Getting rear-ended OPINION

[CROSSBOLT]

Stopped at a traffic light or stop sign I think the only defense is to keep at least part of one eye on the closing traffic behind. And then what? Well, if the vehicle behind seems to be intent to run into your rear end take evasive action. When do you decide? Before you get hit seems to be the best advice. This is a toughie as well as what to do, which way to go without making things worse. I don't like being totally defensive or totally passive. The number of rear-end impacts on this forum is alarming and significant. What do you all think about this?

Karl

[zombie]

Be prepared to let go of the bike!!!!!!!!!!!
I can not say that enough times. LET IT GO. The little side step that bull fighters use comes in handy.
Most people have the instinct of grabbing on for dear life. That's what gets them hurt. That bike will at best rip your arms out. At worst... break your spine. You're better off on the cars hood watching your bike bounce down the road.

Now lets just say the driver does stop just as you let the bike fall over, and you are mid Pirouette.
Not an issue... You will end up facing them dead on, and your next step is directly at them.
They are stuck behind your road block, and are prime candidates for a zombie snack.
Maybe you get a few buck for repairs, and a handful of brain matter. Better than thinking it will be just fine if I sit here holding on.

In my early twenties I saw a car I was drag racing, coming up behind me several blocks after the fact. It was an intersection of GunHill Road in the Bronx. The guy was all over the road, and still doing 60something. I KNEW he was gonna hit my car.
I stepped out the drivers door, and just as I did, he NAILED the rear end. I watched my car/his car come to a stop about 100 feet from where I was standing. I lit a smoke, and asked if everyone just saw that!

I imagine it is the exact same for a scoot.

[Stig / Major Tom]

At a light, I stop to the right of the car in front and watch the car coming from my rear.
If he hits me - surely he will be going slow, as he is only feet from the car in front of me - and I will get pushed forward, to the right of the car in front of me. Not squashed between 2 cars

On an open 2 lane road, waiting to turn left - I am very aware of the cars coming behind me. If they are following too close or coming too fast I will pull away and go on down the road and find some place safer to turn.

In town, or on country highways, if someone is approaching me at speed or following too close.....I put my R blinker on, slow, pull to the right curb and stop (city) or slow and wave them around with my left hand (country).

(the local Honda mega dealer was telling me his store is just off I-75.  Not going to happen, I am not taking my scooter out into 70-80mph traffic in the winter. I'll take the country highways. 55MPH is fast enough when it is 28 degrees F.)
Stig

[AMAC1680]

I also find the number on tail end smacks on this forum alarming as they are among the statistically least common crashes. In 40 years I've been hit twice but never at a light. Only on close call years ago.

Personaly I keep an eye in the mirror and will let my finely honed skills and decision making kick in if need be. Not much different than any of the other assumed risks of riding.

Be Big,
AMAC

[BettinANDlosing]

Be prepared to let go of the bike!!!!!!!!!!!
I can not say that enough times. LET IT GO. The little side step that bull fighters use comes in handy.
Most people have the instinct of grabbing on for dear life. That's what gets them hurt. That bike will at best rip your arms out. At worst... break your spine. You're better off on the cars hood watching your bike bounce down the road.

Now lets just say the driver does stop just as you let the bike fall over, and you are mid Pirouette.
Not an issue... You will end up facing them dead on, and your next step is directly at them.
They are stuck behind your road block, and are prime candidates for a zombie snack.
Maybe you get a few buck for repairs, and a handful of brain matter. Better than thinking it will be just fine if I sit here holding on.

In my early twenties I saw a car I was drag racing, coming up behind me several blocks after the fact. It was an intersection of GunHill Road in the Bronx. The guy was all over the road, and still doing 60something. I KNEW he was gonna hit my car.
I stepped out the drivers door, and just as I did, he NAILED the rear end. I watched my car/his car come to a stop about 100 feet from where I was standing. I lit a smoke, and asked if everyone just saw that!

I imagine it is the exact same for a scoot.

Letting go crosses over ty almost all motorcycle crashes, there's no seatbelts for a reason. Let it fly and roll away. You want to get as far away from your chunk of metal as possible. This also goes for speed wobble and out of control type of situations, if you fight your bike it'll kick your ass but if you let it calm down on its own it should regain control. Idk what to say about getting rear ended at a light, i keep my lazy eye pointed at the mirror but imo by the time you noticed someone coming fast it would be too late to really do much. I usually pull up to lights as far to the right as possible, on the white line. I figure that gives me a slight edge, at lest it would be a graze instead of a dead center hit. I guess this is another reason why filtering might actually be safer than not. Idk i get on my scooter every day with that little thought in the back of my head that I could get hit today. You can accept the risk in life and move on or stay inside and never have any fun. I think the fun of riding scoots and bikes far outweighs the risk. Every one of us has the chance of dying tomorrow, but that's life!! Ha

[CROSSBOLT]

Great ideas, some of which I never considered. Maybe some of your collective good sense will rub off on the rest of us! Thanks!

Karl

[zombie]

I fell, and hurt my ear.

[TLRam1]

Now I fell and hurt my other ear.

[doxbike]

First rule, do not stop behind the light of the car in front of you-your tail light then begins to look like it belongs to that car, and, with the lack of depth perception and common sense possessed by the average cager, they mis-judge where they need to stop.
Here in California where it's legal to split traffic, I never stop behind a car at stop lights, always pull between them.
Even if you live where splitting in not allowed, you can still stop between the rear ends of the cars in front-at least you've got an out

[zombie]

"First rule, do not stop behind the light of the car in front of you-your tail light then begins to look like it belongs to that car, and, with the lack of depth perception and common sense possessed by the average cager, they mis-judge where they need to stop."

That is completely Awesome. I never realized the mechanics behind what you just said but you made it simply clear. It's one of those Head Slap moments...

[boo]

at a traffic light this past summer. Had on a flo-orange T shirt. Around $300+ damage to my scoot.
The dumb ass that hit me was driving on a revoked drivers licenses. His insurance contacted me and said they were not paying anything. Their position was that if a driver does not have a valid licenses, he, or she has no insurance.

I don't know how to defend against this but, nowdays I carry KY Jelly and or Vasoline.

[MooseMax]

The number of rear-end impacts on this forum is alarming and significant.

Call me naive, but i bet that 80-90% of rear-end collisions can be avoided by doing all of the following:

• Add additional brake / running lights, preferably high up on a top case.  The stock lights on scooters are simply too small and low to be visible.
• Flash the brake lights whenever stopping.  In other words, squeeze the brake levers, release them completely, and squeeze them again.  Flash several times when stopping suddenly, in wet weather, etc.
• Wear a white helmet with reflective tape on it, like 3M's 680 tape.  Bonus points for wearing a high-vis jacket.. or adding iron-on reflective tape to your regular jacket.
• Use LED bulbs, since they're far less prone to burning out than incandescents.

[AMAC1680]

Call me naive, but i bet that 80-90% of rear-end collisions can be avoided by doing all of the following:

• Add additional brake / running lights, preferably high up on a top case.  The stock lights on scooters are simply too small and low to be visible.
• Flash the brake lights whenever stopping.  In other words, squeeze the brake levers, release them completely, and squeeze them again.  Flash several times when stopping suddenly, in wet weather, etc.
• Wear a white helmet with reflective tape on it, like 3M's 680 tape.  Bonus points for wearing a high-vis jacket.. or adding iron-on reflective tape to your regular jacket.
• Use LED bulbs, since they're far less prone to burning out than incandescents.

No not naive.
We were thought 35 years ago to "tap" the brakes at and approaching a stop.

The top box is an interesting point. I wear all hivis but when the box is on all you see is the top of a yellow helmet. I rarely use the box but now wonder if this can add too the issue.

Be Big,
AMAC

[zombie]

I think it is more an issue of distracted drivers, than a true viability issue.

Cell phones/cd/car stereo/dvd players, GPS built into the dash where you HAVE to take your eyes off the road... We are trained to be complacent about our driving.
It's not so much a human nature topic, as it is a discussion about the people selling all this crap for a profit.
Crap that has NO business in a car.

Imagine for just a moment... Our soldiers are equipped with a cd player in their tanks... Their rifles have a built in dvd player that shines thru the optics... Part of their field pack is a cell phone...

sounds counter productive huh! Every bit as dangerous. (IMHO)

[BettinANDlosing]

Not to mention you can be half blind and half retard and get your license in an hour and $100.