Video of me riding in the city

[jeffb502]

Most of the videos I've posted involve the fun twisty road rides; this is just a city ride down the main straight road through town. I put down my defensive riding thoughts as captions, and I found after viewing the video I frequently have to pause the video to read what I was thinking as I was riding.

I still haven't fixed my vibration issue with the camera so don't forget to lower your volume before clicking on the video. It'll come out loud and annoying.

I think part of what I enjoy about being out on the road on two wheels is anticipating what stupid stuff people can/will do, and already being prepared when they do that stupid thing I already anticipated them doing. Lots of what if thinking, but I seem to be a what if thinker anyway so it works for me.

Link to original page on YouTube.

[Kscreations08]

I like how attentive and defensive you ride. I also love the notes at the bottom. Almost serves as a lesson for new riders watching.

"Hey noob. I noticed this. Look for it when you are out too"

[ninja250r81]

What is SMIDSY??

[Ninja Bob]

Originally Posted by ninja250r81

What is SMIDSY??

Sorry man, I didn't see you.

There are things you can do to make sure you're visible to other drivers and riders, such as weaving as you approach them.

[capt_bugaloo]

I have a comment, and I'm sure people will think I'm a killjoy for saying it, but I noticed that the O/P likes to filter between cars up to the front of a stopped intersection, and then as soon as the light is green, gets on the throttle and bolts through the intersection as fast as possible.

Now it looked to me as though there was fairly good visibility to the sides at these stops, and I'm sure he is doing good sidechecks and so forth to make sure the coast is clear.

Still, I've learned through a couple of close calls that this can be risky. Just a couple of months ago, I was at an intersection on my morning commute, waiting patiently and watching the sides for any cars not slowing down for their impending red light. Cars came to a stop on the sides, my light goes green, and I am ready to move forward. I only didn't because a pedestrian was standing on the corner and looked like he might walk across against the red light.

I guess the moving van that suddenly blew through the red light at 80 kph (in a 50 zone) was also too busy watching the pedestrian to realize that he was both far above the speed limit and had a red light.

YMMV. I'm just saying.

[dfox]

paying attention... good thing.

i think your smidsy weaves could be a little more dramatic, personally, but road conditions dictate and they're hard to make out in the video so...

not really sure i classify that as "city" driving though... more like, congested suburbia driving.

[EsrTek]

LOL watching your video is like watching myself ride... but if you had video record my thoughts while riding....

and YES this is very good lessons for newer riders...keep up these vids, I'm sure you'll get lots of hits.

[jeffb502]

Originally Posted by Kscreations08

I like how attentive and defensive you ride. I also love the notes at the bottom. Almost serves as a lesson for new riders watching.

"Hey noob. I noticed this. Look for it when you are out too"

Thanks! I'm a noob myself and hope I'm not coming across as somebody that thinks he knows everything; I'm just sharing what I'm thinking.

Originally Posted by capt_bugaloo

I have a comment, and I'm sure people will think I'm a killjoy for saying it, but I noticed that the O/P likes to filter between cars up to the front of a stopped intersection, and then as soon as the light is green, gets on the throttle and bolts through the intersection as fast as possible.

Now it looked to me as though there was fairly good visibility to the sides at these stops, and I'm sure he is doing good sidechecks and so forth to make sure the coast is clear.

Still, I've learned through a couple of close calls that this can be risky. Just a couple of months ago, I was at an intersection on my morning commute, waiting patiently and watching the sides for any cars not slowing down for their impending red light. Cars came to a stop on the sides, my light goes green, and I am ready to move forward. I only didn't because a pedestrian was standing on the corner and looked like he might walk across against the red light.

I guess the moving van that suddenly blew through the red light at 80 kph (in a 50 zone) was also too busy watching the pedestrian to realize that he was both far above the speed limit and had a red light.

YMMV. I'm just saying.

Yep, always check for cross traffic, especially if they're just getting the red light. One thing I like to look for is if potentially conflicting traffic lanes are open or blocked. If there's a car already stopped in the lane it's less likely to suddenly decide to run the red light and hit me. If there's an open lane the red flags/alarm bells start going and that open lane needs attention. Can I see far enough back to tell if somebody is flying towards the intersection accelerating and failing to make the yellow light?

The one where I went through as soon as it turned green at 1:28 I was also aware that the cross traffic had had red lights for quite some time. My experience has shown me people are most likely to run red lights shortly after they turn red. Of course somebody can randomly run a red light after it's been red for a minute and crash into 3 cars crossing on the green (I've seen those videos before) and it's always good to keep an eye out for them.

Originally Posted by dfox

paying attention... good thing.

i think your smidsy weaves could be a little more dramatic, personally, but road conditions dictate and they're hard to make out in the video so...

not really sure i classify that as "city" driving though... more like, congested suburbia driving.

I concur on the smidsy weaves. I've found the level of weave drama is related to the amount of danger I feel myself to be in from the potential threat.

That's the busiest road in the city I live in on a weekday afternoon. I like being able to complain about how horrible traffic is when I can't do 65 on the freeway in the fast lane in my car .

Originally Posted by EsrTek

LOL watching your video is like watching myself ride... but if you had video record my thoughts while riding....

and YES this is very good lessons for newer riders...keep up these vids, I'm sure you'll get lots of hits.

Glad to hear I'm not the only paranoid one constantly talking to myself about how they're all out to get me...

[Kscreations08]

Originally Posted by jeffb502

Thanks! I'm a noob myself and hope I'm not coming across as somebody that thinks he knows everything; I'm just sharing what I'm thinking.

I concur on the smidsy weaves. I've found the level of weave drama is related to the amount of danger I feel myself to be in from the potential threat.

In essence, we are all noobs. Always will be. Most old riders will admit they still have a lot to learn. I didn't want to critique, given that I am new too, but it concerns me that you might be putting to much faith in the weave. I did this the other night headed into work when I saw that a car was going to pull out in front of me. To no avail, he pulled out and only saw me when he was in front of me. He almost drove right into a ditch... Keep weaving if it works but please make sure you cover your brakes too.

[jeffb502]

Originally Posted by Kscreations08

In essence, we are all noobs. Always will be. Most old riders will admit they still have a lot to learn. I didn't want to critique, given that I am new too, but it concerns me that you might be putting to much faith in the weave. I did this the other night headed into work when I saw that a car was going to pull out in front of me. To no avail, he pulled out and only saw me when he was in front of me. He almost drove right into a ditch... Keep weaving if it works but please make sure you cover your brakes too.

Good call on having an out. One of the things that tends to discourage me from weaving more dramatically sometimes is that voice that says "If you're leaned over doing a dramatic weave, you're going to have to straighten back up before you can brake hard."

Every situation is different. Sometimes different tools can be used to solve the same problem, and sometimes a tool that solved a problem before won't solve it this time. The more alternatives we have the better.

Since it was at night, did you have your high beam on, or try using it? Did you try using your horn? I think at night the high beam can be an excellent visibility tool, especially when dealing with oncoming traffic that may not see us. However, I would be wary of flashing a high beam off/on at a car waiting to turn in front of me, since many drivers now (stupidly) interpret a flashing high beam as you yielding to them/telling them to turn in front of you.

Do you have any video or could you provide more details on your close call? I think discussing close calls is a valuable safety tool that we should use more often. Better to learn from the mistakes that almost caused crashes than to wait until a crash and wonder what happened.

I know with newer cars they have larger A pillars for airbags, and it just seems to be the style nowadays. I've found when driving cars with large A pillars I will frequently have a blind spot directly where the corner is at a 4 way stop, and I won't see pedestrians crossing at the corner unless I physically move my head to peer around the A pillar to check for them. I think it's important to keep that front blind spot in mind.

[Kscreations08]

Originally Posted by jeffb502

Good call on having an out. One of the things that tends to discourage me from weaving more dramatically sometimes is that voice that says "If you're leaned over doing a dramatic weave, you're going to have to straighten back up before you can brake hard."

Every situation is different. Sometimes different tools can be used to solve the same problem, and sometimes a tool that solved a problem before won't solve it this time. The more alternatives we have the better.

This is literally EXACTLY what I was thinking.

Originally Posted by jeffb502

Since it was at night, did you have your high beam on, or try using it? Did you try using your horn? I think at night the high beam can be an excellent visibility tool, especially when dealing with oncoming traffic that may not see us. However, I would be wary of flashing a high beam off/on at a car waiting to turn in front of me, since many drivers now (stupidly) interpret a flashing high beam as you yielding to them/telling them to turn in front of you.

Do you have any video or could you provide more details on your close call? I think discussing close calls is a valuable safety tool that we should use more often. Better to learn from the mistakes that almost caused crashes than to wait until a crash and wonder what happened.

I know with newer cars they have larger A pillars for airbags, and it just seems to be the style nowadays. I've found when driving cars with large A pillars I will frequently have a blind spot directly where the corner is at a 4 way stop, and I won't see pedestrians crossing at the corner unless I physically move my head to peer around the A pillar to check for them. I think it's important to keep that front blind spot in mind.

I ride high beams 100% of the time. I most certainly did not flash them, as that is a clear indicator of "Feel free to pull out and kill me." I did beep my horn but it's pathetic in every way lol

Here's the set-up:

I just pulled onto a 4 lane (2 in each direction) with a large middle divider. Within 200ft, there is a stop light. Going my direction, the road to my right is an exit ramp with 3 lanes at the light. The nearest lane is a Left green arrow only. Middle is straight through. The right-most lane is angled to a stop sign, meant to force cars to yield when I have a green. Coincidentally, I had the green and was moving through at the speed limit, roughly 35 maybe 40. As I was going through the intersection, an old white buick pulls out from the stop sign. I knew he was there. I knew he didn't see me. The pillars you were discussing in your post put me in a blind spot. But, I was ready for it. I calmly, but forcefully, braked just as my tail cleared the intersection. Thats when my lights caught the driver's eyes and he almost drove off the road thinking I was going to hit him. Cagers really can't judge our speed at all. Regardless, after realizing that he was staying on the side of the road until I passed him, I checked my mirror and moved to the left lane (which would merge in 50ft anyway) just to add the buffer zone. Pulled ahead and went on about my business. I find that being fully ready for this kind of thing makes everything so much smoother.

PS. I have to get a camera lol. I want one so bad