advices for motorists re: motorcyclists

bike_all3a.jpgok it’s sunday, so i’ll let go serious stuff, i.e. all those pope talk, UMNO talk, racial talk, curry talk… er… khairy talk. something light today.

i spy this in boringest blog10 things all drivers should know about motorcycles – and since i am a motorcyclist, i can relate to it very well. i am going to copy the 10 points and make some comments here and there. before that though, some insight into my ‘unique’ mode of transport.

i get around penang island via 3 modes of transport – car, bike and bus!

i do not drive but i ride a motorbike – my trusty chaly (pic as seen here). but my chaly only goes with me within town area. my chaly doesn’t stays home with me. it stays in the church.

you see, everday going to work from house, i will follow my sister who is driving her kancil. she will drop me at the church, then i take chaly from the church to my office. so vice versa when going back home from office. ride my chaly back to church, then from church, ride in my sister’s car home.

well when my sister is not working or when i need to go somewhere else without my sister, from my house, i have to take the bus. usually during the weekend, i’ll take the bus to and fro.

i dare not take chaly home with me since between my house and my office is a very very long distance, and further the traffic is always heavy. well i am not a mat rempit wannabe lah.
so you see, as everyday i take both car and bike (me the driver) to and fro work/house, i do have a good perspective of driving from both view… though of course i am not the car driver but being at the front seat everyday i can feel the frustration of the driver (like i’m a driver).

ok ok, where’s the 10 points you asked. coming… coming…

1. There are a lot more cars and trucks than motorcycles on the road, and some drivers don’t “recognize” a motorcycle; they ignore it (usually unintentionally). Look for motorcycles, especially when checking traffic at an intersection.

yep, i notice that usually at intersection, motorists tend to turn in or turn out as if they don’t see me. of course it doesn’t help at all when my chaly is a small bike… oh and the rider (i.e. yours truly) is small too! sometimes i feel that motorists tend to bully us because of our sizes! 🙁

2. Because of its small size, a motorcycle may look farther away than it is. It may also be difficult to judge a motorcycle’s speed. When checking traffic to turn at an intersection or into (or out of) a driveway, predict a motorcycle is closer than it looks.

another thing you motorists should be aware of is that when another motorist stop and give way to you to let you turn at an intersection, there might be a bike approaching which can’t see you that you are going to turn… and accident might happen – you may ram into the bike or the bike ram into you!

this happened to me a number of times – no, i don’t mean the accident – but well, almost accident, because i get to brake in time, and later on learn to be alert and observand when noticing a car on my right suddenly stopping at an intersection.

what i meant about the ‘almost’ was that when a car riding on the same road and same side as me stops at an intersection for the opposite car to turn (but this is quite rare lah since nowadays quite difficult to find such good samaritian). i won’t realise that another car on the other end is going to turn so i tend to go straight without stopping.

3. Because of its small size, a motorcycle can be easily hidden in a car’s blind spots (door/roof pillars) or masked by objects or backgrounds outside a car (bushes, fences, bridges, etc). Take an extra moment to thoroughly check traffic, whether you’re changing lanes or turning at intersections.

yep. this is more or less same as point no. 2 of my grumbling. drivers, please note that when you are going to turn at intersections after a car stop for you, there might be a bike ‘masked’ by the car which stop for you. so turn slowly and carefully please, on the lookout for on-coming bikes.

4. Because of its small size a motorcycle may seem to be moving faster than it really is. Don’t assume all motorcyclists are speed demons.

ha. rest assured i am no speed demon. if i want to be, must go to one of the mat rempit to learn how to do it… or just to UMNO putera maybe. heh.

5. Motorcyclists often slow by downshifting or merely rolling off the throttle, thus not activating the brake light. Allow more following distance, say 3 or 4 seconds. At intersections, predict a motorcyclist may slow down without visual warning.

so true. good point for motorists to take note. hey, i myself not aware of this point too. 99% of the time i slow down by downshifting (i learn a new word!) esp. of course at traffic junction or when i want to make a turning. this is because i know i am going to stop soon so can downshift (can use this new word in such manner eh?).

6. Turn signals on a motorcycle usually are not self-canceling, thus some riders, (especially beginners) sometimes forget to turn them off after a turn or lane change. Make sure a motorcycle’s signal is for real.

being the forgotful one that i am, that’s why i have my turn signal install with the beep beep sound. i did realise a number of times i had forgotten to turn off my turn signals, so i asked my bike mechanic to install the beep beep sound where it will sound when i engaged the turn signal. thus i won’t forget to turn it off because the beep beep sound will remind me so.

on the point of a motorist, many a times when i was in my sister’s car, i did notice many bikes forever having their turn signal on… which make us wonder is the bike going to turn or not.

7. Motorcyclists often adjust position within a lane to be seen more easily and to minimize the effects of road debris, passing vehicles, and wind. Understand that motorcyclists adjust lane position for a purpose, not to be reckless or show off or to allow you to share the lane with them.

haha. who knows maybe i want to show off how cute my chaly is? well at least i admit in some instances when i had my nails nicely painted, when i stop at a traffic junction, i will purposely hold up my hands, palm face outwards to show off my painted nails. LOL! silly me, they are at a distance, and further me a small person, how will they be able to see. haha. i am really being silly.

ok be serious now. ahem. of course this point is very true. it was mentioned “to minimize the effects of road debris, passing vehicles, and wind”, well, they forgot one thing – potholes! esp. in our bolehland!

8. Maneuverability is one of a motorcycle’s better characteristics, especially at slower speeds and with good road conditions, but don’t expect a motorcyclist to always be able to dodge out of the way.

yep! i had became an expert at maneuvering esp. at traffic jam. some friends in car who saw me, commented that, it look dangerous with me smack in the middle of the road and right, left, front, back, everywhere cars surrounding me. but i don’t feel the danger at all. of course this doesn’t mean that i am able to avoid some cars who decide to get chummy with my chaly and grazes it.

9. Stopping distance for motorcycles is nearly the same as for cars, but slippery pavement makes stopping quickly difficult. Allow more following distance behind a motorcycle because it can’t always stop “on a dime.”

er… what does the phrase “on a dime” means? stop as it like automatically/out of control? well, true being small and with only two wheels, when the road is slippery, my chaly tend to slide a bit after i had stop.

10. When a motorcycle is in motion, don’t think of it as motorcycle; think of it as a person.

haha. well most people will refer to “this motor eh terrible lah. wanna stop never give signal”. my sister do… and i will say to her “you mean the blue shirt man on the motor”. i guess with a city like penang where one can find lots of motorcycle, motorists tend to look at motorcycle as a motorcycle instead of a person.

ok lah. hear ye all motorists, when you see a motorcycle on the road, particularly a small one, don’t thiink of it as a motorcycle but think of it as lucia lai on it. haha.

as one who travels in a car, one observation i would like to make out of motorcyclist is that some of them like to ride in the middle of the road. it’s so irritating if you happen to come across a bike who rides in the middle of the road and your car can’t pass by. you have to tail behind the bike slowly looking for an opportunity to cut the bike.

on the other hand, as one who travels by bike, one observation i would like to made of cars is that once in a long while, i came across cars that drive or stop to close to the side. esp. when stopping at traffic light – if the car stop too close to the side, my chaly cannot pass through! cars are not suppose to stop near the side but give some gap for bikes to squeeze by.

well since daily i ride in a car (front seat) and ride on a bike, i do have a good observation of cars and bike from both perspective.

Leave a Reply