Lane position and safety

I tend to ride all over the lane but this makes sense. What do you think about riding on the left side of a lane for visibility?

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfeKk9co5VQ"]1 simple technique to make you more visible - YouTube[/ame]

I can't watch right now, which is actually fine because I've run across this guy's vids once or twice before and find both his voice and mannerisms to be highly annoying. I also have a problem with people who autonomously appoint themselves experts at most anything, especially when it's via YouTube or other social media.

All that said, I am a firm believer in choosing the correct lane positioning for a given riding situation and approaching the practice as a discipline. If you're constantly reducing your visibility (especially to oncoming traffic) via poor lane position discipline and doing stuff like hiding behind other vehicles, the clock is likely ticking on a mishap.

Your lane position will vary based on your situation. My lane position is constantly changing to avoid the dead zone of the blind spot when next to someone for instance, which can vary greatly when passing. Doing whatever I can to make sure I'm as obvious as possible.

Very interesting. Just moving to the outside of the lane widens the car's parallax view of your bike. That had never occurred to me, but it makes perfect sense as shown in the video. I tend to move outside, but more to put distance between the car and myself. And also because I did already grasp the motion part of the equation. New trick for the tool box. Thanks, Mike.

Tshelfer kind of says it all when he called this "a new trick for the toolbox"; like all riding techniques it has it's place and applications, but I'm a big advocate for "riding according to the situation"; the situation is fluid and techniques that save you in one incident can kill you in a different one. In congested urban riding I float all over the lane depending on the proximity of the cars around me. I also tend to ride slightly faster than prevailing traffic so that I'm overtaking cars slowly; that way everything is out in front of me, traveling a few MPH slower than me, and I don't have to scan the mirrors quite so frequently. Lepers, due to the nature of their illness, have to practice what they call "VSE" (visual surveillance of extremities), wherein they continually examine their extremities because they can't feel any injury or bump, and bruises or cuts when you have leprosy cause infections, gangrene and amputations (gruesome, I know, but riding can have those same results). So I have my own version of VSE where I continually scan all conditions around me using all my periphereal vision and including the mirrors in the scan. Staying safe around cages is generally all about some degree of separation. I call this "separation anxiety" because I'm anxious to stay as separate as possible. So, for me, the memes are "float like a butterfly, practice your VSE, and maintain a high level of separation anxiety".

gixxerjasen said:

Your lane position will vary based on your situation. My lane position is constantly changing to avoid the dead zone of the blind spot when next to someone for instance, which can vary greatly when passing. Doing whatever I can to make sure I'm as obvious as possible.

Click to expand...

+1

I was always taught to ride near the center line (left side of the road) and it seemed obvious to me, but it's great to see the video clearly showing how much of an effect it has. I change my position in the lane all the time depending on what obstacles are ahead, but in town I always ride on the left hand side to maximise visibility.

Gary

I always get as far as I can from the center on little tight blind turns to avoid the corner cutters.

I see an inordinate amount of Harley/Gold Wing/Cruiser types that hang a boot over the centerline. Asking for some texting idiot to take them out.

Most importantly, I ride differently in every situation (just what Jasen said).

The best way to be visible is to not be covered up by vehicles.

Never go faster than you can see. Don't blast into blind corners at 9/10 of your capability, keep it below 8/10 and you have 20% to play with when you encounter the unexpected.

If you think you are in a turn too hot, stick with it, odds are your bike will do it fine. (That is why I recommend folks go and ride at a Ridesmart day. They let just about any bike out there, a nice safe place to see what the limits may be on your scooter.)

Finally, ALWAYS PRACTICE BRAKING. I always do stoppies (or slide the front a bit, both are effective in developing the muscle memory) when I first get going. 3, first one usually locks the wheel a bit, second one is pretty decent, third one is final calibration (and usually a really good one). You'd be amazed how much feel you have of that brake/wheel through the lever. The braking drills and avoidance drills have served me well.

And of course, there's the age-old debate of lane positioning while moving past traffic. Do you take the near line where they can see you better in their mirror, or take the far line, giving more distance at the risk of widening their blind spot? To me, the answers are (1) keep moving around, and (2) watch the motorist's behavior carefully to determine how attentive they are.

Hope this helps as I had never seen it. I too have been told to generally ride on the left side but only knew it was to stay out of the oil in the middle.

Ride hard, take unnecessary chances, safety third.

+2 on the stay ahead of traffic

Can I do a stoppie with anti-lock brakes? Don't think I want to try.

I saw that video a little while back. Make sense for certain situations.
I do tend to ride to the left of center most of the time, but some situations require different lane positioning.

Interesting, thanks for sharing.


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