revtothelimit - motorbike forum

off to work yesterday at 0530, admittedly i was making 'progress', but along a dead straight bit of road, some oncoming numpty thought it would be a good idea to overtake into my path.
A knee/mirror interface occurred after I put it into the gutter to avoid the twat.
Apart from me going slower...any advice?

First off: glad you didn't get dreaded

Guessing at numbers, if the oncoming car and yourself were both a tad over the limit (*cough*) ...

... Say a combined closing speed of around 160 mph, that's the gap closing at over 70 metres each second.

Again, plucking numbers, if the oncoming driver was passing the slower car at 30 mph, that's 13 metres each second.

Starting from a two second following distance, I have no idea how long (time and distance ) it would take a driver to check it's clear, accelerate, then pass and pull back in. But, using a technical term, it's a farkin long way

From that distance, the driver would have struggled to see you, you were just a dot in the far distance. Worse still, because you were on a straight line head-on approach, there would have been little or no movement against the background.

What could you have done?

- Seeing the slower car, expect to following car to move out.
- If there's any hint, give a good long flash of full beam.
- Weave within your lane.

Hmmm
If they couldn't see a modern headlight against a black background coming towards them from @ 300m, perhaps an eyetest might be in order.
As for judging the speed of the oncoming traffic, it was 0530, and drizzling and very dark.
Glad my trousers have knee armour!
I appreciate drivers make mistakes, but when its my sphincter gripping the seat cover, the milk of human kindness gets thrown out.

Sadlonelygit wrote: Sat Dec 14, 2024 9:11 pm If they couldn't see a modern headlight against a black background coming towards them from @ 300m, perhaps an eyetest might be in order.
As for judging the speed of the oncoming traffic, it was 0530, and drizzling and very dark.
I appreciate drivers make mistakes, but when its my sphincter gripping the seat cover, the milk of human kindness gets thrown out.

It's probably near impossible to judge the speed of a approaching single headlamp at 300 metres.

The other driver might have made a mistake. But you chose to help set it up.

And eye test? I helped run eyetests on 85 people, almost all were drivers. We referred 12 to opticians.

If you know about you going slower, you can advise yourself.

For all he knew at dark o'clock that could have been another car approaching with a fucked headlamp what would have been messy.

Sadlonelygit wrote: Sat Dec 14, 2024 9:11 pm If they couldn't see a modern headlight against a black background coming towards them from @ 300m

Horse wrote: Sat Dec 14, 2024 8:43 pm Say a combined closing speed of around 160 mph,

AKA "four seconds to impact".

Vehicles move way faster than you actually realise and humans are AWFUL at judging the distance to a point light source.

Mr. Dazzle wrote: Tue Dec 24, 2024 12:59 pm

Sadlonelygit wrote: Sat Dec 14, 2024 9:11 pm If they couldn't see a modern headlight against a black background coming towards them from @ 300m

Horse wrote: Sat Dec 14, 2024 8:43 pm Say a combined closing speed of around 160 mph,

AKA "four seconds to impact".

Vehicles move way faster than you actually realise and humans are AWFUL at judging the distance to a point light source.

I've posted several times about 'IPV' crashes.

These are trucks used to stop vehicles before they plough into road workers.

Just on the English major roads network, 30-40 of these are hit every year. Despite massive signs, flashing lights, etc.

Before


After

Too many modern cars using touchscreen for basic operations, Telsa being the worst. Baffles me how they get past scrutineering.