Improving The Chances Of Not Being Rear Ended
- Thread starter George7941
- Start date
Colorado has new lane filtering laws coming on line soon. They are a bit odd from how I've read them. Seems like you can filter forward under the right circumstances in the lane the cars are stopped in such as two lanes going the same direction, but not split the lanes between two lines of stopped cars. Colorado already allows going on an improved shoulder to the right to pass a stopped lane of cars and when the line starts moving filter back into line. Need more clarity on the new law.
Definitely watch the mirrors at a stop and and be ready to move in gear. Motorcycle safety 101. As is using your brake to alert others you are going to be stopping. I am not aware of a MSF course or similar that would say use a modulator with respect to alerting others around you and making presence and intentions known. I know they won't take a position on illegal headlight modulators.
You are totally incorrect. There is nothing illegal about headlight modulators. They are legal in all 50 states. If they were illegal, I'd have numerous tickets over the past 40 years, yet I've never even been stopped ONCE for it. Know the law and use it to your advantage.
https://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-headlight-modulators/
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Good post, though in regards to rear braking lights no flashing allowed, I checked everything on the DOT website, brake lights state steady burning light, though I doubt a police officer will bother someone about it unless they need an excuse to pull someone over.
Correct. The exact government regulations is.........
"Stop lamps are lamps that give a steady light to the rear of a vehicle to indicate a vehicle is stopping or diminishing speed by braking. Paragraph S7.3.5 and Table I-c of FMVSS No. 108 include the requirements relevant to this petition. Stop lamps equipped on motorcycles must be steady burning. In addition, they must be activated upon application of the service brakes or by a device designed to retard the motion of the vehicle."
However just as with my LEGAL headlight modulators, I have never been stopped for having a brake that strobes. I value my safety more than any government regulation. As for those who disagree, have you ever traveled more than the speed limit? In this case I know the law and willfully ignore it.
Some BMW cars have 'adaptive brake lights' which are basically multi-stage brake lights. Under normal braking, the regular brake lights light up, but if a certain decel threshold is exceeded, an additional set of brake lights illuminate.
In Europe, vehicles can have (possibly mandated to have?) emergency stop signals which flash the brake lights and hazards during very hard braking.
The idea is to make it easier for drivers behind you to tell when the rate of braking suddenly increases. Just having a regular brake light only indicates that the brakes are being applied, but not how hard.
I think for motorcyclists in particular, the Brake Free helmet light is the start of a good idea - having a tail/brake light mounted to the rear of the helmet increases visibility in this age of large trucks/SUV's, but I dislike the fact that it's completely independent of the bike's brake lighting. That can cause signalling conflicts where the helmet light indicates one thing but the bike indicates another.
In Europe, vehicles can have (possibly mandated to have?) emergency stop signals which flash the brake lights and hazards during very hard braking.
The idea is to make it easier for drivers behind you to tell when the rate of braking suddenly increases. Just having a regular brake light only indicates that the brakes are being applied, but not how hard.
I think for motorcyclists in particular, the Brake Free helmet light is the start of a good idea - having a tail/brake light mounted to the rear of the helmet increases visibility in this age of large trucks/SUV's, but I dislike the fact that it's completely independent of the bike's brake lighting. That can cause signalling conflicts where the helmet light indicates one thing but the bike indicates another.
I absolutely stand corrected on the headlight modulators. 
The regulations in America are like 50 years behind the technology. It’s quite pathetic.
I keep my lights stock, meaning no tiny LED assemblies to improve the looks, but are super hard to see in bright sunlight, which is quite important in the sunny states like Texas. A strobe module is helpful but I don’t use them.
Other than that I do not stop behind another vehicle where my bike is right in the middle of the lane. I keep to one side with an healthy distance and monitor my rear view mirrors.
I also try to avoid riding in the middle lane as much as possible, I either stay on the right or left lane.
I keep my lights stock, meaning no tiny LED assemblies to improve the looks, but are super hard to see in bright sunlight, which is quite important in the sunny states like Texas. A strobe module is helpful but I don’t use them.
Other than that I do not stop behind another vehicle where my bike is right in the middle of the lane. I keep to one side with an healthy distance and monitor my rear view mirrors.
I also try to avoid riding in the middle lane as much as possible, I either stay on the right or left lane.
Maine specifically allows brake light flashers. I don't like them on 4-wheeled vehicles but would grin and bear one on a biker trying to stay alive. When a car creeps forward in traffic, on and off the brake, it leads to excessive blinking. If one car does it it's annoying... if every car in a traffic jam did it it would be complete sensory overload. Maybe they could rig them to not strobe if the vehicle hasn't exceeded 20 MPH, but that would require computer logic above and beyond the very simple circuits in these things.
It seems like a giveaway to shady car dealers adding something they can get on Alibaba for a couple of bucks and charging hundreds, hacking up your wiring in the process.
It seems like a giveaway to shady car dealers adding something they can get on Alibaba for a couple of bucks and charging hundreds, hacking up your wiring in the process.
You gotta ride Early Sunday mornings back home by 9 am. .02
Owen Lucas
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I think drivingly defensively would mean what OP mentioned, drive the others around you best as you can. I've seen many accidents where the car in front of V1 swerved last minute to avoid stopped traffic (probably not paying attention) and V1 then crashes into a stopped line of vehicles. This is because V1 was a. driving too closely or too fast and b. he didn't observe traffic multiple lanes ahead. Sometimes you can't see so don't drive closely or too fast.
Of course it's impossible to 100% prevent these things but I do watch my rearview when I stop and try to get away from what appear to be reckless drivers or cell phone users.
As mentioned by others, adding a flasher circuit to your 3rd brake light or installing brighter brake bulbs (as seen on some Land Rovers) would be helpful. Heck, maybe even a 4th brake light.
