Commuting - vehicle proximity deterrant

i read the thread about which side to hang a pannier from.. and people mentioned that if something is sticking out off the side people will drive further away from you.

i wonder about the legality if mounting something to the side of my trailer or handle bar that sticks out 2 inches past my handle bar width. (marked and very visible, of course) if they got too close, they get the present of a new paint job, or a rusted line on their door panel in 3 years.

granted, this is not nice, but i have been intentionally buzzed by a vehicle in juneau, alaska before, and i was not a happy camper. a gash in the paint of the SUV that mommy and daddy bought them might be a grand deterrant.

i'll add it to the hardware store list right under "hose clamps".

Dress it up as a side view mirror, and it wouldn't even look like a weapon.

We have a commuter in my neighborhood who has attached small reflective triangular flags to sticks mounted at 90 degrees to his rack. These stick out from each side of the bike and are mounted with springs so they fold in towards the bike instead of breaking off. I have also seen a low-tech version of this. It was a bum on a bike with an ordinary garden rake clamped across the handlebars.

Dan

If I did this I'd end up clobbering all the idiot cyclists who insist on riding on the wrong side of the road.

Originally posted by Andy Dreisch
If I did this I'd end up clobbering all the idiot cyclists who insist on riding on the wrong side of the road.

and the problem is?

i'm also going to look into "curb feelers".. here in the former low-rider capitol of the world, they use springy things to feel for the curb to not mess their fancy paint jobs... i wonder how heavy they are..

the flag mounted on the rack are a great idea, i even have the mount holes already in my jandd rack. of course i might have to attack a spike on the end.. i want it to not only look big but be able to bite.

thanks for the ideas and suggestions! they are extremely appreciated.

and yea, take out the cyclists that don't know how to drive. *snicker* it happens that sometimes i go the wrong way on a sidewalk... if i saw someone doing things correctly i'd get my bike out of hir way, one way or another.

In the UK you can buy plastic sticky-outy things with a bright orange reflective triangle on the end. They fold in alongside the rack when you dont need them.

I'm mounting Blazer Reactive Armour. :D

Originally posted by sakredchao
i have been intentionally buzzed by a vehicle in juneau, alaska before, and i was not a happy camper.

i had something like this happen to me last tuesday...

some punks in traffic saw me coming up and the guy in the passenger seat opened his door hoping i'd run into it. i'm fortunate that i had already hopped up on to the sidewalk when i noticed.

i bought a nice hefty piece of L-shaped aluminum stock today..(1/8" thick) and some reflectors i plan to bolt to it.. and reflective tape to have flapping behind it.. and it has a nice 1" wide edge (as you find on metal bar stock) which would put a pretty big gash in the paint of a car door. i'll construct it tomorrow and get pictures eventually wheni get to a digital camera.. i'l post a link when i have it.

hmm... it amazes me how nice people are to rude drivers. i'd have engaged them.

Originally posted by khuon
I'm mounting Blazer Reactive Armour. :D

While I don't wish to pick nits, I should point out that the armor system you mention only works when you are struck by a HEAT round. The reactive armor also kills troops (or bicycle riders) on the outside of the vehicle. In addition it weights about 40lbs per square foot. Thus, it may be impracticle on a road bike. Unless you were commuting in Iraq or Beruit.

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/nkm1/reactive.html

My suggestion would be a naval close-in weapon system (CISW)like the one below. You would establish a defense perimeter distance via your onboard defense computer and then any object entering your zone of defense would be on the receiving end of this:
The gun subsystem employs a gatling gun consisting of a rotating cluster of six barrels. The gatling gun fires a 20mm subcaliber sabot projectile using a heavy-metal (either tungsten or depleted uranium) 15mm penetrator surrounded by a plastic sabot and a light-weight metal pusher. The gatling gun fires 20mm ammunition at either 3,000 or 4,500 rounds-per-minute with a burst length of continuous, 60, or 100 rounds.

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/weaps/mk-15.htm

The CIWS could be placed in a bob trailer if your LBS doesn't have a rear rack mount for it. Mounting forward on a fork rack will obstruct your view and may cause undesireable handling.
;)

now that is funny!
:beer:

Originally posted by JoeTown244GL
While I don't wish to pick nits, I should point out that the armor system you mention only works when you are struck by a HEAT round. The reactive armor also kills troops (or bicycle riders) on the outside of the vehicle. In addition it weights about 40lbs per square foot. Thus, it may be impracticle on a road bike. Unless you were commuting in Iraq or Beruit.

Feel free to pick nits. Yes, I know all about the "side-effects" of reactive armour. Perhaps I should explain that I was trying to make fun of the extent to which some people are thinking of fabricating add-ons assuming this will somehow deter cars from coming too close to them.

Plastic sticky-outy bits with orange reflective triangles are widely availably at most UK bike shops. They are considerably cheaper thann reactive armour, and do fold away alongside the rear rack when not needed.

Take a look at this, I have ridden thousands of miles over the years with a flag sticking out the side of the bike. The only time I move it is when we have to ride on MUTs (Multi Use Trails). We don't want to catch any trail users.

I read study that found drivers brains did not see skinny things as a danger, so their brains would dismiss things like sign posts, telephone poles, small trees and cyclists as not being a danger. They would tend to look though them or around them. People are always running into poles that are not there.:rolleyes:

It would do little if any damage to a car that hit it, but it makes the bike look wider then it really is.The flag is only held on by slipping it under the bunge cord for the sleeping pad. If the flag was mounted solid to the bike and someone clipped it (or I hooked it on something) I'm sure the forces would cause the bike crash. or do lots of damage to the bike. If you mount something to your handle bar and it gets clipped your going down... Ask Lance.

The flag seems to be the good idea. It will add to the drag a bit.

Drag! What drag? :rolleyes: what you see is a fully load bike the bike is about 58 lbs with the racks, fenders, drum brake, dyno hub and lighting, then all the camping gear, cook stove, tent, food and water adds another 80 to 90 lbs, then we get on and were tipping the scales at close to 475 lbs. for the bike gear and us.

On our last tour we coverd 50 to 70 miles a day every day for a week. Our lowest avarge speed was 11.2 (headwind) and our highest was 16.8 (with a tailwind) Our highest speed was 43.8 mph, and yea I got hell from my stoker for that.
Even with the 17" granny we did have to walk one hill coming into Port Kent NY. Mean freaken hill.

The amount of drag created by the flag is so small you would never notice it. The same for the dyno hub, when off its like riding up a grade of one foot per mile, when on its like riding up a grade of 5 feet per mile.

well, it's completed.. 1/8" aluminum bar L stock, 1" to a side.. added 2 large oval reflectors.. covered the top with red flective tape, and put 2 yellow reflective tape flags beside the reflectors..

i mounted it using 3 bolts, with wingnuts to my rack.. so it will be easily removable although it will take a minute or two.

as of now, it sticks about 8" past my handlebar.. does anyone think this is excessive? i've been considering putting a 4th hole in the stock to be able to move it in a couple inches for really narrow roads with a slower speed limit.

i appreciate everyone's feedback.

A friend of mine, Ethan Davis, is selling Flash Flags, see:

http://www.velomobiles.net/flashflag.html

I have one of these on my recumbent and plan to add one to my Mango.

Anything which sticks out will cause cars to give you a wider berth.

Originally posted by tchazzard
A friend of mine, Ethan Davis, is selling Flash Flags, see:

http://www.velomobiles.net/flashflag.html


Wow, from that page they say:


According to the manufacturer Flash Flags are credited with reducing accidents by 70% in Sweden where the product was invented. Tests by the British Dept. of Transport in 1979 , by Bicycling magazine in 1980, and by the insurance Bureau of Canada in 1983 supported the flash flag's effectiveness as a bicycle safety device.

If true, that is almost a revolutionary safety device!

take care,

Jester

tested for a week.

loved it! want to make it folding if only for my own ease in getting around.. but people went from 10% or 20% of the cars moving over to give me berth, to only one out of every very few cars driving close enough to me to feel their wind. of course i got out of the way and there was no passing lane, or oncoming traffic.

mostly the people who got sort of close were RV drivers and peole driving big trucks like dump trucks or big ol' diesal worktrucks, but even then a lot of them were nice and moved over.

i felt a million times safer. "hey car, |<---->| is how wide i am on your side." handlebar width can be deceiving. bright red and yellow doohazards are a bit more visible.

The US flag itself should deter many Rushoid thugs & testosterone-juiced male adolescents, on American roads (other flags are advisable in most countries).

As for the gatling, i suggest the 7.62mm version. Much lighter & still more than adequate for the job. Load up with API rounds (Armor-Piercing Incendiary) & you are all set.

Originally posted by Ebro38
As for the gatling, i suggest the 7.62mm version. Much lighter & still more than adequate for the job. Load up with API rounds (Armor-Piercing Incendiary) & you are all set.

I think even a 3-barrel gatling minigun is a bit bulky. I believe something along the lines of a Metalstorm box mounted like panniers might be a much more compact and feasable unit for area denial. :D

Field testing will be required to evaluate different systems, for sure. Some riders are willing to trade some weight advantage for firepower. I say if you can totally shred & burn an SUV with a one-second burst, then go for it.

Can anyone suggest how to mount a mine dispenser. It would come in handy when large numbers of vehicles are approaching from the rear. You could lay out a nice spread and be as much as 20-30 feet away before they started exploding and sending shrapnel out at 950 MPH. Yeah, that's the system I'm going with . . .

(Formerly Ebro38)

LET, at that distance you'd be well within the kill zone yourself. But we could develop shaped-charge "minelets" that would blow off the enemy's tires while minimizing collateral damage.

Another option would be a trailer-mount laser that would melt aggressor tires.

Originally posted by Cyclepath
Another option would be a trailer-mount laser that would melt aggressor tires.

... But you'd better be a strong rider because we're going to power it from a dynohub. :D