Visibility

[Rebel73_imp]

Yah,

my guess is that when a bike is parked too deep in the spot, from their vantage point, a driver might assume the spot is empty and just swing into the spot and WHAM.

Dollars to donuts that's what happened in the above unfortunate scenario.

You owe us some doughnuts. Turns out its a freak accident involving two other vehicles. The one that hit the bike was turning into the spot next to the bike when he was hit from behind by another vehicle, which pushed the vehicle into the bike and rider. It wasn't a 'traditional' parking lot but rather angled spots on a street.

All the visibility in the world wouldn't have helped in this case; sometimes it's just bad luck. The gentleman's head and chest were pinned between the vehicle that hit him and another parked vehicle and he couldn't breathe. His helmet saved his head from being crushed.

You owe us some doughnuts. Turns out its a freak accident involving two other vehicles. The one that hit the bike was turning into the spot next to the bike when he was hit from behind by another vehicle, which pushed the vehicle into the bike and rider. It wasn't a 'traditional' parking lot but rather angled spots on a street.

All the visibility in the world wouldn't have helped in this case; sometimes it's just bad luck. The gentleman's head and chest were pinned between the vehicle that hit him and another parked vehicle and he couldn't breathe. His helmet saved his head from being crushed. Alright, Krispy Kreme all around.

[MikeD_imp]

I have been parking my bike across the back of the stall when I have to park in a stall. I figure that folks are less likely to run into it if the entire flank of the bike is visible to the driver. Also, it's easier to exit the spot. With two bikes, I try to stagger them with one in the front right and the other in the rear left of the stall. I figure that the rearmost bike would be more visible to cars coming from the right of the stall (the typical flow). I reverse this if the traffic is coming from the left.

Looking for a high viz vest. Thanks for the tip, ferret/guth

I picked up one at Northern Tool and Equipment last week for $20. -zip front with reflective material. The sizes are a little different. I wear an XL AGV Sport jacket (leather with armor), and the medium hi viz vest fit right over it. It's snug enough so that it doesn't flap around, but still easy to zip.

[AzBob_imp]

Yah,

my guess is that when a bike is parked too deep in the spot, from their vantage point, a driver might assume the spot is empty and just swing into the spot and WHAM.

Dollars to donuts that's what happened in the above unfortunate scenario.

You owe us some doughnuts. Turns out its a freak accident involving two other vehicles. The one that hit the bike was turning into the spot next to the bike when he was hit from behind by another vehicle, which pushed the vehicle into the bike and rider. It wasn't a 'traditional' parking lot but rather angled spots on a street.

All the visibility in the world wouldn't have helped in this case; sometimes it's just bad luck. The gentleman's head and chest were pinned between the vehicle that hit him and another parked vehicle and he couldn't breathe. His helmet saved his head from being crushed.

You owe us some doughnuts. Turns out its a freak accident involving two other vehicles. The one that hit the bike was turning into the spot next to the bike when he was hit from behind by another vehicle, which pushed the vehicle into the bike and rider. It wasn't a 'traditional' parking lot but rather angled spots on a street.

All the visibility in the world wouldn't have helped in this case; sometimes it's just bad luck. The gentleman's head and chest were pinned between the vehicle that hit him and another parked vehicle and he couldn't breathe. His helmet saved his head from being crushed. Alright, Krispy Kreme all around.

You owe us some doughnuts. Turns out its a freak accident involving two other vehicles. The one that hit the bike was turning into the spot next to the bike when he was hit from behind by another vehicle, which pushed the vehicle into the bike and rider. It wasn't a 'traditional' parking lot but rather angled spots on a street.

All the visibility in the world wouldn't have helped in this case; sometimes it's just bad luck. The gentleman's head and chest were pinned between the vehicle that hit him and another parked vehicle and he couldn't breathe. His helmet saved his head from being crushed. Alright, Krispy Kreme all around.
Woo-hoo!

I neglected to mention I agree whole-heartily with your advice; I always park my bike toward the front of a space so a person in an automobile has a better chance of seeing it before whipping into the space thinking it's empty.

[Guth_imp]

I gave up on looking cool long ago. (Okay, I gave up on trying to look cool — I've never actually looked cool.) I suppose that by now the hi-viz vest and white helmet combo has become my signature look, lol.

Any time I witness the impact of hi-viz gear first hand: whenever it catches my eye as worn by another motorcyclist, or a bicyclist or even a jogger for that matter, I find it easy to renew my dedication to my increased visibility.

Like others, I too avoid pulling deep into parking spaces.

[Frulk_imp]

Also, how about not parking the bike so deep into the parking spot? Maybe line it up more with the tails of adjacent vehicles?

This is very important. I not only park at the outside edge of the parking spot so the bike will be spotted right away, I park at the edge of the lot where no one wants to park. Not only does the walk do me good, the bike really is noticeable and therefore less likely to be accidentally hit. It's also the place I park any vehicle I'm driving, my vehicles stay looking like new.

Same here. After having 2-3 vehicles damaged (The last one to the tune of $600+) in parking lots with the perps just driving off and leaving no contact info I park on the perimeter of lots. Been doing it for years. Only High Viz I wear is a Fluorescent Yellow ADV helmet. I have a big head so that's a LOT of Yellow.