Am I invisible here?!
Joined: May 2016
Posts: 263
Likes: 11
90% of my problems are with people texting or being on their phones. Whenever some cuts me off or does something stupid in general, I always make it a point to note what they were distracted by... and sure enough it is a phone in their hands...
With the mirrors adjusted just right (side mirrors pointed all the way out... and slightly aggressive driving style in traffic I can do ok with the car. the weather doesn't permit the top to be down too much. There are some serious blind spots when merging into traffic with the top up! specially merging from left into highway...pulling out of gas station etc.
Also people don't use turn signals! biggest problem I think!
With the mirrors adjusted just right (side mirrors pointed all the way out... and slightly aggressive driving style in traffic I can do ok with the car. the weather doesn't permit the top to be down too much. There are some serious blind spots when merging into traffic with the top up! specially merging from left into highway...pulling out of gas station etc.
Also people don't use turn signals! biggest problem I think!
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 7,905
Likes: 3,436
From: Foothills East of Sacramento
I've experienced this as well for many, many years onbthe bike, and more recently with the S.
My conclusion is that a certain segment of the population has no real ability to judge time vs distance. They can't track a moving vehicle with any accuracy. Instead they just judge by how big the object is. If its big its too close to pull out. If its small, its farther away, and safe to pull out. This of course assumes all vehicles so assessed are roughly similar size and velocity. Thus anything outside the 'normal' range is grossly misjudged.
Big or slow moving vehicles are are treated too fearfully, and smaller or faster moving vehicles too recklessly.
The worst is when they're waiting, and waiting, and waiting, then pull out right when you get close (this happens because they are trying to figure out what you are.)
This all happens in the subconscious. They know they're not supposed to pull out if there is danger of collision. But lacking the ability to judge time and distance, their subconscious has done the best it can, and has come to associate larger appearing objects with being too close and too scary, and smaller appearing with farther and safer.
These people have no idea this is what they're doing, and when they get in inevitable accidents that are their fault, they will feel like 'he came out of nowhere', and 'he must have been flying', when you're really just a smaller vehicle traveling at normal speed.
My conclusion is that a certain segment of the population has no real ability to judge time vs distance. They can't track a moving vehicle with any accuracy. Instead they just judge by how big the object is. If its big its too close to pull out. If its small, its farther away, and safe to pull out. This of course assumes all vehicles so assessed are roughly similar size and velocity. Thus anything outside the 'normal' range is grossly misjudged.
Big or slow moving vehicles are are treated too fearfully, and smaller or faster moving vehicles too recklessly.
The worst is when they're waiting, and waiting, and waiting, then pull out right when you get close (this happens because they are trying to figure out what you are.)
This all happens in the subconscious. They know they're not supposed to pull out if there is danger of collision. But lacking the ability to judge time and distance, their subconscious has done the best it can, and has come to associate larger appearing objects with being too close and too scary, and smaller appearing with farther and safer.
These people have no idea this is what they're doing, and when they get in inevitable accidents that are their fault, they will feel like 'he came out of nowhere', and 'he must have been flying', when you're really just a smaller vehicle traveling at normal speed.
What helps? One of the things for bicycles and motorcycles are bright, RAPID and RANDOM flashing lights to grab a brains attentions scanning a visual field. A slow pulsing or steady light is not effective.
So for us S owners we are going to just have a our head on a swivel, know instantly at all times the situational aspect of vehicle positioning so we can instinctively move out of harms way. Personally I have found people (from both right or left) moving in on my lane when I am abeam or abaft abeam their vehicle. Often a vehicle in front of me and or behind me prevents me from moving fore or aft and the person in the next lane (often distracted of course) just moves over.
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 1,318
Likes: 215
From: Oregon
In situations such as this I try to weave my motorcycle back & forth a bit as I'm approaching the vehicles headed towards me from the opposite direction. I'm not talking about a hugely exaggerated motion, but just enough to break up the appearance of a steady, stable object headed towards them down the road. It helps to prevent the "train on the tracks" effect that occurs after other motorists have seen countless other vehicles headed in their direction over the years.
Community Organizer
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 31,070
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I just make sure i'm going at least twice as fast as everyone else at all times, so they never get a chance to see and cut me off and then if I cant do that I just weave between two lanes and that usually clears everyone out of my way 
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 8,757
Likes: 1,859
In situations such as this I try to weave my motorcycle back & forth a bit as I'm approaching the vehicles headed towards me from the opposite direction. I'm not talking about a hugely exaggerated motion, but just enough to break up the appearance of a steady, stable object headed towards them down the road. It helps to prevent the "train on the tracks" effect that occurs after other motorists have seen countless other vehicles headed in their direction over the years.
Some UFO reports have witnesses statimg the object hovered motionless, then took off at startling speed to the left or right. What really happened is the object was closing fast directly towards them, then made a sharp turn. Motion camouflage.
A similar effect can happen on the road. If you realize you are closing on someone and traveling directly towards them, such as you, and your background from their pov, are not moving, they could motion camouflage you and not see you or not recognize how close or how fast you are going.
A quick weave, on bike or in car, moves you on relation to your background, calling attention to yourself.
Many people out there are driving in subconscious mode (you arrive someplace not remembering the drive, or travel in the direction of work, and out of habit keep driving that way, even though today you were going someplace else). Your subconscious hides things it thinks aren't important, so your brain can focus on the 'important' stuff. Unfortunately, most people's subconscious doesn't think a vehicle occupying the space they intend to go towards is very important.
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Joined: May 2014
Posts: 7,907
Likes: 2,480
I do not seem to have as much of this issue when driving my S. No more than my other cars, or I do not perceive it being any more. But, I also drive a bright yellow S2000 with black wheels, so it looks like a big hot wheels toy. I notice more people staring at the car than I do people not noticing it!
But in any car, I make a point of watching not only WAY ahead, but also watching the heads of the people in the cars I am approaching when I can to see which direction they are looking. I am in a habit of driving defensively all the time, and that helps.
But in any car, I make a point of watching not only WAY ahead, but also watching the heads of the people in the cars I am approaching when I can to see which direction they are looking. I am in a habit of driving defensively all the time, and that helps.
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 1,318
Likes: 215
From: Oregon
Yep, this is what I referred to as the "train on the tracks" effect. I grew up in a very rural part of the country and the trains that ran through our area were incredibly long. Drivers dreaded being stuck at the RR crossing and many people ( a lot of younger drivers, many whom I knew personally) lost their lives trying to beat the train at the last minute. They simply had too hard of a time judging how fast the train was approaching as it headed directly towards them on the tracks.
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 1,318
Likes: 215
From: Oregon
It's a good thing that you're taking preventative measures. I live in an area of Portland called Mt Tabor that is very popular with longboarders as there's a park in the middle of our neighborhood that's built on an extinct volcano. Most of those guys just stick to the park. But when dusk is approaching a lot of them will head for home passing not far from our place. The streets on either end of our block are favorites with the skaters and I have to be extra careful when visibility gets low as very few of them seem to have much concern about their visibility. I can usually hear them before I can see them.
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