After seeing the huge amount of driving PSAs on this sub I can’t believe my first post here is following suit. I want to give a quick shoutout to all of the drivers out there that adopt a motorcycle, especially in the rain, and maintain large following distances. We really appreciate y’all!
Unfortunately, that group of drivers is a minority. I’m a year-round commuter that rides extensively between Bellingham and Renton. Rain or shine, light or dark, cold or warm, I, and many others, are out there riding. I’ve find that outside of King and west Whatcom counties drivers tend to leave more space for motorcycles than drivers in those counties. On I5 and 405 in particular around 75% of drivers follow me much too closely to have the necessary time and distance to perform an emergency stop if something goes wrong.
With regard to cars, I’ve heard the “well if they start braking then I’ll start braking too, so I don’t need a full four seconds of following distance” rationalization before. It’s cute and, in a perfect world, theoretically safe if there were no road hazards, unexpected events, and dickheaded drivers breaking the driving social contract. It’s not a perfect world. That distance is there in case you make a mistake OR I make a mistake. We’re human too, we don’t ride perfectly 100% of the time! A few months ago I was riding up 405 in the rain and hit an oil slick as I was braking. I completely lost traction and ended up going down around 40 mph. The absolute king behind me was following a solid quarter of a mile away, in traffic, and had plenty of time to stop before he reached me. If he was following me like most people do I very well could’ve been mowed down.
If you see a bike on the freeway please:
- leave a few seconds of space, especially at night and in the rain. I know our tail lights aren’t the easiest to see and, honestly, a lot of us don’t trigger our brake lights because our engine braking is pretty significant.
- use your mirrors, shoulder check, and look around your A-pillar before you initiate a lane change. I’ve had people merge pretty closely thinking (I assume) that we’re a little further away than actuality.
- adopt us if you’re in no particular hurry!
If you see a bike in the city please:
- be patient in turns or if we slow start! Tar snakes, street paint, and grates are insanely slick in the rain.
- if you’re in front or behind us, pull a little to the side of your lane (if there’s space) in case the vehicle behind us (or even two cars behind us!) doesn’t stop. It gives us a gap to move into 🙂
- for the love of all that is holy stop trying to min-max your speed and braking distance at stop signs and lights. I don’t know what the fuck that’s about but it’s nerve-racking watching someone pull up at Mach 2 then stop like their Camry has track spec Porsche tires and brakes.
- please don’t get mad or overreact if we’re safely lane filtering. It’s statistically safer for us for the above reasons and allows us to not have to inhale your exhaust. Not to mention the traffic benefits to you drivers!
And get off your fucking phone!!! All of us that ride see that clear as day no matter how well you try to hide it. You’re embarrassing yourself. If I’m shaking my head or staring you down, that’s why.
If we start gesturing at you it probably means one of three things:
- Hand down: we’re thankful for you homie, keep up the good work.
- Hand down, waving backward: leave a little more space please.
- The “what the fuck are you doing” hand up: what the fuck are you doing?? This is a hint that you should be asking yourself the same question.
If you made it through all of that, THANK YOU!!! We can’t all drive and ride perfectly all the time but thank you to all that make an effort to be just a little safer! I love you all and happy holidays :))
submitted by /u/isaacpwned
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