Gary, I couldn't agree with you more.
2 years ago I spent the spring and summer preparing for the STP (Seattle to
Portland Bicycle Classic, 200 miles in 2 days). I was typically riding about
200-250 miles per week. All this road biking made me *very* in tune with what
was going on around me, who was where and always anticipating the moves of cars
around me. It made me a much better driver and much more defensive oriented.
Laura Hoey
'70 2000
---- you wrote:
> When driving a car as small as a Roadster, it helps if you have ever ridden
>motorcycles in
> traffic. Motorcycles/motorcyclists are even smaller and harder to see than a
>small car
> like the Roadster and if you are going to survive while riding one you must
>adopt an
> extremely defensive driving attitude. My operative mindset when I rode a
>motorcycle was to
> pretend that I was invisible to other drivers - because for all intents and
>purposes, I
> was. On a motorcycle I have been cutoff, run out of my lane, I have even had
>a car pull a
> left turn in front of me even though I had established eye contact with the
>driver!
>
> You must also maintain a high level of situational awareness - always know
>what cars or
> other vehicles are around you, how fast they are going, whether they are
>going to turn or
> stop (hard to know since only about 15% of drivers ever use their turn
>signals!). What I
> am getting at here is that adopting a similar defensive driving posture while
>driving your
> Roadster could save your life, and certainly your body panels. All that
>having been said,
> rear-enders are almost impossible to avoid by any action of your own - very
>frustrating. I
> have been rear-ended 3 times (never in my Roadster, thank goodness... ): once
>in the
> middle of a chain when traffic started to move at a light, then stopped
>suddenly and
> someone three cars back wasn't paying attention; and twice when a light had
>just turned
> green and a driver approaching the light had eyes only for the green light
>and not for the
> fact that the stopped traffic had just barely begun to move. Incidentally
>(and I don't
> intend to raise the ire of the distaff branch of the Roadster driving
>fraternity by noting
> this fact) all 3 of my rear-ender accidents were precipitated by female
>drivers. Trend or
> coincidence? You decide
>
> One of the dangers of getting away from a light or a stop sign is the
>possibility that the
> driver coming up behind you is not paying sufficient attention, and if you
>stop, pull up
> and stop again, they only see the motion (you know, kinda like the T-Rex in
>Jurassic
> Park... ) and WHAM!
>
> Gary McCormick
> San José, CA
> '70 2000, SRL311-13291
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Andrew Murphy wrote:
>
> > List,
> >
> > After reading posts about rear enders and backing up accidents, it made me
> > stop and think.
> >
> > Every time I go on a run with the guys from SoCalROC, I am amazed at how
> > SMALL these cars really are. You can really tell when you are out on the
> > road and are behind someone. When I drive mine to work, I sometimes look at
> > it parked between two midsize cars and I remember the matchbox cars I used
> > to play with when I was a kid.
> >
> > Up until the Julian/Borrego run, I had no seat belt installed on the
> > passenger side of my car. My girlfriend insisted (rightfully so) that I get
> > one installed before she would go with me on the run. I had the bizarre
> > thought that if I flipped the car at high speed or we got broadsided by an
> > SUV, seatbelts probably would not help much.
> >
> > So although I love to go fast in my car and take turns and everything else,
> > I do try to keep in mind that my car weighs about 2000 lbs. and has a
> > remarkably strong and fast engine for its size. When I get it restored, I am
> > putting in a roll bar and also safety harnesses.
> >
> > It may not stop me from getting in an accident, but hopefully I will walk
> > away.
> >
> > Andrew Murphy
> > 67.5 2000 Solex
> > SoCalROC
>
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