I have a survival right to go faster on the interstate.....

[HILLBILLIEBIKER]

....when on my RR because a European report on accidents states 71% were caused by bikers being overtaken by traffic. Record on bike accidents are not kept and reported in the U.S. javascript:emoticon(':shock:')
ShockedWhat do you think and what has been your experence on the interstates.

[popgazer]

Actually, most stuff I read about safety says it's safer to run slightly faster than traffic. That way you minimize getting rear-ended, and you can focus ahead. Same as spliting lane in stop-and-go traffic: you are more likely to get hit if you follow traffic then if you split between other vehicles.
I believe these observation come from (or are based on) the Hurt report Click here.
And this one about lane splitting

[peterbulgar]

I couldn't agree with you more. However, the Tennessee version of the highway patrol (State Police?) may have a different view.
Peter '73 R75/5, '04 R1150RA

[slowpoke 04]

There seems to be a lot of worry on rear end collision. The Motorcycle Safety Foundation prints in their manual that only 3% of motorcycle collisions are rear enders. The previous owner of my R has put on larger K mirrors and four of those flashing lights alot of people have on their license plate brackets to be sure they are seen. I don't get it myself, I worry about the idiot that's in front of me more. I've been riding since 1969 and have only had a rear view mirror on my bikes when I need to get a repair ticket signed off. Don't miss the mirrors and probably will take them off my R. But, you guys are scaring me.

[gel9001]

when I got into my accident a few years ago, it was a knucklehead in front of me that cut me off. Obviously wouldn't have happened if I were in front of him.
Don't just think of rear-ending as being the danger, but the stupid things drivers do in cars that are in front of you.

G

[peterbulgar]

As slowpoke pointed out, motorcycle fatalities as a result of a car running into the back of the motorcycle are probably rare. I think that the point of running slightly faster than traffic on the freeway is to find a pocket of relatively open space with few vehicles around you - freeway traffic tends to move in clumps. If you go the same speed as everyone else you have cars all around you all the time. If you go slower than the prevailing traffic, you'll have cars coming up behind you, passing, cutting in front of you, etc. - many opportunities for a mishap.

Slowpoke is not alone in his disdain for the rear view mirror. Theresa Wallach was a pioneering motorcyclist who once rode a Panther sidecar across Africa - back in the 1930's:
http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloff ... asp?id=309
She owned a BSA dealership in Chicago, and was famous for not selling a bike to a customer until she was confident of the person's riding ability. One of her hangups was the rear view mirror - she didn't believe in them. Perhaps she felt that they were distracting, perhaps she felt that a rider should really turn his head to get a clear view. In 1970 she published a book called "Easy Motorcycle Riding", and later established a motorcycle riding academy in Arizona.
Peter '73 R75/5, '04 R1150RA

[wncbmw]

I think that the point of running slightly faster than traffic on the freeway is to find a pocket of relatively open space with few vehicles around you - freeway traffic tends to move in clumps. If you go the same speed as everyone else you have cars all around you all the time. If you go slower than the prevailing traffic, you'll have cars coming up behind you, passing, cutting in front of you, etc. - many opportunities for a mishap.

That is the point I have made. In fact on the Bash thread, I said bikes should get the speed limit +15 for safety reasons. Heck, I'd ride the slab more then!

The important thing on the bike in Interstate traffic is to protect your space! That means staying out of packs and out of people's blind spots. I would bet most Interstate bike accidents are lane changes by cages onto a bike.

Also, if you are moving a little faster than traffic, you are more visible for the cagers who actually use their mirrors.

That's my story officer and I'm sticking to it!

[popgazer]

Also, if you are moving a little faster than traffic, you are more visible for the cagers who actually use their mirrors.

Yup! Since peripheral vision is best at detecting movement and is pretty lousy at image details, you better be in relative movement when you enter people's peripherial visual field to help them see you. Well, not so fast as to startle them, though.
Also, there is a seriously important factor we have to keep in mind: when something stays in the same position too long it tends to disappear. I bet alot of riders get hit by someone who has been driving behind them for a while and claims he/she didn't see the rider. There's nothing idiotic about it. It's just how the brain is wired.
See this link for motion induced blindness example

Take a look at other examples here

[rdsmith3]

Ditto what Peterbulgar and vann said.

Whenever I commute, I have to ride a lot on interstate highways. It is impossible, at least in NJ, to ride safely at the same speed as prevailing traffic. If you have any space at all between you and the vehicle in front of you, someone will try to occupy it. You will be consistently cut off. Since tailgating is not safe, the only safe way to avoid this is to be riding faster than prevailing traffic. They have to catch me to cut me off.

I use my rear view mirror to look out for LEOs. If I am doing over 80 in a 65 mph zone, I really should be checking for flashing lights, right?

[wncbmw]

If you have any space at all between you and the vehicle in front of you, someone will try to occupy it.

Bob, I am certainly not experienced in the heavy traffic some of you guys ride in. But my few times in Big City traffic, that statement certainly rings true. Years ago, I drove a girl home (in a car) from Montana to Long Island and managed to drive the Expressway at rush hour. I had faced grizzlies, forest fires, horrible storms, blizzards and various other life-threatening experiences in the previous 12 months but never feared for my life like I did on that short drive! Leave 3/4 of a car length and someone takes it!

[ebiker]

The previous owner of my R has put on larger K mirrors and four of those flashing lights alot of people have on their license plate brackets to be sure they are seen

I had that stuff on my K1200RS and on my R1150R. Didn't seem to work for me---I was rearended--twice!

I worry about the idiot that's in front of me more. I've been riding since 1969 and have only had a rear view mirror on my bikes when I need to get a repair ticket signed off. Don't miss the mirrors and probably will take them off my R. But, you guys are scaring me.

I can avoid the idiot in front of me by putting distance between him and me. I move around in my lane and I avoid the traffic herd. It's the idiot behind me who gets my blood pressure up.

Ed..

[fnfalman]

I usually do 10+ over traffic flow. That's enough to keep me ahead of the pack. Of course there will be morons out there who think that it's safe to do 120 down the freeway while the traffic is doing 80.

[Lion_Lady]

A friend actually compared riding in traffic to kayaking (which he also does fanatically)...

If you are moving at the speed of the current or slower, you are at the MERCY of the current.

To control your path of travel, you've got to go faster than the water (traffic) around you.

I find this to be VERY true, and nearly always travel at least 5+ mph faster than traffic when feasible (can be tough to do around town thru traffic signals).

P

[yjleesvrr]

Yup - I try to keep 5 mph faster than traffic around me. The only places I find this difficult to do is in Georgia, where people drive as if they're running away from a nuclear explosion