11-23-2021, 03:07 AM
Scenes like this are a daily thing on my commute. I live in the "working class" part of the county, and commute toward the beach and the more ritzy homes. So, it's a daily parade of landscaping, contractor and handyman trucks, as well as beachgoers carrying barbecues and coolers in the back of open trucks. The shoulder is littered with smashed barbecues, ladders, Igloo coolers, lawn trimmers, etc. It's pretty nice to be able to come up behind something like this truck, and say "Nope, not gonna sit behind you for one second!" Most of the contractors and handymen are very attentive to motorcycles, either because they ride, or they realize that they have wide trucks that are laden with big objects, and they tend to move over quite a bit for riders.
Gold, as far as enforcement for things like this truck, keep in mind that I'm in the HOV lane. Enforcement is VERY lax on this highway... maybe every few months, they'll do targeted enforcement of the HOV, with motor CHP guys riding up alongside of cars and peeking inside. If this was one of those days, they'd probably snag this guy for an unsafe load.
To j3gq's point, red light "rear defense" is important. We have the option to "filter" in California, which is moving between cars to the front of an intersection at a red light. I don't do that very often, but there are a few places on my commute where it's common for cars to come up to an intersection at high speed, particularly the first traffic light off of a freeway. In cases like that, I'll use this tactic if I've got room, and it will avoid making me the last guy in line with fast cars coming up from behind. When I don't do this, I'll stay to one side of the lane and keep an eye on the mirror. When a car comes up from behind, I'll blip the brakes. Since I've got my helmet-mounted light now as well, I'll give my head a shake to light that up. With two alternately flashing LED strips, a taillight, and a helmet light, I can make the back of my bikes light up like a small fire truck.
Gold, as far as enforcement for things like this truck, keep in mind that I'm in the HOV lane. Enforcement is VERY lax on this highway... maybe every few months, they'll do targeted enforcement of the HOV, with motor CHP guys riding up alongside of cars and peeking inside. If this was one of those days, they'd probably snag this guy for an unsafe load.
To j3gq's point, red light "rear defense" is important. We have the option to "filter" in California, which is moving between cars to the front of an intersection at a red light. I don't do that very often, but there are a few places on my commute where it's common for cars to come up to an intersection at high speed, particularly the first traffic light off of a freeway. In cases like that, I'll use this tactic if I've got room, and it will avoid making me the last guy in line with fast cars coming up from behind. When I don't do this, I'll stay to one side of the lane and keep an eye on the mirror. When a car comes up from behind, I'll blip the brakes. Since I've got my helmet-mounted light now as well, I'll give my head a shake to light that up. With two alternately flashing LED strips, a taillight, and a helmet light, I can make the back of my bikes light up like a small fire truck.