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My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

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Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#151

Post by kjkjadksj »

braunshedd wrote: post #71

When I was commuting daily in the SF fog, I discovered that putting on of these [1] on my helmet did wonders to keep cars further off my tail. It moves the brake light up to eye level for people in SUVs and also triggers on engine braking. Wish it were cheaper, but was a worthwhile investment for me. Also, consider looking into airbag vests if you ride regularly. Also expensive but (supposedly) make a huge difference…

Californian motorcycle commuters are on another level in terms of risk imo. People are lane splitting at like 30mph over the speed of the rest of the traffic and absolutely no one checks for bikers before merging. It is a miracle more people don’t die on the 5 or the 101 every day.

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#152

Post by kjkjadksj »

imglorp wrote: post #19
Workaccount2 wrote: post #13

The author did a great job actually building the project, doing a layout and custom design rather than just stitching together off the shelf modules. Good work. That being said, in 20 years of riding motorcycles and being an ATGATT (all the gear, all the time) kind of rider, I'm mixed on the need for this. It's something I have thought about doing with a direct hardwire to the throttle, but I can't come up with a sit…

EV's with regen braking and manual transmission vehicles are in the same boat: unless they light up when slowing, following drivers will be surprised. The bare standard IMO for all vehicles should not be to light up when brakes are applied but instead any time the vehicle begins decelerating. Adding flashing for a strong stop ~~ >0.75g would be a bonus. Given all the sensors and compute hardware on vehicles -- even b…

You’d only be surprised if you were absolutely on someones ass. Engine braking is not quite that effective.

In fact this will make traffic worse due to stop n go effect from brakelights triggering more brakelights instead of coasting.

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#153

Post by kjkjadksj »

WalterBright wrote: post #132

The issue with brake lights is they are binary on/off. It would likely be better if the brightness would vary by how hard the braking is. Like getting brighter and brighter and then rapidly flashing.

If the binary isn’t working then you are following too close and no method is truly safe

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#154

Post by sema4hacker »

I rode a Honda 350 for seven years starting with the Oil Crisis, before bike headlights even turned on automatically, although I kept mine lit. The biggest problem was other drivers not noticing me coming on or from the side, because compared to cars bikes were and still are rare on the road. They'd turn as I was passing their blind spot, or pull out in front of me from a cross street, etc. Seemed like I'd have a close call about once per week, but I don't recall ever having a threat of being hit from behind.

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#155

Post by radlad »

kjkjadksj wrote: post #150
beloch wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Motorcycle fatality rates have been trending upwards, not downwards[1]. Brake lights on helmets may illuminate one of the culprits: An ever increasing number of American trucks with poor visibility. Sitting on a bike, you're even shorter than a pedestrian and more likely to be completely out of sight. Perhaps its time to start regulating for better visibility, as Europe has done. [1] https://www.iii.org/fact-statisti…

Some “militant” urban cycling commuters do things like attach a pool noodle horizontally and vertically to create space and visibility. I’d probably hazard a guess that avoiding highway miles also lowers your risk profile substantially.

Freeway driving tends to be the safest driving, in any vehicle. This is because speed deltas are typically low, and there are no cross-streets or stopping.

https://safetrec.berkeley.edu/2023-safetrec-traffic-safety-f... (Ctrl+F "Crash Location of Motorcycle Fatal Crashes")

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#156

Post by aziaziazi »

andrewflnr wrote: post #129
braunshedd wrote: post #71

When I was commuting daily in the SF fog, I discovered that putting on of these [1] on my helmet did wonders to keep cars further off my tail. It moves the brake light up to eye level for people in SUVs and also triggers on engine braking. Wish it were cheaper, but was a worthwhile investment for me. Also, consider looking into airbag vests if you ride regularly. Also expensive but (supposedly) make a huge difference…

I have a smiley face rendered in retroreflective tape on the back of mine. I figure it's both bright and triggers the very sensitive human visual system for detecting faces. It's hard to say how much it helps, especially since I put it on basically the same time I started riding at all, but I don't often have people tailgating me. ed: and it was only a couple bucks, that's nice.

Nice idea! Cars owner sometime use a "children inside" sticker. Won’t work for a solo bike obviously but wonder if some other messages might be effective like "Dad of toddlers", "I might be a cop", "vulnerable human"… the smiley is easier to read through.

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#157

Post by doctorpangloss »

radlad wrote: post #155
kjkjadksj wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some “militant” urban cycling commuters do things like attach a pool noodle horizontally and vertically to create space and visibility. I’d probably hazard a guess that avoiding highway miles also lowers your risk profile substantially.

Freeway driving tends to be the safest driving, in any vehicle. This is because speed deltas are typically low, and there are no cross-streets or stopping. https://safetrec.berkeley.edu/2023-safetrec-traffic-safety-f... (Ctrl+F "Crash Location of Motorcycle Fatal Crashes")

Complex thing to analyze, no?

Most Americans use freeways, and most do not use motorcycles. It's always hard to compare a rare thing to a common thing, it always has surprising problems. It's like when people on Reddit worry about radon in their basement, but the incidence rate of whatever cancer it was associated with is so low anyway.

What about agency? "Don't worry about kids choking on Legos, kids don't die from choking on Legos" - but that's because parents well informed and really vigilant about it, compared to say batteries. Motor riders avoid freeways.

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#158

Post by throwup238 »

kjkjadksj wrote: post #151
braunshedd wrote: post #71

When I was commuting daily in the SF fog, I discovered that putting on of these [1] on my helmet did wonders to keep cars further off my tail. It moves the brake light up to eye level for people in SUVs and also triggers on engine braking. Wish it were cheaper, but was a worthwhile investment for me. Also, consider looking into airbag vests if you ride regularly. Also expensive but (supposedly) make a huge difference…

Californian motorcycle commuters are on another level in terms of risk imo. People are lane splitting at like 30mph over the speed of the rest of the traffic and absolutely no one checks for bikers before merging. It is a miracle more people don’t die on the 5 or the 101 every day.

No kidding. The only time I've ever seen motorcycle accidents is on the 10 and 101. Highways in California in general are ridiculous; I'm constantly amazed driving on the 110 that more people don't get killed at the on-ramps with blind curves and everyone going 20 mph over the speed limit.

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#159

Post by smadge »

kccqzy wrote: post #121
braunshedd wrote: post #71

When I was commuting daily in the SF fog, I discovered that putting on of these [1] on my helmet did wonders to keep cars further off my tail. It moves the brake light up to eye level for people in SUVs and also triggers on engine braking. Wish it were cheaper, but was a worthwhile investment for me. Also, consider looking into airbag vests if you ride regularly. Also expensive but (supposedly) make a huge difference…

I ride a bicycle, and I deliberately mount the rear light directly at the eye level of typical sedans and SUVs. It's not connected to the brakes, but I find that having the light pulse is enough.

If you have a hub generator system, they sell rear lights with controllers which detect changes in the frequency of the wheel rotation and start pulsing when you decelerate.

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#160

Post by barbazoo »

beloch wrote: post #90
braunshedd wrote: post #71

When I was commuting daily in the SF fog, I discovered that putting on of these [1] on my helmet did wonders to keep cars further off my tail. It moves the brake light up to eye level for people in SUVs and also triggers on engine braking. Wish it were cheaper, but was a worthwhile investment for me. Also, consider looking into airbag vests if you ride regularly. Also expensive but (supposedly) make a huge difference…

Motorcycle fatality rates have been trending upwards, not downwards[1]. Brake lights on helmets may illuminate one of the culprits: An ever increasing number of American trucks with poor visibility. Sitting on a bike, you're even shorter than a pedestrian and more likely to be completely out of sight. Perhaps its time to start regulating for better visibility, as Europe has done. [1] https://www.iii.org/fact-statisti…

Fatality rates are actually pretty flat I would say if you look at the relative numbers.
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