Thread: Pointing
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Old 05-08-13, 08:15 AM
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bemoore
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Location: Harvest, AL
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Pointing

I recently came across an entry on an engineering blog (http://www.designnews.com/author.asp...&doc_id=262955) titled "How Safe Is Safe Enough?" It's not about bicycle safety, but there IS an interesting comment from a user named Bunter:

Originally Posted by Bunter
I see a corollary from the other side of risk. I am a long time bicyclist and motorcyclist but I also drive a van. Drivers are far more likely to pull out in front of you when your vehicle presents little risk to them. The typical claim is they "did not see the bike".

I used to commute by bike and I did an experiment. One gets pretty good at spotting the cars that are likely to pull out (you can be going 30 mph in a 30 zone and they will ignore your right of way) and I started pointing, arm extended, toward the encroaching vehicle. Essentially comunicating "I see you". They ALWAYS stopped. They ALWAYS saw me. Every single time. Drivers rarely hit bikes and motorcycles because they didn't see them. The bikes just don't threaten their lives so they do what they think they can get away with.

They were simply willing to risk my life for their convenience. It was actually rather funny to see them hit the brakes, slam the suspension to the bump stops and turn their heads and pretend nothing was going on.
Has anyone tried pointing like this? And did it work? If this works everywhere, and not just in some locale with some unique traffic dynamics, this could be better than all the lights, horns, and reflectors in the world.
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