Have you seen the dash boards on any of the new cars lately?? (rhetorical question really, of course you have, you can't hear my tone of voice). They are more computer than car these days. Yep, I might be turning into a cuntankorous old bastard but for gosh sakes, how are you to mess with a touch screen with too many things on it while driving? Some have the heat/ac controls in the menu.
Ok, I'll go back under my rock.
Hate to tell you Tom, but even young guys in the club like me (51) are in the old group. I watch one of the car shows (Motorweek) and have noticed many of the new cars with the most basic (radio and HVAC) controls built into a menu. Others still go with knobs and large controls.
What bothers me more though is all the "assist the lazy driver" aids. ABS is great, traction control too. Now we have self parking, accident avoidance (you almost changed lanes into somebody), self braking etc. More things to allow the drivers (they're not all just young folks) to pay less attention to what you do. Had a guy tailgating me in traffic yesterday driving a big work pickup talking on the phone. I slowed a couple times and then tapped my brakes trying to get him to back off. (Sorry but 2 car lengths at 50MPH is too close.) He starts glaring and me and making "what the fu**" type motions with his hands.
Hi-Viz - I've had a green/yellow Frogg Togg rain jacket for years and many have told me how it stands out. And during Tri-STAR I was told my new hi-viz jacket shows very well. Yes I know it may not help with the cage driver. I was explaining to a friend of a friend that recently started riding how invisible we are on the street because of how narrow we are. Even a small car like those Smart Cars are going to register less on the potential threat meter for a driver, who may decide to turn in front of them.
PS I try not to play with my GPS too much, mostly looking for services as we approach a town. And I've warned other riders that plan to add one to be careful they don't become engrossed. Having it somewhere more directly in your normal field of vision helps.
Hi-viz helps, but it is not a panacea. I have watched cages pull right out in front of hi-viz fire trucks running full lights and sirens and blowing air horns. More people act like they see me when I'm wearing hi-viz and running driving lights, but some still act like I'm invisible. Do not assume that making yourself visible do more than slightly improve your odds.
Note well that I still advocate these things, I just think it's important to still ride like you're wearing the One Ring.
My Precious.....
My brother Richard here gave me that piece of sage advice when I started riding, act like you are invisible, and I share that with others who are new to the sport.
