I recently read that motorcycle accidents have spiked in metropolitan areas in the last year. A lot of aggressive driving out there by people in cars, who despite the laws are still holding their cell phones and often texting, and with traffic in Southern California pretty bad most of the time, the danger level is just higher. I've had people pass me, in my lane, which is really spooky. I routinely move to the head of a traffic line and work to stay ahead of the cars on the road.
Now, a simple fact: The ability to judge the distance and speed of a moving object is most difficult when an object is moving directly towards or away from you, as opposed to across your path. It's even harder with a single point of light, as in a motorcycle headlamp, to judge speed. We've all had some dope make a left turn in front of us, and it doesn't matter how wrong they are, we still will be the loser. People in cars don't have to just see notice us, they have to pay attention.
During the day, unless you are in heavy stop and go traffic, try keeping your high beam on all the time. Unless you have a bank of off-road flame thrower auxiliary lights it won't blind anyone but may help you to be noticed. Also, in addition to your turn signals, use hand signals as well. I've politely signaled drivers following too closely to back off and it usually works. Please note I use the word 'politely'.
And at night, a black helmet and black leathers are just about invisible. Reflective clothing and a metalflake helmet can help. And our bikes are pretty quiet compared to cruisers or rice rockets with open pipes, so people in cars aren't going to hear us either.
I realize this may sound like those old swimming pool rules, you know, No Running, No Diving, No Splashing, etc., followed by 'Have Fun", but this is the reality of the situation as I see it.
