What Would You Have Done: Lane Merging Edition
As motorcyclists, we’re all too familiar with car drivers merging into our lanes, seemingly blind to the fact we’re occupying the lane they are trying to merge into. But what’s proper etiquette when a two-lane road turns into one? Which order should vehicles in a double-file line let each other into a single-file line? Whatever your answer, it’s probably not what this woman was thinking as she comes from behind this motorcyclist and co-occupies the lane he’s in. He then gets upset, honks the horn a few times, gives the driver a quick lesson in merging, calls her a choice expletive then rides on.
Normally that’s where a story like this would end. Instead, he spots a police officer up ahead, flags him down, and sticks him on the car driver.
Troy's been riding motorcycles and writing about them since 2006, getting his start at Rider Magazine. From there, he moved to Sport Rider Magazine before finally landing at Motorcycle.com in 2011. A lifelong gearhead who didn't fully immerse himself in motorcycles until his teenage years, Troy's interests have always been in technology, performance, and going fast. Naturally, racing was the perfect avenue to combine all three. Troy has been racing nearly as long as he's been riding and has competed at the AMA national level. He's also won multiple club races throughout the country, culminating in a Utah Sport Bike Association championship in 2011. He has been invited as a guest instructor for the Yamaha Champions Riding School, and when he's not out riding, he's either wrenching on bikes or watching MotoGP.
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I see a lot of differing opinions here, with truths in all. The real consideration is that when an inattentive cager causes a fender bender with another car, it's just that, usually no one gets hurt. When an inattentive or aggressive cager hits a bike the rider is getting hurt, even if only minor. So those saying just ignore them and keep yourself safe have a point in that they could easily kill you. However, the biggest problem actually seems to be lack of attention. I would gladly turn off or even just pull over to allow an aggressive driver to get ahead of me and then stay well back from them, but if it's an obvious case of inattentiveness or distracted driving I'm going to get their attention by honking, flashing light or driving up next to them to let them know they screwed up. In all cases if I spotted a patrol car I would engage them as that's what they are paid for. The police can then tackle the teaching moment. If we don't take a somewhat active roll in teaching cagers to pay attention to us there will just be more of us getting hurt or killed because they "didn't see" us.
I wish law enforcement would institute a program of allowing people to bring their video footage of dangerous driving in and have the driver ticketed.
Think like a truck driver and drive defensive. She is wrong but let her be.