Guy blows stop sign this morning

[OneCheekRider]

After a few month hiatus on the bike (new job & moved) I decided to start commuting on the bike again... Less than a quarter mile out of my driveway to the first cross street I come up to, a guy flies through the intersection with no regard for his stop sign (there is no stop sign on the street I was on) like a deer out of the woods. Luckily I had my pointer and middle finger over the front brake (as usual), foot on the rear brake, and reacted quickly enough to avoid a very bad incident. I bottomed out the forks on my FZ6 and then locked up the rear. Any later reaction time, and I think things would have ended badly.

Since I was on a very busy street (E on Harvard St, Medford), my guess is that the guy (somehow through the trees/bushes) only saw the line of cars 4 or 5 car lengths behind me. There was also traffic approaching in the opposite direction. Even the guy behind me had to hit the brakes as the older Ford Explorer went across the intersection. The guy behind me pulled up next to me at the next traffic light and gave me mad props for avoiding the guy then proceeded to shake his head calling him a F***in moron. While my focus was on braking (I felt speeding up would have resulted in a T-Bone collision and swerving would have had me on the curb or in oncoming traffic) I just wish I layed on the horn because even as he sped through the intersection, I'm almost positive he was oblivious to me.

I'm not one to typically make posts like this (I actually dont think I post much at all) but I feel this situation should be a reminder to everyone to stay safe out there. Had I not been comfortable braking in an emergency situation, I think this could have ended badly as well.

Stay safe out there, everyone!

[Garandman]

Best thing about wearing a hi viz jacket isn't that they see you.

It's that the think you're a LEO. By the time they figure out you aren't - you're still alive.....

[NPDCPA]

I refuse to commute to work for this reason.

[OneCheekRider]

Not too sure if a hi viz jacket would've helped that much... guy booked it thru the stop sign at a good rate of speed. My estimate was ~30mph

That being said, I would like to get one for commuting.

[jwm2k3]

I hesitated to open this thread, thinking the 'bad thing' happened....and Im glad it didnt.

Its good advice to keep a finger or two on the brake, and in the most recent SportRider magazine theres a nice article about this.

Hi-Vis is something some might be adverse to, I like to wear very colorful jacket and a crazy graphic helmet...Im hoping this helps a little although I know not as much as real Hi'Viz stuff...

Stay safe, keep your eyes open, anticipate other drivers doing something dumb.

[wiggeywackyo]

Good catch for sure. I actually find myself traveling under the speed limit when I'm riding around town for that reason.

[7UPyours]

nice save, glad you came out of this unharmed

[nhbubba]

Best thing about wearing a hi viz jacket isn't that they see you.

It's that the think you're a LEO. By the time they figure out you aren't - you're still alive.....

I am convinced there is some truth to this. My thinking is that people somehow subconsciously think that only those required by the gov't to dress like that would. No one else would dare be caught dead dressed like that. So that guy must be a LEO of some sort. And as you say, by the time they figure out otherwise, they've seen you.

Another opinion is that they think "whut the fuck is that guy wearing". Again, by then they've seen you.

Either way, I've drunk that particular coolaid.

That being said, I would like to get one for commuting.

Great way to experiment is to go to the home center and buy a ~$15, one-size-fits-all flagger/construction vest. Lowe's has 'em in that section with safety glasses and ear plugs near the hardware isle. I ran a couple A/B comparisons where I'd wear the vest one day and then not the next.

[jasnmar]

I ran a couple A/B comparisons where I'd wear the vest one day and then not the next.

But was the intensity of the sun the same?
Was it the exact same time?
(Note that answering one of these questions yes, almost makes it impossible to answer the other one yes )
Was it with the same "other drivers"?
Had they had the same amount of coffee each day?

Dammed engineers

OP: Glad you made it. Always a reminder that the other guy isn't going to do what we expect.

[Chippertheripper]

Did it cum in his mouth?

[nhbubba]

Dammed engineers

My first draft of the above post had a disclaimer about my experiments being neither scientific, nor conclusive. But I was impressed enough with the outcome that I bought a gawd-awful looking, day-glow helmet.

As with 99.999% of the shit I post, YMMV.

[OreoGaborio]

As with 99.999% of the shit I post, YMMV.

I'm sorry, can you narrow that down to the nearest ten thousandth, please?

[DucDave]

Thanks for posting this up. Happy to hear the outcome!

[Garandman]

But was the intensity of the sun the same?
Was it the exact same time?
(Note that answering one of these questions yes, almost makes it impossible to answer the other one yes )
Was it with the same "other drivers"?
Had they had the same amount of coffee each day?

Dammed engineers

OP: Glad you made it. Always a reminder that the other guy isn't going to do what we expect.

I did back-to-back trips in Boston on a Saturday morning and I have an Olympia hi viz and the same jacket in pewter/silver.

When I got cut off for the third time in 12 miles wearing the silver jacket - I didn't need any more confirmation.

The NZ study put the rate of accident with hi-viz and white or light helmet at 37% less.

[butcher bergs]

I didn't know people still said things like "mad props" in this new millenium

[OneCheekRider]

I didn't know people still said things like "mad props" in this new millenium

well now you know... and...

[jasnmar]

I was just giving Colin hell.

I've seen the studies. I still ride a black bike with black gear and a black helmet. Of course my bike is the size of a civic, but I do understand my choices.

My belief is that color actually has little impact on saccadic masking, and that us being self aware of the danger we put ourselves in is more valuable than the clothes we chose. There's no requirement for anyone else to agree.

[Garandman]

I was just giving Colin hell.

I've seen the studies. I still ride a black bike with black gear and a black helmet. Of course my bike is the size of a civic, but I do understand my choices.

My belief is that color actually has little impact on saccadic masking, and that us being self aware of the danger we put ourselves in is more valuable than the clothes we chose. There's no requirement for anyone else to agree.

When I was in 3-7 Cav in Germany, I asked one of our [unarmed] Scout helicopter pilots how he could reconcile flying a copter in what might at some point become the highest intensity conflict the world has ever known.

He said. "I subscribe to the 'large sky, small bullet' theory."

[nhbubba]

I'm sorry, can you narrow that down to the nearest ten thousandth, please?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_availability

My bullshit is "highly available".

[RocketPunch]

Had a similar thing happened to me yesterday and I should have seen it coming since it is a 4 way stop.

It was my turn to move, but I decided to wave the other car go first, then a soccer mom in SUV literally turn out from the corner store and blew by the the stop sign without even blinking.

[nhbubba]

I try to avoid waiving people through. In my experience, things go wrong when people willingly decide to ignore the rules of the road. At the very least it creates a bad prescience.

[jasnmar]

He said. "I subscribe to the 'large sky, small bullet' theory."

So, you're saying I should buy a smaller bike .

Most pilots are a different level of crazy. Especially Ho Lee Fuk .