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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

#211

Post by munificent »

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…

For what it's worth, I've driven a manual for the past 25 years in the US and I haven't noticed any significant increase in tailgated even when I decelerate. I'm definitely the kind of stick driver who avoids braking and pushes in the clutch and lets the vehicle cruise to a lower speed when possible.

Granted, it's also a red (small) pick-up truck, so pretty visible.

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

#212

Post by wonder_er »

Ooooh what a title

In 2019 I was a bicycling a lot, and really wanted to get something with a motor, so I could be a bit faster/farther/not so sweaty with my trips. I had access to a car but rarely used it.

I really don't like many inherent safety issues with motorcycles and never seriously considered obtaining one, but kept wanting a two-wheeled vehicle with a motor.

I'd ridden a 50cc scooter in 2019 for a few days, and it was fine then, but I never considered one seriously since.

Eventually, in 2020 it was an emergency room doctor who suggested I look at 'real scooters' instead of the 50cc things.

So I did, eventually I ended up owning a 170cc scooter/moped thing, and it feels infinitely safer than a motorcycle, and a bicycle. I've done 20,000 miles on scooters since then, probably, all over the world,

including Denver to Canada and back once.

Cheaper lighter more efficient, than motorcycles. more stable, lower center of mass, better wind protection, useful storage options, too, compared to motorcycles and bicycles.

I ride mine year round, no issues.

I wrote a page trying to capture some of the upsides, but it's hard to get the tone right on the internet:

https://josh.works/scootering

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

#213

Post by dabinat »

godelski wrote: post #176
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…

What's interesting is fatality rates are increasing but injury rates are decreasing. Seems like something else might be at play. If it is more SUVs and Pickups then I think a brake light helmet would do a lot considering the danger those cars present is being harder to see those below them. But if it is something else, then maybe not as good of a solution.

There was a news story this week in my area about a car driver who intentionally side-swiped a motorcyclist. The police said what normally kills motorcyclists is that they get thrown and then they hit something solid like a barrier or another car. This guy got lucky that there was an exit nearby and he just slid down the exit lane with minor injuries.

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

#214

Post by toyg »

wonder_er wrote: post #212

Ooooh what a title In 2019 I was a bicycling a lot, and really wanted to get something with a motor, so I could be a bit faster/farther/not so sweaty with my trips. I had access to a car but rarely used it. I really don't like many inherent safety issues with motorcycles and never seriously considered obtaining one, but kept wanting a two-wheeled vehicle with a motor. I'd ridden a 50cc scooter in 2019 for a few days,…

Scooters are great in the city, but they are kinda boring when it comes to touring or hitting the twisties. My dad's 200cc Vespa is just about interesting enough to ride on hills, but anything below that is just yawn.

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

#215

Post by HPsquared »

echoangle wrote: post #78
diggan wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You can infer the gear based on vehicle speed and engine speed. Wouldn't that be highly variable based on the vehicle itself? Especially considering personal modifications tend to be common for motorbikes.

Yes, but you could calibrate it once manually. > Especially considering personal modifications tend to be common for motorbikes. Including gearbox? The only thing relevant for the functionality would be the transmission ratio for each gear.

People often change sprockets which changes the final drive ratio.

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

#216

Post by tomjakubowski »

aziaziazi wrote: post #156
andrewflnr wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Then there's the guy in the "armed cyclist" jersey who goes on a cross-country ride every year.

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

#217

Post by toyg »

haiku2077 wrote: post #192
nandomrumber wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see, thanks for the info. I’m licensed but haven’t owned a bike in years. Do we have stats on whether more sports bike riders are involved in crashes that bikes with better visibility?

Not really. Outside of a few groups at places like Virginia Tech, motorcycle safety studies don't get much funding. Too niche. You can use insurance rates as a loose proxy- sportbikes are between one and three orders of magnitude more expensive to insure than adventure bikes, touring bikes or cruisers. But I suspect that has more to do with the average age of the riders.

And bike power. Sportsbikes are often road-legal versions of actual racing bikes, with all that it entails. If a third of cars on the road were tuned-down Ferraris and McLarens, you bet they'd crash left right and center.

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

#218

Post by globular-toast »

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.

When I was into road cycling I find having a banana sticking out my rear jersey pocket would make drivers treat me better. I later saw a study that drivers think cyclists are less human, so my theory is it reminded them that I am, in fact, just a person using the road.

Alas, even the banana stopped working, though. Road cycling is horrible now. Too many cars.

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

#219

Post by toyg »

kelnos wrote: post #204
razemio wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This sadly does not say anything because the kilometers driven is unknown in this statistic, right? So it could be that female drivers do not drive that many kilometers compared to males, which results in less accidents. Also, is this accidents total men / women? Then it would not even take into account, that there are significant more male riders.

GP didn't specify, but IIRC vehicle incident rates are usually specified in terms of distance driven/ridden, so the stats they were looking at may have already taken that into account.

In my experience the number of female riders is so small, that from a statistical point of view it becomes almost irrelevant.

Women also tend to ride smaller bikes, for obvious reasons.

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

#220

Post by betterThanTexas »

markbnj wrote: post #178
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…

As an almost-daily motorcyclist with 15k miles on my current machine (Suzuki DL650), I absolutely agree that the increased proportion of pickup trucks on the road increases the risks for riders, however I suspect it is mainly because the larger, heavier vehicles aggravate the effects of a general deterioration in driving skills and attitudes. One thing about riding a motorcycle is that you are, unless you have a deat…

> I don't have a lot of confidence that I could make a difference though.

My recent conclusion is that efforts are worth it even if we're pessimistic about outcome. Often times it is hard to get positive feedback from people you're helping to consider their own behavior even if they don't acknowledge you.

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