Bikers 6th sense

[the_lone_wolf]

Why is it that you can tell when someone is about to do something really stupid on the road?

example, this evening i was approaching a mini roundabout not far from my house, negotiated it hundreds if not thousands of times before. i'm turning right, a few cars go before me but once it's clear i look all around, only other traffic is one car coming towards me with no signal, slowing down like they're going to stop. i start to go and then something inside says "don't" - sure enough the stupid old bint went straight over without giving way to me, thankfully i'd not swung into her path or she'd be facing an insurance claim right now and i'd probably be in the A&E dept...

the funniest thing was, i gave her the horn and she slams on the brakes and starts wagging her finger at me out of her window shouting something i couldn't make out due to my unbaffled scorpion providing ample noise to drown her out

now looking back, i can't think what it was she did that made me stop, other than just getting a feeling that something wasn't right - bizzare

your thoughts, oh wise and knowledgeable 'org?

Good obs.

Originally Posted by the_lone_wolf

the funniest thing was, i gave her the horn and she slams on the brakes and starts wagging her finger at me out of her window shouting something i couldn't make out due to my unbaffled scorpion providing ample noise to drown her out

People don't like to be wrong! I was travelling along a road (Clapham High St) and a van parked on the left was trying to pull out to go the same way as me. The cars were slow and he almost had space to get out but the car in front of me was just about blocking him. As the queue was travelling forward slowly and I was going to need to pass him, I moved out and honked my horn, and I think he was a tad upset as he decided to honk his horn back?! Anyway thereafter ensued a bit of honking from each of us as I filtered past the cars in front of him

He caught up to me at the traffic lights just before Clapham Common tube and honked me again too! I really don't know what justification he had for thinking he was right though...he must have assumed cages always have right of way over bikes!

[the_lone_wolf]

Originally Posted by ASM-Forever

Good obs.

lol

Originally Posted by muffles

People don't like to be wrong! I was travelling along a road (Clapham High St) and a van parked on the left was trying to pull out to go the same way as me. The cars were slow and he almost had space to get out but the car in front of me was just about blocking him. As the queue was travelling forward slowly and I was going to need to pass him, I moved out and honked my horn, and I think he was a tad upset as he decided to honk his horn back?! Anyway thereafter ensued a bit of honking from each of us as I filtered past the cars in front of him

He caught up to me at the traffic lights just before Clapham Common tube and honked me again too! I really don't know what justification he had for thinking he was right though...he must have assumed cages always have right of way over bikes!

You'll have to be careful...next step up from honking is trying to burn your eyes with their rear fog lights...altho you have to be behind them for that to work...doh

Originally Posted by the_lone_wolf

Why is it that you can tell when someone is about to do something really stupid on the road?

Self preservation.

The best reaction, I always think, is the way some people won't even acknowledge your presence once they realise they've pulled out in front of you. They just move their gaze quickly back to their chosen path and carry on, usually with a slightly panicked look on their face.

I think it's just experience. If something seems different or unusual, even if not apparently dangerous, then the sensible ones amongst us take a bit of extra care. It helps to assume the worst most of the time too, depressing as that sounds.

If you spend a long time in the hotseat (rider seat of a bike), on roads you know well, your subconcious will register odd things. The human mind is excellent at doing that, you just have to know when to listen to it.

Observations combined with the fact that there was no other traffic on/near this roundabout, and the car was almost coming to a complete stop. Why would they completely stop for an empty mini-roundabout? They wouldn't. I wouldn't if I'm honest. That was odd behaviour.

Or maybe you interpretted their braking as being almost to a complete stop, but in reality it was hard braking because they were in a rush, and driving too fast. Either way, you spotted it, which is what observation is all about.

it's kinda like reading the 'body language' of cars - as vital for self preservation as knowing when some big bloke is looking to pick a fight...

So who amoungst us are collectors of wing mirrors because when this happens to me it winds me up something stupid. . . and i am always tempted to destroy the mirrors on the offending car.
but something does tell you to STOP . . you just gotta watch your self folks,
car drivers with no bike exp are 100 % dangerous, and most of them dont realise it