mescalined motorists/near miss (nklr)

[Calis]

Attachments :     I want to thrown in my two cents worth on the headlight modulator discussion.  I understand the idea behind them, I've seen them used, but I personally don't feel they would be worth much.     I am an EMT and work for the local ambulance service where I live.  Half of the time I work in the back of the ambulance, but the other half I drive them.  We have some fairly empressive xenon strobe assemblies on our trucks, in red and white.  I feel like they are brighter than they should be, when I stand outside of the ambulance in the mornings to make sure all the lights are working, it's all I can do to look.  In fact, driving down the road, the lights bouncing off of objects can get very annoying and distractive.      That being said, it is unbelievable to me the amount of people who don't acknowledge our presence at all.  If their mirrors are adjusted anywhere near correctly, the lights can't help but be right in their eyes.  Even if not, you can see the light from the strobes bouncing off of things ahead of them, even in the daytime.  Arne, (or anyone else here in emergency services) do you notice the same situation with lights?      The best explaination that I've seen for this came from the list today, from Mark, that most people are "deaf, blind, drunk retard overdosing on mescaline".  Hehe  I like that line.     Anyway, there was my 2 cents, sorry you mnay have gotten 4 or 5, but it's most likely worth less than 2     [img]cid:006a01bfabbe$2841cc80$49d91104@calis[/img] 

[Guest]

>>it is unbelievable to me the amount of people who don't acknowledge our >>presence at all. If their mirrors are adjusted anywhere near correctly, the >>lights can't help but be right in their eyes. Even if not, you can see the

light

>>from the strobes bouncing off of things ahead of them, even in the daytime. >>Arne, (or anyone else here in emergency services) do you notice the same >>situation with lights?

Stupid Human Tricks abound. Some years ago I drove ambulances, and when people weren't oblivious to lights/siren/airhorn/PA, they'd very often panic and stand on brakes or make unsafe lane changes. That said, most people eventually did the right thing and our response time was better with lights than it would have been without. Nobody actually hit us, but I won't forget that the stakes are easily 200 times higher with a bike, based on weight alone. I don't have a headlight modulator, but have been looking at ways to improve lighting & visibility. Right now I'm leaning toward secondary lights positioned to illuminate cars' side-view mirrors (maybe even on a gimbal a'la Stingers), but haven't ruled out modulators as at least part of the solution. Jim in LA '81 CX500 (but looked at a nearly-new A13 this week)

[Tumu Rock]

This morning's ride home from work proved that most cagers ARE in fact on some type of mind altering substance. It was a little rainy, so I was taking it easier than usual even though the streets were fairly empty (6:15AM). As I approach the intersection of Broadway and Bleecker (I think) the light changes green. When I'm half way to the light from the previous block, an SUV backs into the intersection from east to west (I'm heading south) at about 25mph. I'm probably doing 35. I lean on the horn and the SUV manages to stop directly in the middle of my lane and stares at me. Talk about target fixation! I grab the brakes as hard as I dare to on the slick pavementand for as long as I can before I have to swerve. Braced for the impact I just barely manage to avoid the rear quarter of the SUV by probably less than 2" if that. I wasn't even sure I was going to make it until I saw it disappear from my peripheral. Thankfully I don't have go to Rev. Chuck's Crash poll site this morning and post from the hospital. Mental note to self: Every Saturday morning is still Friday night to a LOT of people in New York...and every night is somebody's Friday. dat brooklyn bum _______________________________________________________ Get 100% FREE Internet Access powered by Excite Visit http://freelane.excite.com/freeisp