Narrow highway bridges

[Cajunrider]

My wife and I took a 200 mile trip to Madisonville, LA. I built a trunk rack for my bike and brought it to a "Mom & Pop" chrome shop. On the way up, between Pontchatoula and Madisonville, we crossed a couple of very narrow 2 lane bridges with absolutely no space between the fog line and guard rail. On one of the bridges I met an SUV which began creeping over the center line. There was absolutely nothing I could have done besides locking the brakes had the driver continued coming toward me. I suppose that he/she noticed they had crossed over a couple of feet and corrected back over to their side. My wife didn't see it happening and I didn't tell her about it after. If she would have spotted the vehicle coming at us I think it would have been enough to keep her off of the bike for a long time or she maybe wouldn't have ever ridden again. Anyway, make every attempt possible to cross these short and narrow bridges alone. It may not always be possible but try to make it happen. Ride safe...

[Yellow Jacket]

Think about installing a headlight modulator. I can't help but believe that the flashing helps oncoming vehicles notice you.

[chainsaw]

They probably noticed him, but were sight seeing or on the phone. In some states modulator's are illegal.

[Yellow Jacket]

They probably noticed him, but were sight seeing or on the phone. In some states modulator's are illegal.

Headlight modulators are legal in all states. It's covered by a federal law.

http://www.webbikeworld.com/Motorcycle-technical-articles/Modulator-regs.htm

[ells]

I often manually flash the headlight when I see a situation setting up, which one can do while covering the brakes.

[Top Cat]

I NEVER flash the headlight. Some people think that you are telling them to proceed and you will wait. Good way to get yourself in trouble.

[chainsaw]

Bob, thanks for the info. Didn't know that changed.

[fish]

I NEVER flash the headlight. Some people think that you are telling them to proceed and you will wait. Good way to get yourself in trouble.

I agree with TC and I'm not sure if I would use a headlight modulator on the bike, at a quick glance someone might think your telling then to go, just my 2 cents.

[ells]

I NEVER flash the headlight. Some people think that you are telling them to proceed and you will wait. Good way to get yourself in trouble.

Not that I doubt what you say, just never heard of that myself. Don't think I or any one else I know would ever take flashing headlights as a signal to proceed, maybe it's an east coast thing. How common is it? Maybe we need a poll. I know it is used as a warning of cop or other item of note ahead when meeting oncoming traffic, in that case it's a warning. And there is the truckers flash to say it is okay to pull back into the lane after passing. In any event, it's got me thinking about the practice since evidently the concept is out there. Need to balance risk of not being noticed with the chance of that odd-to-me interpretation. In the example given at the start of the thread, I can't see it being interpreted as, "go ahead and cross over the center line and smash into me."

[fish]

TC, it must be an east coart thing. I never thought about it.

[Yellow Jacket]

At the rate that the modulator is flashing the light from about 17% to 100% brightness I doubt very much anyone would mistake it for the kind of courtesy flash people use sometimes to indicate "I see you and you go ahead first." I have seen other motorcycles on the road with the modulators and the flashing rate is rather quick and is extremely noticable compared to the non-modulating light.

[Cajunrider]

I don't believe the SUV crossed the centerline because they didn't see me, I think the driver had his/her head up his/her rear and wasn't paying attention to his/her driving. It startled me so much that I didn't even see the driver. My focus was on the front wheel and the yellow stripes on the road. Over here a flash of the headlight at an intersection tells a waiting left turner to proceed. I've seen a couple of headlight modulators in action and in my opinion they don't resemble a dim/bright flash.

[Yellow Jacket]

I agree that the SUV driver was probably just not paying proper attention to their driving. That seems to be almost the normal standard now.

I only suggested the modulator because I try to give myself as many advantages as possible. (Hence, the BRIGHT yellow riding suit.) I'm also seriously considering putting a clear strobe light on the rear. If I ever hear from my honorable state legislator as to whether or not it is legal in Georgia!

The bottom line, no matter how much we do to make ourselves visible, we have to assume the fools can't see us!!!!!!!

[Top Cat]

Sorry, I guess I wasn't clear.
I don't think the modulater will be mistaken for the " you go ahead I'll wait for you " signal of flashing the headlight.
Maybe it is just here on the East coast ???
http://s2.images.proboards.com/grin.gif Ells, Even here on the east coast it dosen't mean ;

"go ahead and cross over the center line and smash into me."

As far as I know we don't have a signal for that ;)

[fish]

just lay on the horn.

Thats another issue, I don't use my horn to say hi, I use it as a warning or to say hey tou you f_cked up.

[ells]

Stebel is my friend. Guess I'll need to reconsider the manual headlight flashing thing. Especially when I leave my cocoon.

[dantama]

Ells, I've know the light flashing to mean go ahead at times. And I do it myself at times.

For me it is a slow speed signal. For instance, if I'm pulling up to a stop, and somebody wants to pull into my lane and I can see them looking in the mirror, or they are pulling in from a side entrance and are looking at me. If I want to let them in, I'll flash my lights to let them know that they can pull in.

I can't think of any situations where I do that at fast speeds.

Most of the times that I've done it, the other car knew what I was saying and pulled in.

Could be regional, I'm a new guy here in Colorado :)

[rksaw]

I'm surprised that none of the "truckers" in here haven't piped in yet. Truck drivers often flash their lights to tell another truck that their trailer is clear and they can pull over. I have seen quite a few people flash their lights to signal others, however, that doesn't excuse a driver from not paying attention and nearly taking you out on your side of the double yellow.

Truckers don't flash their lights, and they don't want others to either.They turn them off and on quickly. They don't want to look into the rear view and have someone flash highbeams and blind them. When in the four wheeler and a truck passes, I turn my lights off then back on when they are clear.

[rksaw]

point well taken.

[ells]

Yes, that is what I meant by the trucker's flash, should have stated specifically. In some ways it too bad we don't have that option. Yeah, I know, a toggle switch would solve that.

[dantama]

Norms change over time, but 18 years ago when I drove interstate long hauls, it was probably 60-40 among trucks between turning the headlights on and off and flashing the high beams. I only drove Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Nevada, and California. Different regions and different decades could have different norms.

The point is, some will take a flash of the headlights as a warning to not continue what they want to do next, and others will take it as permission to go ahead.

Perhaps either way may be better than not seeing you at all, who knows?

As I said earlier, I usually wave people in at slow speeds when merging or pulling in of a side street or parking lot in backed up traffic. At slow speeds you have plenty of time to recover if things go different than you expect.

At high speeds its more of a crap shoot. If something is misinterpreted it is going to happen quicker and with more severe consequences.

What is the correct answer to making your presence known vs giving permission? I'm not sure.

[rksaw]

What is the correct answer to making your presence known vs giving permission? I'm not sure.

I thought it was a Stebel horn!