A Fighter Pilot’s Guide to Surviving on the Roads • Hacker News Board

Re: A Fighter Pilot’s Guide to Surviving on the Roads

#191

Post by marssaxman » Wed, Sep 05, 2018, 9:42 PM UTC

lazyant wrote: post #182

mitko wrote: post #3

This was eye opening (pun not intended) and make me a bit worried as a recreational cyclist - many of my clothes are dark and it seems worth investing in brighter ones. As a driver, I found that using BGE setting of the side mirrors (it's wider out, slightly overlapping with rearview mirror), coupled with keeping an eye on the road gives me a much better situational awareness, and prevents the need to turn my head in…

I don't remember if it was 1/3 or 2/3 (a lot anyways) of motorcycle accidents were caused by another car driver, and mostly due that they didn't see the motorcycle so a high-visibility jacket (yellow/orange with reflective stripes) is a must imho.

I'm not going to wear a dorky-looking yellow vest even if it does make me safer, but it is very useful to assume that I am always effectively invisible. If you expect that drivers will constantly cut you off, pull out in front of you, and even merge directly into your lane, motorcycles are nimble enough that you can generally see the problem coming and react in time to avoid catastrophe when it inevitably happens.

Re: A Fighter Pilot’s Guide to Surviving on the Roads

#192

Post by polaritron » Thu, Sep 06, 2018, 12:39 PM UTC

phyzome wrote: post #190

polaritron wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On motorcycles you can be just a little bit more agressive, but selectively. There's enough power to assert high speeds, and take the lead with quick acceleration, but due to the amount of surface area in contact with the ground, motorcycles have lower agility than bicycles, based on the weight that gets thrown around. With most motorcycles weighing well over 200 pounds, depending on speeds, the usual turning radius…

Interesting to know about the turning radius issue. Bicycles can cut very sharp, and I suppose that's a function of both mass and velocity. (Possibly the lighter bicycle is easier to tilt over into a tight turn, driven down by the rider's weight, while the motorcycle has to tilt under its own weight.) Ultimately, though, on a city street my gut says that motorcycles are in pretty much the same situation as bicycles,…

Air horns are probably a great idea for bicycles. It would put someone on a bike eye-to-eye with a motorcycle in dense downtown traffic.

The thing about turning on a motorcycle, is speed's effect on the weight, and the only counter to prevent it from falling over is your strength, and ability to feel for leverage, versus tire friction.

At low speeds, powerwalking (letting the engine's idle push the bike at a walking pace) everything is reasonable, as long as you stay balanced. At speeds above 20 miles an hour, you cannot corner a motorcycle casually. You must pay attention to the road surfaces, and caliberate your speed according to how safe it is to lean the bike. If there is sand, gravel, rain, ice, oil/grease spots, or at night, flying blind to conditions beyond headlights, if you don't take the bike slow, keeping perpendicular to the ground, you risk a wipe out. Staying upright means taking a wide turn, or slowing down.

Re: A Fighter Pilot’s Guide to Surviving on the Roads

#193

Post by isostatic » Sat, Sep 08, 2018, 10:08 AM UTC

bacon_waffle wrote: post #187

isostatic wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the article, specifically the picture they appear in https://www.portsmouthctc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/... The argument "it's the cyclist fault she got killed for not wearing bright colours" is practically the same as "it's the woman's fault she got raped for wearing a short skirt" Maybe cyclists should be forced to wear high vis clothes so car drivers can drive around without awareness. Maybe schoolkids…

It looks to me like they're in a perfectly sensible position - just outside the door zone as they approach some parallel-parked cars. Am I missing something?

They are in the second lane, then they are too close to the left most lane. A vehicle (especially a large vehicle) passing up the inside could be very close. If the yellow rider were to move slightly to the left, the blue one would probably swerve towards the left lane, but there's no where to go.

They are also encouraging in-lane overtaking, which might just about work for a motorbike or another bike, but anything wider would be a problem

The yellow topped one is probably OK in lane position if the other cyclists weren't there (but why not another metre to the right). However he's very close to the blue one. The blue and stripy ones run the risk of being hemmed in by traffic from the rear

Re: A Fighter Pilot’s Guide to Surviving on the Roads

#194

Post by bacon_waffle » Mon, Sep 10, 2018, 6:56 PM UTC

isostatic wrote: post #193

bacon_waffle wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It looks to me like they're in a perfectly sensible position - just outside the door zone as they approach some parallel-parked cars. Am I missing something?

They are in the second lane, then they are too close to the left most lane. A vehicle (especially a large vehicle) passing up the inside could be very close. If the yellow rider were to move slightly to the left, the blue one would probably swerve towards the left lane, but there's no where to go. They are also encouraging in-lane overtaking, which might just about work for a motorbike or another bike, but anything w…

Thanks for the reply! Studying the photo more, I see that you are right about them being in the left of the second traffic lane - it's not parked cars like I thought previously.