[quote=“Mordeth”][quote=“bobepine”][quote=“joesax”][quote=“Mordeth”]…it’s been proven through studies that the safest speed to drive is about 7km/hr faster than everyone else. This keeps you focused on what’s ahead of you…instead of what’s behind/next to you. And it keeps you separate from the majority of drivers/riders…[/quote]Links? References? I read that vague phrase “proven through studies” quite often, usually by people who are trying to sell something, be it health supplements or language teaching methods.
I would be surprised if anyone had found that such an inflexible “rule of thumb” had been proven to be safer than a more flexible approach which emphasised creating space between one’s own and other vehicles through all-round awareness and appropriate (flexible) speed control.[/quote]
What joesax is saying. 100%[/quote]
The whole 7km thing is from my motorcyclist magazines. The mag explained which university did the studies…etc…but I’m not going to waste my time digging through all my old mags to find it. Don’t believe me…that’s fine. After all…I’m known for being a liar .[/quote]
It sounds about right, but what happens when everyone takes this advice? We just start one big race to go another 7kph faster than each other don’t we?
It sounds about right…[/quote]Well, this is the thing about unreferenced “studies”. They often “sound right”, but it’s only when you have more information that you have any idea what bearing they have on the discussion. See my post above yours (well, on the previous page).
The thing about me being a liar was meant as sarcasm…sorry if it didn’t read that way. I’m actually known for my honesty to the extreme.
I’ve had a few accidents in Taiwan…all except for one have been while I’m going slow. And I ride fast most of the time. So from my own experience I agree with the magazine.
Plus the DMV in Canada teaches you to go with the flow of traffic…not “slower than”…and that was my main point before…and that is not to listen to the poster telling people to ride slower than normal to increase saftey.
I think driving faste than everyone else depends alot on where you are.
If I’m at the front row at a red light, I make shure I don’t mix with the pack off morons behind me, but if I am at the back I make shure not to mix with the ones in fron off me.
Just stay away from them.
No acidents so far, but had a close one last night.
When I drive number 5 from Yilan and trough taipei to san chong I see something every day, but last night I did not see anny, but was about to be one myself.
I braked down because the car infront stoped and while braking I looked in the rear view mirror and there was a car too close and too fast( Ibraked a litle too late, but that is no exuse to stay too close) I let go off the brake and thanx to that only had a light none destructive toutch and braked harder after the contact to avoid hitting the car in front.
I enjoy your posts about riding and other stuff in Taiwan, including the whole youtube thang you got going on.
What worries me a LOT is complacency.
You may be a good rider, a great rider in fact. I wouldn’t know, because I am more of a moto-x rider that anything else prior to Taiwan…but anyway. Complacency.
I believe we all try to improve out chances of survival by adopting various techniques that we read about, talk about or think up on our own. At the end of the day, I believe a rider who believes in their heart this or that technique will solve all their riding problems is a temporary citizen.
Everytime I get on a bike and think to myself how great a rider I am, I get some sort of wake up call.
I know your intentions are for the best, all I am saying is: take care man.
Thanks for the well wishes Truant. I’m perfectly aware that I’m not a perfect rider. Lots of the people I ride with lately are better than me. I’ll be ok…or I’ll die…either way that’s truly fine with me.
There’s lots and lots of other options there, Mordeth. In debt for the forseeable future to pay court/compensation costs, crippled, etc. The list goes on. Play safe. When are you getting your free helmetcam, by the way?
[quote=“sandman”]
There’s lots and lots of other options there, Mordeth. In debt for the forseeable future to pay court/compensation costs, crippled, etc. The list goes on. Play safe. When are you getting your free helmetcam, by the way? [/quote]
I’ve been riding stupid for the past 11 years…and I’ve never been hurt once. And I ride a lot slower…and safer now. So my risk should be less not more than before.
The company ran out of battery packs to go along with the camera…I’m waiting for them to get restocked…should be within a week or two at most.
we ALL gonna die (one way or another) just that MOST of us want to delay the departure [/quote]
And I will be upset if some arse on a fast bike is the one that ends my child’s life sooner than could be.[/quote]
Or maybe a drunk helicopter pilot might end your child’s life as well…as long as we are exaggerating the hell out of things…I thought I’d just throw that in there.
we ALL gonna die (one way or another) just that MOST of us want to delay the departure [/quote]
And I will be upset if some arse on a fast bike is the one that ends my child’s life sooner than could be.[/quote]
You know if you aren’t driving oncoming in my lane or turning left like a turd, the chances of my 12 inch front end hitting yours are pretty slim. Your children are safe.
Scooter lad got away just in time with a bloody nose. Idiot cop, though, took a fall when he stood on the scooter as the car reversed off it. As the weight of the car was released from the scooter, the scooter pivoted up and flung the cop onto his back.
I wish I’d caught that.
One thing I’ve noticed is that no-one here ever thinks about keeping a safe distance, ever. Sure as heck not the two-second rule we get taught in England.
What this means is that to keep any space around you, you need to be going faster than the guy behind you
I usually find myself a gap in traffic and hold in the middle of it until it starts to get squeezed up, and then take the first safe opportunity to overtake and find another gap.
I’m almost entirely a city rider - I don’t know how much this would apply out in the stix.
By far my biggest worry when driving is that someone in front will force me to stop hard and I’ll get hit by the guy behind me who wasn’t watching ahead and didn’t react.
P.S. Earlier this week I was coming up ZhongMing S. Rd (Taichung) fairly fast, late at night. As I came around a corner there was a SUV stationary just before an intersection (green light). I dodged around it and kept going. A few seconds later my mind processed the rest of what I’d seen, which was a scooter crushed under the rear wheels of the SUV, with blue and red things on it which may have been bags or the remains of the rider.
There weren’t any people or police or ambulances to be seen - it must have happened just before I got there, and I can only think that the SUV ran straight over the scooter fast enough to get it with both sets of wheels.
And the slaughter continues… I really want to encourage others to post accident photos here, I’m going to keep posting them to remind us how fucked the driving is here.
.[/quote]
