Accident Avoidance: The SMIDSY

[cmyers]

Here is a decent video explaining the technique that LOKI as expressed several times, but i know that sometimes seeing is believing. Use this info and ride Safe.



And just to prove car drivers arent the only ones who do this.

[cmbutn2]

Interesting. Anyone here have any experience with this maneuver?

[n5tbu]

Yes,I do it all the time.

[bajakirch]

Maybe it's just me, but 'SMIDSY' sounds quintessentially British.

"Oy, mate; let's pop on down to the pub and have a smidsy."

[cmyers]

Interesting. Anyone here have any experience with this maneuver?

This was put up because LOKI has frequently explained the use of this maneuver and I thought some might like to actually see it.

I frequently use the swerve in multiple situations, I guess drivers see it as an aggressive maneuver from a crazy biker and tend to give me more space immediately after. If road conditions are such that I cant swerve for one reason or another I will stand up on the pegs to break my outline out of the background and to appear larger than I am.

[chromy]

I've found it quite effective, but not fool poof (pun intended).

The motion gets attention.  I even rock my NH back and forth and blink my tail lights whiled stopped at a red light when someone is approaching from behind.

[ariwhiteboy]

Yep, that's good stuff.  Thanks for posting vids Chad. 

[isleofmanfan]

This is really helpful information.  I'm going to start doing this weave when I'm unsure of what a cage will do.  What I've noticed around here more often than not, is people fiddling with a hand held appliance (no focus on traffic conditions) and just yanking out into the road.  The hands free cell phone law is unenforced here.

[Bumblebee]

From what I can tell based on behavior changes in cagers, weaving helps them see you quite a bit.
If you really want to get their attention though, that is IF their attention can be obtained at all, try slowly standing up to full height on the pegs. Everybody is looking at you when you do that because it's just something that does not happen on the road. It's outside their automatic visual filtering expectations. Just be aware that you give up control and maneuverability while up there - it's purely a preventative tactic and not conductive to evasive maneuvering.

Weave: ho hum, something is probably there, maybe keep rolling out into traffic though mostly consider taking a second look before proceeding. 
Stand up: WTF is that and what's going on and get away from it???!?!!?! They look like this:  
Cager too close behind you: Flash brake light twice, quick weave then jump up off the seat like you're about to drive off into the grand canyon. You can get cagers to lock their tires doing that and they tend to stay away from you afterward.  

[isleofmanfan]

Standing gets a lot of attention mainly because VERY FEW bikers do it.  I often will stand on extended cruises to get my legs unknotted.  Everybody looks.

[Bumblebee]

Standing gets a lot of attention mainly because VERY FEW bikers do it

Exactly. Cager's aren't programmed to ignore it..yet.

I'm seriously considering a headlight modulator. I rode a few miles behind a guy with one a while back. People were actually pulling off the road like we were the police or something. It was great.

[isleofmanfan]

IMO those headlight flashers are very effective.  I think they should be standard equipment!

[Burgi]

Both my bikes have a button (trigger) to flash the headlight(s). I flash my headlight (to mimic a modulating headlight) whenever I see someone in a position that looks suspicious. Never a single flash (that could be taken as a "go ahead" signal).
I swerve too, but I admit I like to that anyway. 

[Bumblebee]

I think they should be standard equipment!

I don't. If they were, the other drivers would start filtering them out then they would no longer be effective.

Headlights auto-on use to be the same thing as modulators are now. There was a period of effectiveness then it went away once everyone got use to them even though the headlights are still on. What option is available after modulators? Driver training is not an option. Armor piercing 50 caliber gatling guns with exploding tracer shells maybe?

Other riders may get clobbered without them however at some point it becomes survival of the fittest. If it comes down to me taking steps to insure my own safety or them getting a free ride and increasing my risk in the long run, good luck surviving.

[drdubb]

I agree with the video and your comments, but I didn't get the part about the moving background behind the car.

I also installed one of those air horns which I like to use whenever I'm worried about a cage..which is anytime one is near.

I want some of those super bright pulsating led's, but the budget hasn't gotten to them yet.

[Bumblebee]

I didn't get the part about the moving background behind the car.

His explanation wasn't the best. Get a friend to help you understand it by doing.

What he was really trying to get across is if the relative angle you see the target (at say, next to a bug splat on your windscreen) in relation to you doesn't change, the vehicles will impact each other at the crossing point. If the angle changes, (moves toward or away from the bug splat) you will not impact each other.

Go outside. Both of you walk in a straight line at 90 degrees to each other so the paths will cross.
Have your friend stand still and not move. Put your finger out at the angle that covers your friend then without changing your finger position in relation to your body, walk toward the predicted impact point. Note that your friend drifts outside of your finger position and you cross in front. Also if you look at the background behind your friend, it moves forward in relation to your friend thus your friend appears to move backward compared to the background. The opposite happens if you stand still and your friend moves. End result: you cross the impact point without collision because your friend, or you, never gets there.

Now both of you walk toward the impact point with your finger covering your friend as before. Move at the rate that makes your friend stay behind your finger and that causes the background to remain stationary directly behind him. He's no longer moving in relation to the background. End result: Impact at the intersection.
Vary your approach speed slightly to where the relative finger position angle and background on your friend starts moving: End result: No impact. Near miss, likely, however no impact.

Regardless of the horizontal intercept angle from 0 to 180 degrees and regardless of vertical intercept angle (airplanes), if the object remains stationary, which also makes it the most difficult to see, you're on an intercept to collision course. The same process works for airplanes, boats, kids running in the playground and even tornado avoidance procedures. If the relative angle doesn't change, you're either going directly toward or directly away from the target's crossing point in your path of travel.

Think about THAT every time you're approaching an intersection and the 90 degree high speed cage doesn't move in your field of vision. Scary stuff as long as they're stationary in your field of vision.

[Lurfadur]

Saw this tip posted here last year when I started riding and it has worked for me numerous times.  Tried explaining it to some of my relatives who ride and one of them didn't get it.  I likened it to fishing; if the bait (you) just sits there the fish (car) won't notice it, but give it a little wiggle and it gets their attention.   

[drdubb]

Thanks bumble...the same principal in piloting a boat. If the bearing angle remains the same...you are on a collision course. What was confusing me was that the car was not moving when he was saying it.

[fortyhourdays]

Thanks for the explanation Bumblebee.  His explanation was confusing at best.  I was in the same boat as ddrub wondering what he was talking about since the car wasn't moving.