Care on wet roads

[minieggroll]

lol so it's been a hard learning curve for me. Started riding in Feb and managed to lay the bike down twice already. Both times in very, very wet conditions. This time, it was raining hard, and I arrived at a red light camera intersection. Tried to stop, but bike ended up sliding.

Slid about 30 ft on the right side and snapped the weld on my exhaust :skull: Thankfully, I was wearing all my gear and only ended up with light scratches on my knee.

I've been trying to avoid the rain but these weathermen in Ohio are killing me. 10% of rain predicted and it ends up storming all afternoon lol.

[mole2]

Remember that the first few minutes of a rain will raise oil and other slipper debris. Once that washes off the surface things settle down better but you must be aware of the lines painted on the road and tar snakes as they are as slippery as ice. Don't try to take off too fast and don't approach a traffic light hot expecting to stop short. Weather is what it is and you do get caught in rain.

[Water Warrior 2]

Rain can hurt you. No doubt about it. Wait till the roads wash off as mentioned. Highways aren't as bad as city streets with more oil and slime being lifted up by the rain. Painted lines are even slippery when they are dry.

[greatmaul]

So glad to hear you weren't injured. The one time I drove off the side of the road and almost into some trees and barbed wire, it was raining and I was freaking out about leaning the bike over. Since then, I've been afraid to ride in the rain, but I did pick up my new (1992) bike during a storm and I was ok.

Those red light cameras cause their own sets of problems, too. If I know there's a camera, I instinctively hit the brakes hard, even sometimes if I might have made it through the yellow.

[Water Warrior 2]

Two thoughts about red light cameras:
#1 they are revenue generators
#2 they cause more accidents
I got a red light award rather than hit the binders and have some one following me hit me and help me across the intersection. That was my one and only fine in decades of riding/driving. I would what it costs to process a $167 fine?

[minieggroll]

lol yeah I've gotten a ticket before at a red light camera in my cage for the same reason. It's just for our bikes, especially in really wet conditions, we can be at the awkward place where it's almost impossible to brake on time but also don't have enough speed/power to run it and make it before it turns red.

[Water Warrior 2]

Originally Posted by minieggroll

lol yeah I've gotten a ticket before at a red light camera in my cage for the same reason. It's just for our bikes, especially in really wet conditions, we can be at the awkward place where it's almost impossible to brake on time but also don't have enough speed/power to run it and make it before it turns red.

It's called planning ahead and paying attention to things. I got my award by not paying attention to the lights until it was too late. If I had anticipated a yellow light I would have slowed and not been in a position to surprise the cage behind me if I grabbed the brakes. My bad.

[Skunkhome]

Originally Posted by Water Warrior

Two thoughts about red light cameras:
...
#2 they cause more accidents
...

much to my surprise statistics from local cameras do no support your second statement in my area. Accidents have actually decreased by 18%. It could be that all the locals are aware of the cameras and drive through the intersections accordingly. Now your first statement is absolutely correct. I know that they are raking in a ton on right hand turns on red across service roads (a local violation most drivers are ignorant of). Also right hand turns on red from the center lane of traffic.

[Water Warrior 2]

Originally Posted by Skunkhome

much to my surprise statistics from local cameras do no support your second statement in my area. Accidents have actually decreased by 18%. It could be that all the locals are aware of the cameras and drive through the intersections accordingly. Now your first statement is absolutely correct. I know that they are raking in a ton on right hand turns on red across service roads (a local violation most drivers are ignorant of). Also right hand turns on red from the center lane of traffic.

Your locals must be more law abiding than the ones I am used to dealing with. We have no cameras here but where I lived before the riders/drivers were terrible. Their lack of attention and knee jerk reactions were obvious to any observer with an eye for safety. I'm sure the accident rate has gone down over time but initially the cameras were like playing with a loaded gun in traffic. A lot of the problem is lack of attention and driver education.

[Skunkhome]

We have some of the most ignorant drivers in the world and the problem is exasperated by the fact that we have an infrastructure that is about 35 years behind the times.