SPEED STRATEGY: Rule 3
Rule 3: Go with the flow.
In urban and suburban areas, match speed and acceleration to the flow of traffic.
The Tempo of Traffic
Traffic flows in a rhythm governed by street layout, surroundings, vehicles, and drivers. In the city, cross-traffic and parking create friction that keeps speeds down. Trucks accelerate slowly and may stop unexpectedly for a pickup or delivery. Drivers can be unpredictable as they search for their destination. Factors like these drive the tempo of traffic. Motorists recognize the tempo, which creates expectations about speed, and those expectations limit what they see.
Where drivers are accustomed to seeing traffic moving within a normal range of speeds, they may make decisions based on expectations rather than estimations. Waiting to turn left, a driver scans for interfering traffic, but he can't see everything at once. Vehicles may be approaching from three directions--left, right, and oncoming--so he divides his attention as well as he can. Glancing left to check for traffic, he doesn't regard the motorcycle he sees a half-block away as a threat. He doesn't judge its speed, but he has come to expect that a vehicle at that distance won't interfere with his turn. So he completes his checks and pulls into the intersection. However, if the motorcycle was doing double the normal speed and is now just a few feet away, his decision to make the turn was horribly wrong.
Unlike a car, a motorcycle isn't constrained by the flow of traffic, and when you're stuck amid an oozing mass of steel, the bike's maneuverability and performance tempt you to just give the bars a quick yank, gas it, and go. But the speed it attains so quickly may be incompatible with the prevailing tempo. Because other motorists don't expect high speed, it creates conflicts that are usually resolved in favor of a bigger, heavier vehicle.
Riding in Synchrony
Where population and traffic density are high and drivers are focused on their errands, a motorcycle can go unnoticed among the many targets competing for attention. But if you're riding in synchrony, integrated with the flow of traffic, distracted fellow motorists can more easily accommodate your actions.
- Match speed to traffic. You become part of the flow at a speed other motorists expect.
- Match acceleration to traffic. At maximum acceleration, a motorcycle can cover ground in half the time as a car, so a hard launch into open space after clearing a snag can surprise the driver of a crossing vehicle who expects a clear path.
- Look for pathological traffic flow and don't make it worse with your own excessive speed. Construction, a traffic accident, or a double-parked delivery truck interrupts the normal flow and drivers don't know what to expect. Even a normally attentive driver can make a hairball move in an awkward situation.
These rules don't supersede common practices that can keep you safe. Going slightly faster than adjacent traffic limits your exposure to blind spots. At 5mph faster--
not 20mph--you reduce an obvious risk while staying within the range of other drivers' expectations. And briefly accelerating to free yourself from a knot of traffic reduces another obvious risk. But when you reach the open space, resume normal speed. For the moment anyway, you're in a safer spot clear of traffic. You'll be in sync with the flow of traffic but not surrounded by it.
By riding in synchrony with the traffic flow you become more predictable. Other motorists know where you are and where you're going to be, so they can make good decisions. And their good decisions will keep you safer.
5/28/10--rewritten.
