Re: tailgating and motorcycles

On 23 Aug 2005 15:14:33 -0700, "Rojo" <BJTurzynski@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>Is it generally true that car drivers can't tell when they are
>tailgating a biker?

Yes.

>and do motorcycle mirrors distort the distance of
>objects behind the bike?

You mean do we have those curved mirrors which warn "objects in the
mirror are closer than they appear?" Sometimes. But we learn very
quickly to estimate our risk levels from other vehicles.
>
>the other day I was behind a biker (probably had been drinking) who was
>waving at me and his passenger was yelling at me obscenely to back
>off...but I thought I was at a safe distance. I was just surprised
>because I've never had anyone accuse me of tailgating. I'm generally
>really good about giving space to the vehicle ahead of me.

If you were close enough for them to try and wave you off, you were
pretty close. They may have noticed you were driving erratically, and
felt that more following distance was needed than they might otherwise
feel comfortable with.

If you were close enough to hear them yelling obscenities, you were
far, far too close. I can barely make my wife year me when she's on
the back of my motorcycle.

Al Moore
DoD 734
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: tailgating and motorcycles
    ... and do motorcycle mirrors distort ... > the distance of objects behind the bike? ... > the other day I was behind a biker (probably had been ... > had anyone accuse me of tailgating. ...
    (rec.motorcycles)
  • Re: Hit and run in Yorkshire
    ... Headlights also need something reflective to be of much use. ... retroreflective material can be seen a huge distance away, ... Whereas when you suddenly find an almost invisible biker 20m ... vision that the cyclist wasn`t hit by my car. ...
    (uk.rec.cycling)
  • Re: Death can come from behind
    ... It's hard to gauge their approach speed and distance. ... And the trend is towards dinky little, weird shaped mirrors on ... perception and night vision get worse. ... I actually don't blame car drivers for this kind of accident. ...
    (rec.motorcycles)
  • Re: tailgating and motorcycles
    ... | the other day I was behind a biker who was ... | off...but I thought I was at a safe distance. ... | because I've never had anyone accuse me of tailgating. ...
    (rec.motorcycles)
  • Re: Death can come from behind
    ... It's hard to gauge their approach speed and distance. ... the mirrors have to be out far enough to see straight behind, ... The Suzuki Katana I just bought is bad in this regard -- I just bought ... My feeling about riding is that when slowing in traffic, ...
    (rec.motorcycles)
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