Highway commuting myths

I read a thread a while ago and restrained myself from posting then. Which was good, as it would have lead to a senseless argument I think. So, having thought this through for some time, and looking carefully at bikes and cages and their behaviour, I'd like to put forward a few myths that people spread as facts. Please don't discard them immediately - challenge your own perception before you tell me I'm wrong? Even if we agree to disagree, maybe it will lead to someone rethinking their actions and just maybe it will avoid an accident and/or a loss of life?

Right, so here goes Drix's mythbuster exercise, starting with the obvious, but other myths imply this to be true:

MYTH #1
It is safe riding a motorcycle on the highway.

You can add "if you ride slow/safe/whatever" - the fact is it is very dangerous! And in particular under the current construction circumstances.


MYTH #2
The cars on the right-hand side expect motorcycles to travel between the right and second-to-right lane and therefore leave a space on their left for you to pass.



To continue...

MYTH #3
A reflective jacket is not really noticed and makes me look like an idot anyway.


MYTH #4
A reflective jacket makes me visible and cage drivers notice me.



To continue...

MYTH #5
I can't use my hazards because I need it to indicate lane changes.


MYTH #6
If a couple of bikes ride together, it is safe and good to join them as it creates a bigger presence and cars will wait for the last one before changing lanes. It also doesn't matter if we all ride too fast together.



To continue...

MYTH #7
I can brake and control my bike better on tarmac/concrete without ABS. I can even slide and steer my bike, whereas ABS takes that control away.


MYTH #8
It is unsafe to ride on the left of the yellow line, even if it looks like there are fewer cars there and I have to worry about a car turning in from one side only.


To continue...

MYTH #9
If I look at the front wheels of cars I can see when they start turning and stop in time.


MYTH #10
When I make eye contact with a driver in one of her rear view mirrors, I am sure she has seen me and will not turn in front of me.


To continue...

MYTH #4
A reflective jacket makes me visible and cage drivers notice me.

When I was knocked off my K1200S a few years ago - I was wearing a THINK BIKE reflective top, headlight was on HIGH beam, bike was YELLOW ( meant to be the safe-est colour) and I am 6ft 4 . What part of me didn't you see ?

So, no, you can still be knocked off your bike even with all those precautions. I does make you more visible, but not necessarily safer.

deonp wrote:MYTH #4
A reflective jacket makes me visible and cage drivers notice me.

When I was knocked off my K1200S a few years ago - I was wearing a THINK BIKE reflective top, headlight was on HIGH beam, bike was YELLOW ( meant to be the safe-est colour) and I am 6ft 4 . What part of me didn't you see ?

So, no, you can still be knocked off your bike even with all those precautions. I does make you more visible, but not necessarily safer.

Tx Deon, it is exactly what I mean - you are way better visible with reflective jacket (I can scratch out some formal research I stumbled upon some time ago that prove this), brights, yellow bike and even hazards going. But you have not arrived and nothing about "it is dangerous on a bike" has changed, you have just managed a couple of risk factors better.

dakardrix wrote:MYTH #8
It is unsafe to ride on the left of the yellow line, even if it looks like there are fewer cars there and I have to worry about a car turning in from one side only.

If the "left of the yellow line" is the emergency lane, then it is also illegal to drive there? In addition to cars, there are also a kazillion other threats lurking THAT side of the road, like pedestrians, stationary vehicles, stray animals, broken glass, etc... Oh... and it's the de facto loading/offloading point for Taxis - highways included

But despite the sobering reality of the dangers involved in motorcycling, I'd rather focus on all the positives!

dakardrix wrote:MYTH #9
If I look at the front wheels of cars I can see when they start turning and stop in time.

This one actually works for cars parked on the side, planning to perform a U-turn, which is said to be the most frequent incident. I use it all the time when I approach a car, standing next to the road.

Not sure if it is applicable for lane changes and normal turns where the wheel turns a very small angle.

pdekoker wrote:

dakardrix wrote:MYTH #9
If I look at the front wheels of cars I can see when they start turning and stop in time.

This one actually works for cars parked on the side, planning to perform a U-turn, which is said to be the most frequent incident. I use it all the time when I approach a car, standing next to the road.
Not sure if it is applicable for lane changes and normal turns where the wheel turns a very small angle.

I agree, it is a useful thing to look at when not on the highway - although 'parked' cars are more frequent on the highway these days! However, it is one of those things people told me to do when I started riding/commuting again and my point is that that is not the place to look while riding and lane splitting. I do however have a quick look down if I sense a car is going to jump lanes and I can't see other signs like optional indicators and the possible glance over the shoulder etc.

It's when you get side-swiped like I was last year that you suddenly realise how quickly it happens and that all these tricks are exactly that - just a box of tools to assist you being a more complete rider. But it is humanly impossible to ride between Pta and Joburg and check car wheels (left AND right) and still look ahead far enough, plus glance in the mirror for that 'buddy' bike that is now sitting one meter behind you, etc etc!

Marnus wrote:

dakardrix wrote:MYTH #8
It is unsafe to ride on the left of the yellow line, even if it looks like there are fewer cars there and I have to worry about a car turning in from one side only.

If the "left of the yellow line" is the emergency lane, then it is also illegal to drive there? In addition to cars, there are also a kazillion other threats lurking THAT side of the road, like pedestrians, stationary vehicles, stray animals, broken glass, etc... Oh... and it's the de facto loading/offloading point for Taxis - highways included

But despite the sobering reality of the dangers involved in motorcycling, I'd rather focus on all the positives!

Glad you raised this one - I believe we live in a time where safety sometimes take preference over legal rules intended for a different era where behaviour was different (not talking guns or similar...!)

Again, after having been taken out on a busy highway you look at life and riding differently. For starters, most of the 'emergency/taxi' lanes have disappeared, so then the safest place is obviously back to that split lane. But where it is safe to get over to the side (going south I normally move over just after Buccleugh, for example) I don't hesitate one moment. I really don't care what people and other bikers think about it anymore - I know I am in the safest spot possible (subject to MYTH #1) and as long as I don't suddenly go 160 where the traffic is doing 80 then I have the better chance for survival. Together with my reflective jacket, hazards going and brights on I can see that most cars, ok taxis, who want to go left actually do notice me in time and wait for me to pass.

Punctures is a potential problem, but I have thought that through and decided I'd rather risk a flat than my life. And the taxis pick up most of the debris anyway... Never had a problem yet not seeing a pedestrian in time and most animals are dead by the time I get there (doesn't mean it is not a constant risk, just that it happens seldom whereas cages turn in front of me one a minute!). I am also talking about Gauteng highway peak traffic commuting with all the construction going on, not a highway like going to Bela-Bela. But thanks for asking.. ...I'd like to challenge or expose the negatives/dangers that might be masquerading as positives! A thinking rider is happy AND alive.

Now, about the yellow line (wherever there is one left) on the right hand side...

Please also add:

Myth #11
I can concentrate while listening to my iPod/MP3 player as much and good as I do without it! You can't hear yourself screaming at the cages either

Stoney wrote:Please also add:

Myth #11
I can concentrate while listening to my iPod/MP3 player as much and good as I do without it! You can't hear yourself screaming at the cages either

Interesting that you mention that - it is one of those I haven't made up my mind about... So Stoney, tell us more about yourself? Do you ride an 800GS...?

Welcome to the forum Stoney! I've been known to listen to the iPod now and again while riding. From my own experiences, the rougher the music, the rougher the riding... But I don't use the in-ear pieces that block out all other sound

Drix... I think we should rather drive NEXT to the road... much safer - and we can

PS. I've joined Think Bike earlier today as part of my own personal safety awareness campaign...

Mmm, serious, I've tried alternative routes off the highway to work - not really any that are fun or faster... I went through a stage where I picked up a geocache almost daily, meaning a different route home every day, but now I've exhausted my options!

Need some new people to the sport to plant some for me... please!!! Myth #99 - Geocaching is a weekend sport...

dakardrix wrote:MYTH #5
I can't use my hazards because I need it to indicate lane changes.


MYTH #6
If a couple of bikes ride together, it is safe and good to join them as it creates a bigger presence and cars will wait for the last one before changing lanes. It also doesn't matter if we all ride too fast together.



To continue...

5 - bikers expect cages to indicate their intentios. - often see bikes on the highay riding with hazards on and wonder how they indicate lane changesV

Rejuvenated DaveS wrote:

dakardrix wrote:MYTH #5
I can't use my hazards because I need it to indicate lane changes.

5 - bikers expect cages to indicate their intentios. - often see bikes on the highay riding with hazards on and wonder how they indicate lane changesV

I agree with you, in the good old days that was a very valid and useful rule, and is definitely still valid if the highway is way open and everything flows nicely. Like at 12 on a Sunday night on the Ben Schoeman. I also turn off my hazards before I head for an exit or a flyover, or any other situation where I deem it necessary to try and communicate my change of direction.

However, very few cages and bikes use their indicators any more - why would you anyway confuse people with a bike while lane splitting (for starters they don't see you longer than a second or two, 1. because they are not looking and 2. combined with your appearance and disappearance that that happen so quick, even if you only go 20k/h faster than them), so what does it mean and what must they do about it? Remember I am talking about the highways as they are today, under construction and fully congested.

So my point is that the most useful role for indicators at this point in time is to aid with visibility - two indicators close to each other and on the sides of a headlight are possibly the only thing that subconsciously trigger "BIKE!" in a cage driver's head.

It's 2009. We desperately need new rules for ourselves to stay alive. My problem is that bikers just do what other bikers do or what they've done before. Newbies especially take all these examples and repeat them wrongly. It's time to think about every meter we travel and challenge our own paradigms.

Soapbox off! Look, I am not claiming to be 100% right, this is just a challenge to conventional thinking that bothers my logic. So, happy to admit it's a dumb idea if someone convince me otherwise? And i'm really still a newbie being back on the bike for only two years.