Quote:
Originally Posted by freebeard
I'm riding a bicycle through those intersections now. I would appreciate a roll cage around me. I'd probably add an pyramidal anti-intrusion bar on the left.
I'm looking at reliable vs a 40-year-old VW.
The two unhidden comments on the Jalopnik article were nice enough.
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A Sermon to the Choir:
If it’s available for you to rent, I for one would be damned fascinated for your take (hell, any vehicle).
Rhetorically, what’s the main re-supply route? (meaning, type of roads: paved shoulders; designation-type, etc). Exposure times, speeds, and distances. This is crucial to the following as higher speed roads have different rules:
A). Lighting
Something I see with increased regularity (I run US from Denver east & south) are the use of LED flashers/strobes on vehicles not once assumed to have such. Think high & low, all directions, but minimal number. Don’t necessarily have to be “on”.
Then there are undercarriage lamp kits. Idea here is to emphasize vehicle dimensions. My TT may have these after updates.
Motorcycle brake light flashers are attention-getter. (Short -Short -On). Same as with at least two turn signals obvious from rear & side & front. (Big truck trailer that are raised — globe —but tiny. Choice range great).
Finest grade 3M conspicuity tape is an absolute. Many types (colors; black, but yellow when illuminated, etc). Study up. NHTSA has commercial vehicle rules. What CALDOT uses for rolling work crews. You’ll see the logic. High/low, bow/stern, etc. Road type and speed limits. A Type III safety vest is not at all a bad idea. It’s obvious to me from a distance when a backhoe operator is trundling along the roadside.
If it were that Harry James & Buddy Rich in the 1956 recording, “Barn 12”, suddenly kicked into mind as pacing of decisions became critical, THAT’S where attention-getting devices allow me to decrease watching other traffic (all hands & feet already engaged) to focus on road-holding (sudden heavy rain). Literally, the road surface. Vision has been re-prioritized to a single task: what the Steer Axle is about to encounter.
A controlled stop isn’t a given. Free from being hit or not.
(Ha! If ones internal audio lands on their, “Cotton Pickin’” , might be time to bail).
B). Vision Aids
There’s no substitute for great mirrors:
1). Tall flat glass (tells me about overtaking traffic). Adjust that to split the horizon at center.
2). Wide convex (can’t move either direction without). Ones vehicle size doesn’t have much to do with that sizing. CIPA 49504 Convex a minimum; 4”x8”.
Think, “West Coast Mirrors”, and it’s on the right track
You’ve noted that today school & shuttle buses utilize a starboard front fender convex. An eye. These are REALLY useful. As a type, when one begins a turn to port. We none of us quit checking all quarters until lane-centered.
We all of us also have the tendency to imagine “little” means point & squirt. As when we were children (motorcycle appeal AND problem ). We will be gone before the problem gets more than hazy (uh, yeah)
Mirrors are real time with no interpretation necessary (the insurmountable camera problem).
C). Example
It’s my opinion that it’s easiest to miss that traffic out front that is from directly to starboard amidships forward to the bow. They also need to see twin signals. Insurance with lamps & tape, and
too many damned mirrors is about right.
Fewest motions. What’s within peripheral vision without head turning?
During a turn is just as necessary.
I don’t want to stop for the damned dog that’s come out into the road at an intersection where I’m making a turn to port . . . so I can’t afford to not know what’s in the blind area (it’s more than a spot) to get around it. But which direction, more left or right to take full advantage of vehicle size & dynamics? Split-second decision.
It’s also a dominant eye question. Compensate.
The anti-intrusion bar sounds great. In this I’ve added to that concept (will also help with fault determination).
D). Audio Warning
This isn’t entirely tongue-in-cheek: I once had an apartment over a garage situated so that sounds in a leafy residential neighborhood could be located at distance. The regular ice cream vendor played an endless loop synthesized, “Pop Goes the Weasel”. Hated it. But you knew he was around. And, where.
When
freebeard rounds the corner to begin his boulevard promenade — hat tips to all the ladies, nods to the gentlemen — what is his accompaniment? (Since I’m on Harry James this morning, his, “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans” has legs. Something that swings, but at a walking pace. That’s what draws the smiles).
The old man had Buick’s then Cadillacs from his late thirties until his expiration date was exceeded more than forty years later. I’ve ordered from EBay two sets of the GM Four-Note horn sets for the son & I. One can modulate the signal (duration against amplitude) with relays & oversized wiring. (The amp draw is severe). One mounts these in body cavities. ,
Resonance is the thing, the 120dB SPL is secondary. Low speeds & old folks hearing is why I mention it. It’s forte is as the
thru town express. L
(Remember the folk wisdom about f’n Cadillac drivers thinking they own the road? This is the missing detail. The backstory to the use of a high compression V8 when others are struggling with momentum running straight 8’s and 6’s: If you don’t know the rules governing the big road, get out of the way. Thus, “Welcome to Texas!” in the good old days. Next step up is a 200-mph Bonanza as it’s a helluva big place).
As I asked above (will the damned thing get used) that which reduces the work load should be strongly considered. Fewest inputs of the shortest duration & degree due to attention-maximization and CONSTANT information flow. No breaks.
We be glidin’, ain’t gonna be no slidin’.
Good luck
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