Safety training article and turn signals

[HaulinAshe]

So my boss knows my passion for motorcycles. He sees me gear-up when I leave a meeting etc. This morning he copies me on a safety training article from his SafetyFirst.com subscription. The article is on "Driving Safely Around Motorcycles".

Of particular interest to me is the last part of the quoted paragraph (in bold for your convenience). I've seen a lot of bashing on this forum anytime anyone says anything about the need for self-cancelling turn signals on the FJR. Forgetting the signal is indeed a typical rookie mistake, but I still catch myself forgetting sometimes when something "special" or "significant" happens with surrounding traffic at that moment when I normally upshift and check the signal.

Apparently it's a problem worth noting as a substantial contributor to accidents by an organization specializing in workplace safety. I'm not saying a turn signal cancel should be standard equipment, I'm just sayin...

Here's a link to the entire article for those interested. Driving Safely Around Motorcycles

"I DIDN'T SEE THE MOTORCYCLIST"The failure of motorists to detect motorcycles is the most frequent cause of accidents for motorcyclists. More than one half of motorcycle accidents occur because the driver simply "did not see the motorcyclist."

Why doesn't the average driver see the motorcyclist? Commercial drivers tend to look for other cars, trucks and busses, not for motorcycles. In addition, because of its small profile, a motorcycle is harder to see, and it can be very hard to judge the oncoming motorcycle’s speed.

Many riders downshift to slow their bike – their brake lights will not illuminate under these circumstances. Additionally, turn signals are not “self canceling”; therefore, inexperienced riders may travel for some distance before realizing that their signal is incorrectly set.

 

[painman]

I was talking to an old guy one time and he had a good comment on turn signals on bikes. He said, "why have blinkers on a bike, bikes are so narrow you can't tell from any distance if your turning right of left anyway with a blinker on".....makes some sense. LOL. PM. <><

 

[luvtoride]

I was talking to an old guy one time and he had a good comment on turn signals on bikes. He said, "why have blinkers on a bike, bikes are so narrow you can't tell from any distance if your turning right of left anyway with a blinker on".....makes some sense. LOL. PM. <><

That's a good reason for using hand signals

 

[wheatonFJR]

I was talking to an old guy one time and he had a good comment on turn signals on bikes. He said, "why have blinkers on a bike, bikes are so narrow you can't tell from any distance if your turning right of left anyway with a blinker on".....makes some sense. LOL. PM. <><

That's a good reason for using hand signals

+1

 

[FJRMGM]

in a car, you can drive clear across the good ol' USA with a blinking turn signal.

All vehicles should have self-cancelling turn signals.

 

[DaSpyda]

Well, here in Florida, it's mandatory that you have your left blinker on all the time...and always stay in the left lane, no matter how slow you drive.

 

[BrunDog]

I would think ANYTHING to help yourself be seen would be best. Frig it, ride with the hazards on all the time!!

-BD

 

[palerider]

You say, "Forgetting the signal is indeed a typical rookie mistake."

No it's not. It's easy to do on the 06.

I'm happy for those for whom this isn't a problem, but anyone who bashes me because it IS a problem for me is an *******.

 

[cougar8000]

in a car, you can drive clear across the good ol' USA with a blinking turn signal.
All vehicles should have self-cancelling turn signals.

Let me trow a monkey wrench in. There is a particular turn close to my house that no matter what I do my left turn signal does not cancel out it self. It does everywhere else. Go figure. Oh, and this is on my car that has self canceling turn signals, self this and self that.

 

[MojaveFJR]

Hmmm, wonder if that excuse will work if you hit a cager, "Officer, I didn't see the car!". Hmmm....

Drive with your high beams on. Found that really helps.

 

[Ed_Grant]

Hmmm, wonder if that excuse will work if you hit a cager, "Officer, I didn't see the car!". Hmmm....
Drive with your high beams on. Found that really helps.

I use a headlight modulator but back to the turn signals. I noticed it's hard to see that the turn signal is on when the sun is shining on the instrument panel on my 05. After the turn I normally cancel the signal a couple of time just to make sure. I use the turn signals but add a hand signal when I want to really impress on traffic I am turning or changing lanes.

 

[jmarran]

I think Buicks only offer self-cancelling signals as optional equipment.

 

[old&slow]

re: "Didn't see the Motorcycle."

At least here in Ohio , We've had them pull out in front of and / or hit police cars with lights & siren on.. Hit big yellow school buses they didn't see...

Flashing lights ,, bright colors ,, sirens ,,, it doesn't matter....

They are out to get us ...... And, yes I do listen to the voices in my head..... :dribble: :blink:

 

[FZ/FJR Mike]

re: "Didn't see the Motorcycle."
At least here in Ohio , We've had them pull out in front of and / or hit police cars with lights & siren on.. Hit big yellow school buses they didn't see...

Flashing lights ,, bright colors ,, sirens ,,, it doesn't matter....

They are out to get us ...... And, yes I do listen to the voices in my head..... :dribble: :blink:

Same here in New York. Very old people & teeny boppers scare the **** out of me. Both ends of the age spectrum drive distracted or inattentive IMO.

 

[ionbeam]

My car has a Fla Buick blue hair feature. After several minutes of wheels turning with the blinkers going it sounds a LOUD chime. In 150k miles it has gone off once, scared the **** out me and took a second or two to figure out what the problem was.

Any time I'm in a potentially dangerous situation I use hand signals in conjunction with my turn signals. Good Pillion takes over the hand signals for me and hand signals anytime we are in a busy or dangerous situation.

I started riding when hand signals were all that was available on the decrepit bikes I rode. I always canceled the hand signals Then I finally got a newer bike with turn signals which were sliders, not push to cancel. I learned to cancel these signals about 99.9% of the time. There were times where survival required that both hands were busy on the bars and it was necessary to have a rapidly spinning head to keep track of 4 wheel, 2 ton killers mixing it up in the road. At times like this, when it was most important to cancel the signals I was most likely to forget them. Later my bikes came with push to cancel which was more convenient but did nothing to improve my likelihood of canceling in distracting situations.

Over the next 20 years I've always had at least one Honda VF that had very good self canceling signals which I almost always manually canceled anyway. At the same time I had other bikes with manual canceling signals which I became more prone to leave on.

If I could have self canceling signals as good as or better than the VF signal controller I would go for it. I would still manually cancel, but it is nice to have a backup. I will always hand signal when I feel it's important to be seen and make my intentions clear.

We've discussed self canceling, manual cancel, reminders that go BEEP--BEEP-BEEP; what about a distance reminder that chimes you if you have traveled some distance with your signal still on?

 

[old&slow]

I read somewhere & sometime ago ,,

That 80+% of motorcycle accidents involving more than just the motorcycle, were from the front and caused by vechiles making a left turn in front of the motorcycle...

At intersections I always cover all the controls and really watch them ,, from the front ,, left , or right....

Of course last fall it wasn't someone turning left ,, it was some airhead that just blew thru the country road Stop sign that

ALMOST took me out,,,, took awhile to get the brown spot off my MC seat...

The Cars are trying to kill us <<< :dribble:

 

[kenporider]

I don't think the issue is not being seen nearly as much as that people just don't care enough to pay attention. The prevelant attitude seems to be "I only care about what I want in this moment regardless of the consequences to others".

I was at a stop light this morning and noticed the car in front of me had a flat left rear. I jumped out of my car and ran up to the window and (after she turned down the radio enough to stop her car from shaking) I let her know she had a flat. She said thank you and turned the radio all the way up again as I returned to my vehicle. Light changes and she continues on her merry way as though nothing was wrong :dribble: .

Is this someone who'll be aware of a motorcycle or give a rat's *** about your turn signal? Is she even going to care about plowing into you as her tire shears off? I think not!

Driving is a priveledge that should be revoked on a regular basis!

End of rant, back to your regularly scheduled programing.