SPRING!

“Sorry mate, I didn’t see you”

… or ‘SMIDSY’ for short…

It’s true in what they say though, these motorists DO look for you, they just genuinely don’t ‘see’ you until it’s too late.

But why is that? We have stats, theories and plenty of pub arguments which have searched for the answer. Some swear by Hi-Viz aids, others merely on the colour of your crash helmet…but one thing is certain, unless you anticipate other motorists at a junction you are making yourself a target. Treat other road users as if they haven’t seen you and that they will pull out on you and little will happen that’ll give you cause for concern. And if they do pull out on you at least you can be smug about it and get away with just a knowing grin and an ‘I knew you were going to do that’ thought to yourself.

Now that Spring is upon us and we’ve had a few sunny days I’ve noticed an increase in riders riding around with main beam switched on. It’s not by accident they are under the impression that by dazzling other road users they’re making them aware of their presence. But apart from being anti-social (I like my retinas unburnt thank you!) you’re actually causing yourself more grief by doing this. The problem with the main beam is that it distorts the distance you appear to be away from something. For example, although a motorist waiting to turn right out of a junction will see you nice and early (this is the argument), you will appear further away than you actually are and lull the motorist into thinking they have more time then they actually do to pull out….the consequences are self–explanatory, so have a serious think if you are one of those on main beam permanently.