pedestrian over. Most of whom have headphones on and are oblivious to the sirens and impending police car.

Im not prepared to get points on my license - as has been the case recently - for this. The moment the lights went green, left indicator on to pull over in front of the bus and away they went - a delay of 10 seconds tbh.

But not going when theyre green is a different matter though.

And no Ive not been confused by sirens either.

Originally Posted by rubberduckofdeath

Dan, that might be typical of a lot of car drivers but I'd say the number of bikers who behave like that is probably significantly less because in my experience we tend to:

a) pay more attention to what's going on around us
b) see the lights further back down the road because we actually use our mirrors
c) tend to show more courtesy for others

and finally:

d) appreciate that it might be us that the next ambulance is off to help..

Lee.

Fair comment

Lynw, I see your point.
Suppose its different for the driver of the appliance.
Trouble is firemen will always tell you every second counts.

Have to agree to disagree I'm afraid.

Right, I'm off home now, take it easy y'all!

[Spiderman]

I certainly noticed the "moses effect" when i got rid of the standard can and put the g-force one on.
I agree that those with loud ICE probably dont hear me anyway, and neihter do the fool who ride bicycles with their Ipods in both ears (even when i had music on i never had it in both ears at once).

Same reason why i ride with my lights on during the day. Anything i can do to make me more noticeable to the ignorant proportion of cagers is a good thing, imo.

But i still ride as tho they havnt seen or heard me, its just safer that way for me.

And PeteH, i think its far more usefull in busy city commuting than out on open roads.

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by Viney

My car sound system is louder than my exhaust

I'm not surprised your Stereo is FFing loud.

I followed Liz along the A303 one day and I could hear the exhaust on my old Golf over the can on the SV

I dont think loud cans save lifes. I think a loud can helps make people aware of your presence. What I think saves lives is being aware and watching what other road users and pedestrians do IMHO.

i drive thru camden weekly, and as anyone knows that area by the station, people never look before crossing. before i got the new exhaust on there, i had a few near misses with some dopy goits walking out on a green light. how i have my loud (and it is ) can on there you can see them look up as you go past.

so it has really helped awareness i would say.

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by rubberduckofdeath

Would you agree that:

- Being louder often helps to make people aware of your presence?

- And also, that if people are more aware of your presence that generally you are less likely to be involved in an accident with that person?

- And thirdly, that if you are less likely to be involved in an accident, that you are less likely to lose your life.. ?

Lee.

Lee I do agree.

What I think I was trying to say was that. I dont rely on the fact that I have a loud can on my bike to make people aware of my presence on the road. The way I'm reading this thread and it might be wrong is.

"If you have a loud can pedestrians or car drivers will hear you before they see you and wont step out in front of you or pull out on you whilst you're filtering"

IMHO you shouldnt rely on the your can to make people aware of you on the road, ( but as others have said it does help ). What you should be doing is paying proper attention to the way you ride and whats going on around you. I've lost count of how many times people have pulled out in front of me or stepped off the pavement in front of me when I'm on the SV and those of you who've been on a rideout with me will know how loud the blue flame on my bike is with both the baffles out.

A loud can will help as you've described PH but if the driver is not paying attention and has the music up he will not have a clue you are there.

We all like a bit of loud music at times in the car and you would not even hear a siren when its up. What gives you the signal of something around you is your alertness and observations whilst on the road.

Put simply:

Be Alert your country needs Lerts

I have met a few "sirens" in my time that left me a little confused!

However that is of course all another story........... :P

Originally Posted by DanDare

Lynw, I see your point.
Suppose its different for the driver of the appliance.
Trouble is firemen will always tell you every second counts.

Have to agree to disagree I'm afraid.

Right, I'm off home now, take it easy y'all!

Fair enough. But I fail to see why I should get 3 points when the firecrews, police and ambulance drivers are taught how to deal with this situation.

Plus I fail to see why I should go through at the risk of injuring crossing pedestrians and thereby creating, possibly, another accident which requires an emergency vehicle.

I appreciate seconds count, but Id lose my license rapidly if I did this every time sirens go off in London and I went through red lights. And the guy in Doncaster that also got a £60 fine for it means Id be broke too.

Spidey...Fortunately I am the opposite of yourself. I very rarely get snarled up in traffic when out on the bike.(However getting away from Jerez was a nightmare...yet the biggest danger there were knobs on bikes who were diving out from between stationary cars etc!)

I hope the theory about the noisey exhaust does prove accurate as I continue to strum my fingers on my desk impatiently waiting for my new one to arrive from Italy!