A MUST READ if you ride a bike or scooter

Life Cars & Motorcycles
1

I think this is a must read for all who ride bikes here. I got this from a mag.

STREET STRATEGIES ( must read )

Watch drivers’ heads and mirrors
Watching the head movements of drivers through their windows and mirrors is an excellent way to anticipate sudden moves.
Most drivers won’t lunge left or right without first moving their heads one way or another (even if they don’t check their mirrors).

Trust your mirrors, but not totally
your bike’smirrors can be life -savers but they don’t always tell
the entire story even if they are adjusted properly.
In traffic always buttress your mirror generated rear view with a glance over the appropriate shoulder .
Do it quickly and you’ll add an extra measure of rear-view and blind spot knowledge to your info gathering tasks.

Never get between a vehicle and an off ramp
This sounds almost too simple but drivers who decide to exit at
the last minute kill plenty of riders each year .
The simple rule then, is to never position yourself between a vehicle and an offramp.
Passing on the right is generally a no-no ,but in this day and age it’s sometimes necessary.
So if you do it do so between exits or cross streets .

Cover your brakes
In traffic you must often react extra quickly,which means not fumbling for the brake lever or pedal.
To minimize each time always keep a finger or two on the brake lever and your right toe close to the rear brake pedal .
When that cell phone -yakking dorkus cuts across your path trying
to get to the 7-Eleven for a burito supreme, you’ll be ready.

Be noticed
Make sure drivers and pedestrians can see you , even from a distance .
Ride with your high beams on during the day ( as a courtesy turn it off when sitting behing someone at a light ) and wear brightly colored gear , especailly your helmet and jacket.

Be ready with power
In traffic ride in a gear lower than you normally would so your bike is ready to jump forward instantly if asked ( Not evreyone rides open- class twins , after all ). Doing so gives you the option of leaping ahead instead of being limited to just using the brakes when that pickup suddenly moves over.The higher revs might also alert more cagers to your presence.

Traffic slowing ? stay left (or right )
Whenn traffic slows suddenly stay to tyhe left or right of the car infront of you . This will give you an escape route if needed , it will also keep you from becoming a hod ornament if the car behind you fails to stop in time. Onceyou’ve stopped , be ready- clutch in , your bike in gear and your eyes on the mirrors. You never know

Practice the scan
Constantly scanning your entire enviroment while riding -from instruments to mirrors to the road ahead to blind spots to your left and right rear- keeps you aware and in touch with your situation , and therefore better to react . Dwelling on one area too long - watching only behind or in front of you, for instanceis just begging for trouble.

Left turn treachery
When approaching an oncoming car that’s stopped and about to turn left , be ready . Your brights should be on so the driver can see you ( during the day ) but don’t rely on this to save you .Watch the car’s wheels or the driver’s hands on the steering wheel if you see movement be ready to brake , swerve or accele, whichever seems best for the situation.

Study the surface
Add asphalt conditions to your scan. Be on the lookout for spilled oil , antifreeze or fuel , it’llusually show up as shiny pavement . Also keep an eye out for gravel and/or sand which is usually more difficult to see . Use your sense of smell too. often you can smell spilled diesel fuel before your tires discover how slippery the stuff is.

Ride in open zones
Use your bike’s power and maneuverability to ride in open zones in traffic . In any grouping of vehicles there are always some gaps , fing these and ride in them .
Doing so will sepaerate you from four - wheelers , give you additional room to maneuver and allow you to keep away from dangerous blind spots . And vary your speed
Riding along with the flow can make invisible to other drivers especailly in heavy traffic.

Use that thumb
Get into the habit of canceling your turn signals often regardless of the traffic situation . A blinking signal might tell drivers waiting to pull into the road or turning left infront of you that you are about to turn when you aren’t. So push that switch a few times each minute. Better to wear out that switch than eat a Hummer’s hood , eh ?

It’s good to be thin
A huge advantage single-track vehicles over four- wheelers
is their ability to move left and right within a lane to enable the rider to see what’s ahead or through their windsheilds,seeing what’s coming can give you lots of extras time to react .

More than one way out
Yeah., motorcycles fall down , but they’re also light, narrowand hugely maneuverable , so you might as well learn to exploit their
strengths when things get ugly, right ? So don’t just brake hard in a hairball situation . There’s almost always an escape route. Swerving into Mrs, Smith’s front yard could be a lot better then centerpunching the Buick that turned left in front of you .
Always have an escape route planned and update it minute by minute.

Running interference
This one’e easy and we’ll bet most of youalready do it
let larger vehicles run interference for you when negotiating intersections .If the bonehead coming toward you from the left or right is going to blow the light , better they hit the box van next to you , right ?For the same reasons , don’t lunge through an intersection as soon as the light turns green . Be patient and use the vehicles next to you as cover.

2

Sounds like a lot of things that you would learn from experience, especially if you have survived riding in Taiwan past you first oil change. But they left out one of the most important tips. Learn to use you horns.

When I’m riding in the city I use my horns a million times. When I approach alleys, intersections, crosswalks, rows of parked cars, or when passing, I’ll give a good beep of the horns to get people’s attention. My horns have saved me a few times from idiots not looking and wanting to pull out, or dumb old people not looking and crossing the street. The beep of the horns scares the shit out of people, but that’s good, you know you have their attention. USE your horns, that’s why they are there.

3

I’ll disagree with that statement. There are many many people who have been riding for years who have never even thought of some of these rules…walk outside how many people with their bright lights on during a sunny day for example? Shit…this is Taiwan…walk outside in the pouring rain…how many people with their lights on? Just the other day I was approaching an intersection and a scooter comes flying into the entrance of the alley on my side of the alley coming from the wrong way on the big road…I yell “idiot!” in Chinese instinctively…only to realize it’s my South African neighbor.

4

I often ride a bicycle and many of the items above also apply to bicyclists. One of the things that I noticed from the list is that I do many of the things that apply in an almost unconscious fashion. When the reasons to do them are stated, it really reinforces the point. There are a few things that I would add:

  1. I have just about given up on looking through the back window and windshield of cars ahead of me. This works well in the US, but too many cars here have very deep tinted windows. If you try to focus enough to see through, chances are you are losing some of the awareness of your surroundings.

  2. While I have tried mirrors when I was in the US, I have not used one for some time. I do not have one here as it seems to me that too many things happen in front of you too quickly to have your attention diverted to the rear.

  3. I TOTALLY agree with the using lights and bright clothes. I have a strong headlight and tail light that I use from dusk on (and even on dark foggy days). My bike is bright yellow and I usually wear a yellow wind breaker or yellow and black riding jersey. The importance of this is that you may not see every vehicle on the road as people here like to run without lights at night. Why? I’ll never understand! However, your choice of clothes will make YOU more visible.

  4. SPEED: there really isn’t much you can do on a bicycle to accelerate in a very short time. However, unlike most natives, I am a fast rider. I have a light weight racing style bike and usually run at least 15kph and often over 30kph. Perhaps speed helps with the perception of being seen as another vehicle on the street. But, I think it is also eye-catching as most people don’t ride that fast.

5

[quote=“KawasakiRider”]
When I’m riding in the city I use my horns a million times. When I approach alleys, intersections, crosswalks, rows of parked cars, or when passing, I’ll give a good beep of the horns to get people’s attention. My horns have saved me a few times from idiots not looking and wanting to pull out, or dumb old people not looking and crossing the street. The beep of the horns scares the shit out of people, but that’s good, you know you have their attention. USE your horns, that’s why they are there.[/quote]

I’d agree to a point but have you ever been to a place like Vietnam? Everyone uses their horns all the time - in fact “a million times” each just like you. If everyone followed your advice, result = virtual desensitization of the ‘alert value’ of a horn + bloody NOISEY city.
Having spent the last 9 days in and around Hanoi I saw plenty of people toot, toot, tooting their way to happiness no matter where they were. After a while I decided to pick out riders to see when and what they were tooting for. 95% of the time is was nothing - sometime empty road + lone biker = toot, toot, farken toot.
This problem became apparent to me around 5.30-6 am when I couldn’t sleep anymore cos of the noise.
I hired a motorbike for 2 days in the city, and used my horn maybe 4-5 times per DAY when it was necessary.
But “a million times” goes beyond what is necessary and I believe it creates a ‘get-out-of-my-farken-way-i’m-coming-thru’ mentality of which there already is too much in Taiwan.

Other than that, I’m all for using horns when necessary.

6

[quote=“Mordeth”]
Watch drivers’ heads and mirrors
Watching the head movements of drivers through their windows and mirrors is an excellent way to anticipate sudden moves.
Most drivers won’t lunge left or right without first moving their heads one way or another (even if they don’t check their mirrors). [/quote]How long have you been in Taiwan? Usually if I can see more than the back of the driver’s head it’s because they are yakking with the passenger or trying to window shop. Then, when they suddenly decide to turn left having almost missed the turn, they’ll be looking right to check if that noodle place is open or some other silly shit.
Don’t put too much stock in what’s probably random rubber-necking. If I can see any of the driver’s profile I take it that the driver is busy doing something other driving the car, and nothing more.

7

Well, I’m sticking with using my horns to warn of my approach. Has saved me on more than one occasion. And I’m not talking about Hanoi or Saigon, I’m talking about Taiwan. And I was being sarcastic about beeping a million times, more like several times a day. A quick beep on the horns is enough to startle f**kers from darting out in front of you. How else are you going to get people’s attention on noisy roads? Yell? Ask politely? Fart?

8

[quote=“hsiadogah”][quote=“Mordeth”]
Watch drivers’ heads and mirrors
Watching the head movements of drivers through their windows and mirrors is an excellent way to anticipate sudden moves.
Most drivers won’t lunge left or right without first moving their heads one way or another (even if they don’t check their mirrors). [/quote]How long have you been in Taiwan? Usually if I can see more than the back of the driver’s head it’s because they are yakking with the passenger or trying to window shop. [/quote]

I didn’t write it…I wrote that I didn’t write it…so how long I’ve been in Taiwan is kinda irrelevant…interesting how you read all that useful information…find one small point you disagree with…then post a negative post. :loco:

9

i don’t think the article in point was written specifically for riders in taiwan either … not to say that it makes it any less useful info to consider.

a lot of this stuff you pick up on after being here awhile, but it’s good to point out to newbies. however, don’t be surprised when you tell them to at least glance before they go through a green light, and they tell you “that’s stupid”. just different frames of reference.

10

A story told to me by a traffic cop.

Once upon a time answering a call for to escort an ambulance with a transplant heart in it, this guy was doing 120mph down a dual carriageway. He had full headlights on, and blue falshing lights and two-tone siren. White Honda Blackbird, marked, and wearing a reflective flash over his police uniform. The road was empty.

On this road, there is an place for cars to join the dual carriageway which requires the drivers to stop and look for oncoming traffic. There is a STOP sign. There are no obstructions to the car driver’s view. So of course a car pulls up and stops. The motorcyclist does the “Driver has stopped. Driver has spotted me, it is safe to proceed” little monologue you are taught to do to yourself, and carries on. Lo and behold the guy pulls out in front of him. Now, our PC PLOD gets stopped in time, pulls the guy over, and the guy, crapping himself, says “I didn’t see you!”. The cop said he genuinely believed the idiot in the car didn’t see him, gives him a bit of a bollocking, and carries on to the hospital.

If you’ve ever seen and heard a police Blackbird doing over a hundred under blues and twos you will appreciate this story even more.

The one on the left. (Tee hee a Policeblade and sidecar!!! :loco: )

Cheers for the post, Mordeth.

11

Yeah I said I agree with you, but the horn is no replacement for driving defensively was more the point I was aiming for.

12

I absolutely agree with driving defensively. I learned that the hard way. I used to love to ride at the front of my bike pack. But after being hit by a driver who dosed off and came into my lane on a straight road, I have been much more cautious. I learned to use my passing high beams and horns to signal to other motorirst. Another technique I use is positioning, I always position myself where I have enough space to escape and to brake. Finally, I think another point to survive riding anywhere with any vehicle is knowing RESTRAINT. Know when not to push your luck. Let the other guy pass you, no big deal. No need to have it full throttle all the time anyways. As I tell my buddies who sometimes push me to ride harder, “better to arrive behind than to not arrive at all.”

13

and that’s why i drive on the left - there is more room there to escape, whereas on the right, there just seems to be more stupid things for people to surprise you with …

14

I do too, even though it’s supposed to be illegal for bikes to ride on the left in Taiwan. I dont’ see why, in North America bikes are supposed to ride on the left, because they are faster moving vehicles. Can’t wait till they finally allow big bore bikes to ride on the fast lane in the city. It’s so dangrous that we have to squeeze in with the sccoters.

15

There is a knack that I have picked up over the years whilst riding and driving in Taiwan which is how to predict what a car is going to do by the speed and angle it is driving at; and also the way it is driving.

Unfortunately I can’t share the information with you because I don’t know myself - it’s one of those things where “you just know.” I don’t really know how to explain this even.

One useful aspect to bear in mind which can be added to the list are shops, beetle nut stands, banks, 7-11’s, bus stops and people waiting for taxi’s.
All these locations are a recipie for someone to swerve across 2 or 3 lanes infront of you and stop suddenly.
I am always on the guard when passing these places.

On the subject of watching people through the window at their head movements, I think that this is a valid point, even in Taiwan. If your eyesight is good enough, try looking in the side mirror at the drivers face.
If you can see him, he or she can (not has) see you. You can normally guage if people are aware of your presence.
If their mirrors are not alligned (ie you can’t see thier face) this means they probably never use their mirrors except for make-up application. These drivers are probably not aware that they are out of bed, let alone driving a car and should be passed with extreme caution.

I think the list is extremely helpful and while most people may already know from experience many of the items on the list, or through their bike course in their own country, it serves as a useful reminder to everyone.

16

If you ride according to the law here you’re going to have an accident. Especially in relation to driving on the right.

17

I think to a point that’s right. As long as you don’t ride on the opposite side of road, or do u-turns wherever you feel like. When I ride my big bike in the city I usually ride on the fast lane. But be aware, I have gotten several tickets for riding in the left lane over years. Watch out for cops taking photos on overpasses and behind trees. Mind you, I only ride on the left lane on my big bike. When I’m on my scooter I stick to right, where we are supposed to be. Call me a hippocrate, but I don’t think scooters should be on the left lane, competing with faster and bigger vehicles.

18

In city traffic are you really going that much faster than the other two-wheelers? How are your braking distances in comparison?

19

[quote=“Mordeth”]
I didn’t write it…I wrote that I didn’t write it…[/quote]So you posted this because you disagree with it? :loco: yourself.

[quote=“Dangermouse”]If you can see him, he or she can (not has) see you. You can normally guage if people are aware of your presence. [/quote]Yes. But don’t imagine that because someone has seen you they won’t cut you off :wink:
Give this a try sometime. Ride through intersections relying on peripheral vision, pretending you’re not looking where you’re going. My experience is that people won’t pull out in front of you because they think you’ll hit them. If you’ve seen them (or were at least looking in the general direction) they feel it’s now your job to stop in time when they pull out on you.

Horns are nice, but not as effective as a loud pipe :smiley:

20

In city traffic are you really going that much faster than the other two-wheelers? How are your braking distances in comparison?[/quote]
A guy on a big green bike blasted past me through the intersection on Dunhua at Friday’s the other day. I was doing around 60 and he flew past in a blur – well over 100, I’d estimate. Almost got hit by three separate cars and caused a major jam because of all the other cars that had to jam on their brakes to avoid him. The rider was toatlly unaware of what he’d caused. What a moron. I saw at least two pedestrians taking his number, though, so I hope he gets nailed before he gets really “nailed.” He’s not long for this world I don’t think.