Have you ever noticed that you often don't hear a Police car with its siren on approaching from behind until it's pretty much right there looming large in your rear vision mirrors?? Even when the sound is bloody loud & being projected forward & ahead of the approaching vehicle, chances are that if the speed difference is enough or you aren't actively listening for it, you won't hear it soon enough to notice & react to those sirens until they're almost right on top of you, so why would the average inattentive driver hear a 'waaay quieter' loud pipe when you're approaching from behind/the side - they just don't, and except in a few specific and very close circumstances, the 'loud pipes save lives' thing is largely just an excuse for pissing some people off! :lecturef_smilie:
Besides, lights & sirens & loud pipes & horns etc don't really help you be seen/noticed by many of the '
thumb in bum, mind in neutral' drivers out there, and that's not even taking into account the 'distracted' drivers or the 'sensorarily distorted, drugged, or just plain ignorant' drivers that're out there too!! Besides, more &/or brighter lights tend to work best at improving your 'noticeability' when you are 200 yards or so away than they do when you're close up & within 20 yards or so! Once you get within that 'critical distance' where being seen or not avoids or makes a collision more likely, added lights,
especially any of those below the 'normal vehicle headlight' height, just don't really do much for you, except maybe increase the number of sharp & shattered bits that can end up being driven forcibly into your body!! :shocked:
There's this thing called 'situational blindness' that many vehicle drivers suffer from (and even some motorcyclists &/or Spyder/Ryker riders too! :shocked: ) - basically & briefly, people tend not to see anything they don't
EXPECT to see in that situation
UNLESS it's really different to what they'd normally
expect; moving in a way they wouldn't normally
expect; &/or doing something well outside of what they'd normally
expect!! :yikes:
So while carrying a Blue Whale or an African Elephant around as your pillion might make you more noticeable, and maybe bright
FLASHING strobe type lights
might make a little bit of a difference too, generally, the number & brightness of any extra lights fitted to your Spyder/Ryker is unlikely to do the same!! Similarly, loud exhausts really don't do much for you re being
noticed by other drivers/road users; and loud horns rely on you being able to sound them long enough & early enough for that 'thumb in bum, mind in neutral' driver to (slowly) become aware that there's a different noise out there somewhere, then (slowly) react & (slowly) look around to (slowly) work out where the noise is coming from, before (slowly) becoming aware that they've just pulled into the space you are less than 30 feet away from and heading for at 50mph and then finally (but
STILL slowly) reacting and starting to do something about it!! Do you really think you'll always get enough time/warning for your loud horn to make that much of a difference?? :gaah:
All of which means it doesn't really matter all that much in the overall scheme of things
what you do in the way of lights or loud exhausts or hi-vis gear, altho every little bit
might help, but only a
LITTLE!! In the end, it all comes back to
YOU driving/ryding like they're all out to get you, and believe me, they
ARE, even if for most, it's not knowingly or maliciously (but there are also some of them out there who fall into both of those categories too! :shocked: )
YOU hafta take personal responsibility for ryding your machine safely and avoiding being hit &/or run off the road by any other road user because the reality of it all is that in any collision &/or 'coming together', no matter how gently or benign it may be,
YOU & your machine are going to come off second best!! (Well, maybe not if it's a toddler in a pedal car!
pps: )
So at the risk of repeating something many of you already know & do, it's down to
you to be aware of all the other idiots out there, and to ride in such a way that they are more likely to see/notice you
BEFORE you are too close for either of you to avoid that impending collision, and you can't rely on them to do so anyway!! Things like moving from side to side in your lane instead of remaining steady & potentially hidden (they'll see something moving
across their vision before noticing something steady!), putting your turn signals on well before initiating a turn, keeping out of other vehicles blind spots, flashing your headlights to make sure oncoming/turning vehicles have seen you, maybe dabbing your brakes so the brake light flashes a couple of times before you really start slowing down, and if you can, extending your awareness out further so that you are effectively riding with a larger 'safety buffer' around you than anyone else on the road!! Look waay ahead at where you want to go, be alert for potential trouble spots & maybe even consider what you might need to do to avoid being hit by the idiot who ignores everyone else and all the road rules besides -
be alert, ride aware, and always assume that they ARE out to get you! :thumbup:
This doesn't mean you can't enjoy your ride, it only means that you need to concentrate on it and be aware of what's going on
ALL AROUND you
ALL THE TIME so that you can react in time to
Stay Safe & Ryde Well!
