Road Riding

Safety

Urban

Riding in heavy traffic can be a nightmare, especially for new riders. When your braking and manoeuvring skills have yet to become second nature the last thing you want is to be crowded out by vehicles driven by people who are chatting on their mobiles, pacifying the kids or looking for the next CD. And to make matters worse you have to process everything about you...street signs, speed signs, your speed, the speed of everything about you, the road surface, traffic lights, pedestrials, and of course, knowing if that person about to turn in front of you is looking for the CD or you!

Here are some tips....

What Is That Driver Doing?

Scan drivers about you, particularly if they are likely to be a threat, like those you are about to pass in multi-lane roads, those parked on the side of the road, or those that may be turning in front of you. Watch for the body language, and watch for them in their mirrors - are they looking to change lanes? (don't expect to see blinkers in time - they often come after the lane change is already under way). If you see a driver or passenger in a parked car expect opening doors, U-turns, or anything! Look for the head movement which usually precedes a car pulling into the traffic... here I come, blinker or not

Watch Your Mirrors

Watch your mirrors to be aware of traffic around you, it may be important knowledge if you need to do an emergency manoeuver like heavy breaking or if you need to duck in left or right of the vehicle in front (refer below). Unfortunatly there is no such thing as the perfect mirror and even when well adjusted there are significant blind spots. Occasionally glance left and/or right to see if there is a vehicle in your blind spots. Always quickly glance back if you are changing lanes.

Cover Your Brakes

In traffic you often need to react quickly, which means not fumbling for the brake lever or pedal. To reduce reaction time, always keep a finger or two on the brake lever and your right toe close to the rear brake pedal.

Be Noticed

Sometimes drivers just are'nt looking and you must ride accordingly. But being seen is a good thing, because luckily for us most drivers do look. Ride with your lights on during the day (most are hard wired anyway), and wear brightly colored gear, especially your helmet and jacket.

Be ready with the power

In traffic, ride in a gear lower than you normally would so your bike is ready to jump forward instantly if asked. (Not everyone 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)

When traffic slows suddenly, stay to the left or right of the car in front of you. This will give you an escape route if needed. It will also help keep you from becoming a hood ornament if the car behind you fails to stop in time. Once you’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 environment 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 able to react. Dwelling on one area too long—watching only behind or in front of you, for instance—is 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 accelerate, 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’ll usually 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; find these and ride in them. Doing so will separate 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 you invisible to other drivers, especially 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 in front of you that you’re about to turn when you aren’t. So push that switch a few times each minute. Better to wear out the switch than eat a Hummer’s hood, eh?

It’s good to be thin

A huge advantage single-track vehicles have over four-wheelers is their ability to move left and right within a lane to enable the rider to see what’s ahead. Whether you’re looking to the side of the cars ahead or through their windshields, seeing what’s coming can give you lots of extra time to react.

More than one way out

Yeah, motorcycles fall down. But they’re also light, narrow and 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 than 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’s easy, and we’ll bet most of you already 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.

Lane Spitting and Break-Down Lanes

Do with great caution. Anticipate lane changes - where there is a gap someone will want to fill it. Keep the relative speed down, but if the traffic starts moving, or is moving, don't hang about in people's blind spots - get moving and get back into a lane.

Use break-down lanes with great caution - keep the relative speed down, anticipate cars pulling into the lane - while they have mirrors they can't be expected to be expecting you to be in that lane.

Ride like you are invisible.

Legal?

Please confirm people...

Qld - Legal in stationarly traffic only

NSW - Not strictly illegal but passing on the left of a vehicle in the same lane is illegal.

Never get between a vehicle and an offramp

Relevant on multi lane roads, and sounds pretty obvious; but beware the approaches to offramps, particuarly if you are travelling down the break-down lane.

Riding Tips

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