Bikers 6th sense

On my way home today there was a vehicle up front trying to make a right turn and a white van coming from the right turn to filter into the traffic that I was in. As I got close to the car that was waiting to turn right, I slowed right down. Sure enough the van emerged from behind this car and pulled into the lane of traffic directly in front of. I swerved around and as I went past I gave a toot of my horn. More to just let him know that he had pulled out in front of me than to show him I was annoyed.

Right after this we came to some traffic lights and the van was right behind me. I turned and told him that he just pulled out right in front of me and that had I not already seen him he would have taken me out. He explained that it wasn't his fault cause he didn't see me. At this point I decided that there was nothing further to add to the conversation and faced my front again. In the mirror I noticed him giving me the tosser sign.

[the_lone_wolf]

Originally Posted by BigApe

He explained that it wasn't his fault cause he didn't see me. At this point I decided that there was nothing further to add to the conversation and faced my front again. In the mirror I noticed him giving me the tosser sign.

perhaps it was a moment of profound understanding of himself, a moment of shame he could only express as a self aimed gesture of ridicule...

what?...


no?...



just another ****wit then

The sad thing is there are lots of cage drivers out there that do not pay enough attention or give way to bikes and hog lanes etc. You also get your boy racers and 70 years olds who don't know what year it is let alone have enough marbles left to be driving a car. These all blend in to the overall car population.

The even sadder fact is there are higher proportion of bike riders out there that range from the mild nutter to the absolute fu&8$*£ idiot who thinks it is ok to ride like a Moto GP rider on public roads. Unfortunately the public just remember the mindless idiots and we all get tarnished with the same brush.

How to we change the general publics mind?

[quote=I'm_a_Newbie;1249885]The sad thing is there are lots of cage drivers out there that do not pay enough attention or give way to bikes and hog lanes etc. You also get your boy racers and 70 years olds who don't know what year it is let alone have enough marbles left to be driving a car. These all blend in to the overall car population.
quote]

The hogging of lanes is my pet hate. Especially when you have been beind a car for a long while and then suddenly they swearve to the left side of the lane in an attempt to give you some room to perform a reckless overtaking manover.

oh well

Originally Posted by I'm_a_Newbie

The even sadder fact is there are higher proportion of bike riders out there that range from the mild nutter to the absolute fu&8$*£ idiot who thinks it is ok to ride like a Moto GP rider on public roads.

Damn those pesky Thames Valley riders

Originally Posted by ASM-Forever

Damn those pesky Thames Valley riders

Hehehe, Stu's fault!

I think what is called sixth sense is in reality more subtle observations that you subconciously make: like sometimes I notices hands passing over a steering wheel in preparation to hauling the wheel round and turning, and people who aren't going fast enough to go straight on who then suddenly turn. It's just heightened awareness. It's saved my bacon several times, most recently as simple as a guy turning accross me on a roundabout without indicating.

if they are in my way i normally beep them and if they hgave a go i noramlly just fold their mirrors in or if they didnt use em just take em off lol

As mentioned already, just subconcious observation of tiny tell tale signs. I don't think it's limited to bikers really, just tends to be more active due to self preservation. That it's a roundabout near you is key, you've likely seen people messing that roundabout up in one way or another countless times (people seem to have trouble with mini roundabouts - they tend to forget who has right of way) - you've seen enough of these incidents to recognize the warning signs long before your brain conciously registers them.

Despite not having a car crash in fourteen years and driving many tens of thousands of miles every year, when I complete a car journey I'll look back and realise I don't actually remember any of it, the whole thing has often been done on autopilot. Whilst on the bike I'm much more conciously aware; although truth be told, the concious part of my brain is more active in spotting potential speed traps.

Where I live, there is a miniroundabout from the highstreet into the main coast road. Now, most people coming from the left (off the coast road into the high street) just turn off and go up the high street - but some go right round the roundabout and go back the other way. This happened to me just once, and you dont ever expect it, because its rare. I saw a car coming round the roundabout, and thought "this is it, i'll go for it and make it out onto the road while the right hand traffic is blocked". The car kept coming right round, and I dont know how, but i just slammed on the brakes. I dont even remember seeing the guy coming right round.

But thanks to that biker 6th sense, I managed to stop - i think in a fight between an SV and a big ol' jag, the jag would win. Not a pretty sight...

Matt

Originally Posted by the_lone_wolf

i gave her the horn

Hehehe...

Sorry


Experience stacks up - what can seem like sixth sense is just your past experiences subconsciously giving you something - a hunch, a feeling that something is about to happen. She'll have been doing something - changing direction or speed slightly, enough to make your brain register that she wasn't doing as expected. Over time it moves from that kind of feeling to a "oh-oh - what are they going to do? they're up to something!" feeling - more of a conscious thing. But hey, at least you're not wearing your bike.