How do you tell drivers your speed?
03-22-10, 09:53 AM
#26
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When I drive a car (rare these days) I judge speed by how much the object changes in size over 2-3 brief glances. This actually gives me a speed *difference* between my vehicle and my sample object. Even now, after 5 years of being car-free, I am pretty accurate. A lot of that accuracy is due to hours of drill. I can still keep a car at 15 or 35 or 50 mph, without the help of a speedometer. It was something my parents insisted on as a basic driving skill that I had to have, before I was allowed to use cruise control. It takes a LOT of attention to do. (for me, it takes even more attention to drive with cruise control tho... so when I drive I do not use it)
Most drivers cannot do this kind of speed judging. This makes them very dangerous, because they have to spend much more time looking at the dash than at the road around them. Their speed is often erratic.
You don't really have a way to force other drivers to have skill and wisdom. It sucks. I don't drive partly because the lower the speed, the lower the stakes. I can't make everyone else be smart, but I can keep *my* speed down to something that is well within my abilities.
Most drivers cannot do this kind of speed judging. This makes them very dangerous, because they have to spend much more time looking at the dash than at the road around them. Their speed is often erratic.
You don't really have a way to force other drivers to have skill and wisdom. It sucks. I don't drive partly because the lower the speed, the lower the stakes. I can't make everyone else be smart, but I can keep *my* speed down to something that is well within my abilities.
I agree with your parents... I myself practice "look twice." I always take the time to look twice (or more)... for that same "moving target" difference you are talking about. If I can't look twice, I don't make the move.
03-22-10, 09:57 AM
#27
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I use arm signals too... but that doesn't mean the public does understand them. I do find the open palm down to be pretty effective, but otherwise I just tend to point to where I intend to go.
03-23-10, 07:43 AM
#28
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sometimes I use my body posture to indicate what I might be doing. things like standing straight legged holding the bars on top; off the saddle with bent knees deep in the drops; crouching and deep in the drops. different postures can be used to control your bike and may also help the drivers understand what's going on with your vehicle. not sure if this is clear, sorry
03-23-10, 08:03 AM
#29
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I think lights are the most important ways to alert drivers. There is no real way to tell them your speed but I know for a fact that with lights on even in the daytime, drivers will wait before turning in front of you. Before I used bright lights they were more willing to turn at alot closer distances. Now from about 100 meters away they will refrain from turning or pulling out in front of me.
I have a 10W low beam that's always on while commuting, with a 35W high beam at the ready for 45W total. *Countless* times I'll see a car stopped at a side street that looks like they may pull out in front of me and I am able to freeze them with the high beam. I'll often see their wheels slowly inch forward and suddenly stop the instant I throw on the high beam. And they're not being blinded, either. It's more like 45W suddenly makes them recognize me as a vehicle at speed instead of a lolly-gagger riding a toy.
03-23-10, 11:01 AM
#30
The Drive Side is Within
lots of body language and as much eye contact as possible.
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The bicycle, the bicycle surely, should always be the vehicle of novelists and poets. Christopher Morley
03-24-10, 05:51 PM
#31
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