Night Rider

NIGHT RIDER

How Do You Signal Truckers? What Kind of Glasses Should You Wear? How Do You Spot Vehicles Behind A Hill? You’re Not Required To Know These Things To Ride A Motorcycle At Night, But Wouldn’t You Be Better Off If You Did?

STUART MUNRO

Mr. Munro is chief instructor of motorcycle courses, Ottawa Safety Council.

NEARLY MIDNIGHT. A seized engine. I guess I must have looked disconsolate under the neon lights with my helmet over my left arm and my right thumb asking a question, because he braked and pulled in.

“You’re obviously in trouble,” he grinned.

I nodded. “I guess. But right now I just need a lift home. I’ll come back for the pieces tomorrow.”

“Where to?” he asked, and when I told him, he smiled again. “Good. Take you right to your door. Climb aboard.” I pulled the pegs down and straddled the Twin, buckling on my helmet and adjusting goggles as he ran up through the gears. My benefactor used a lot of road, drove hard and seemed to play a lot with his dimmer switch when we passed other traffic.

The first big diesel we caught belching along at about 60 set the pattern. We stayed a long way behind it for a spell, passed it in a flash, and cut back in faster than I would have dared. But it was only after we had passed a half dozen of the big rigs that I became aware of a pattern. We would close to about 200 feet and drop down a cog; then our headlight would flick “High, Low, High, Low,” and this signal was invariably repeated by the trucker. While he was answering, we were accelerating hard and slipping into top effortlessly, arcing out in a long sweeping curve and switching to high beam as soon as we were level with the cab. Then, almost before we had gone more than a truck length, the diesel would flick to low beam and we would immediately cut in to the right.

It finally hit me. Without saying a word, we were communicating fluently with the truckers. We opened the conversation by saying, “We’re right behind you-do you mind if we pass?” The usual answer was, “Come on through, the road’s clear.” When we were level with the truck, we would say, “I’m right beside you, and here’s some more light.” Then, when the truck driver figured we were far enough ahead to cut in, he would signal, “Don’t stay out there too long. It’s OK to move over.”

I had learned more about night driving in an hour than in five years on the road, including a fair amount at night; but more was to come. We pulled into the parking area of a restaurant and dismounted.

. “How about a coffee?” asked my companion.

“Let me buy you one,” I answered, and we went inside.

When I got back to the table with the coffee, I noticed he was wearing a pair of dark sunglasses. “Thanks for picking me up,” I said. “The roads are pretty empty at this time of night, and I didn’t have too much hope of a lift, unless someone felt charitable.”

He smiled. “I know, and that’s exactly why I always travel at night. I service six microwave stations, each about 120 miles apart; by traveling at night I can put an easy 600 miles in a day, get my head down for seven hours in a motel, and put in about five hours work on equipment. Look at the advantages. There are very few vehicles on the road, and those who are-the truckers-are real professionals. Not only that, you can spot other vehicles a mile off in any direction. How many times have you had the shock of your life in broad daylight, when some clown whipped past you without any warning?”

“Yeah,” I nodded, remembering the Super Belchfire Eight who had appeared out of nowhere that morning. He must have been doing over a hundred, the son of a-yeah, I nodded.

“Mind you,” he went on, “there are disadvantages. Your night vision is only about 17 percent of your day perception; it takes an hour or more for your eyes to adjust to the dark; and your ability to distinguish contrast is reduced by a whopping 85 percent. Judgment of speeds and distances is way off, too; your depth perception takes a beating; and if you don’t wear sunglasses when you stop for coffee, your eyes take a long time to readjust to the dark when you hit the road again.”

“And I thought you were traveling incognito,” I laughed.

“It looks a bit odd, but I don’t mind. The eyes work like an automatic camera, and the irises open and close with light changes, and this can lead to real trouble if you’re not careful. For the same reason, you should wear good quality sunglasses during a bright day before night driving.”

“What about night driving glasses?” “If you mean the ones with the bright yellow lenses, I’m not in favor,” he replied “They’re not really night driving glasses, although that’s what the auto accessory stores call them. Skeet shooters wear them for the terrific increase in contrast they give, and I find them very effective on a dull day or at dusk. But tinted glass cuts down light transmission, and plastic should be avoided at all costs. Plastic scratches easily, and if an approaching car stays on high beam, scratched lenses are about as safe as a loaded gun.”

I said I’d noticed that a number of cars stayed on high beam, and even if they dimmed their brights, it didn t seem to cut down the glare noticeably.

“Well,” he said, ‘I've thought about it, and I think that when some of them see a cycle approaching, they figure us for a one-eyed car. I guess a few of them get mad enough to stay on high beam. You'll notice I use bright amber clearance lights fairly widely spaced, front and rear, and Tve found that this does help to identify me. But as you say, most low beams can be nearly as bad as high. I reckon four out of five cars have never had their lights adjusted, and no one seems to make any changes for a heavy load in the trunk. Of course, we can’t throw too many stones, because many motorcycles are just as bad. The strange part is that your lights lose about a third of their effectiveness if they are as little out of alignment as half a degree.”

I whistled. “You don’t have too much going for you if your lights are way off, and you're wearing a tinted tai e-shield ”

“No,” he answered, “and add normal tain and dust scum, and you’ve just lost another 50 percent of your lighting efficiency.”

“Man,” I breathed, “you’re scaring me.”

“That’s not a bad way to drive—as long as you don’t get overly cautious,” he replied. “Most of our laws limit headlights to 75.000 candlepower, and that's strictly horse and buggy stuff. The average family sedan on high beam lights up tue road for about 275 feet.” “That’s if his lights are clean, and in proper adjustment,” I pointed out.

-, “Right,” he said. “And the same car traveling at 70 mph takes about 315 feet to stop, under the best conditions.” “But that means he’s blind for...”

1 Forty feet,” he said ‘ The frightening part is that very few drivers realize this Some ot them don’t care, and maybe one in a hundred has any idea what these distances actually look like on the road. Everybody should know what 45 feet looks like on the ground, because this is the reaction and stopping distance from 30 mph. And we should all have an impression of what 240 feet looks like, because this is roughly how long it takes to stop from 60 mph.” “Well, you shouldn’t have any trou ble seeing and stopping in time with the lights you’ve got,” I said.

“They’re quartz iodine car units I converted,” he replied. “I have one in the headlamp shell, and one mounted low down on the right. (Note These units are illegal in most U.S. states, but are included for their Canadian application. Ed.) Naturally, I keep them clean and in correct adjustment. Blinding someone else can be suicide, and in any case, we cyclists can't afford to annoy automobiles. Badly adjusted main beams anger other road users just as much as unnecessary noise, and all cyclists take the rap for it Besides, the guy you rile might be a local wheel respon°ible for proposing legislation ” “But what about the nut who refuses to dim9” I asked. “Don’t you ever feel like really teaching him a lesson9 ’

“Yes, I do. But a highway is no place for it. With two of you blind, it's like playing Russian roulette. If I’m blinded, I stay on low beam and use my auxiliary driving light which is aimed down the right shoulder of the road. (Check the legality of non-standard and auxiliary lights before using them. Ed.) It doesn’t interfere with the othei guy, and lets me see where I'm going Dazzle is a killer, and you should never look directly at approaching lights, keep your gaze on the right of the road and squint. Don't close one eye; because you lose depth perception. And if you can’t see, slow down and stop, but make sure there isn’t someone behind you because the odds are that he’s blind, too. He might be blinded enough not to see you ”

“I thought that auxiliary yea have was a fog lamp,” I said

“Not really. But I use it as one in addition to the use I’ve told you about The experts still argue about the degrees of efficiency of various types of fog lamps. But they all agree on the position-very low. When it’s foggy. I mask the upper half of mine to cut down the feedback from the glare ”

“My lights are so dim,” I complained “Yes,” he said. “This is common In rain or high humidity, moisture gets irto the shell, and before you know it you’ve lost that mirror finish Get yourself a new unit, and either press plasticine into the joint between the chrome rim and the shell, or cut yourself a rubber band an inch wide out of an old inner tube and stretch that over the joint. Either way you get a watertight seal, but make sure the breathing hole at the bottom of the shell isn’t blocked ”

I called for two more coffees, and asked him to go on.

“Well,” he continued “there are all kinds of gimmicks and wrinkles. You probably know most of them. For instance, I always double check stop and taillights before a night trip, and I carry a complete set of spare bulbs taped inside the headlamp shell. My stoplight works before the brake does, so I can tell a guy right on my tail that he’s too close. Make sure all your switches are in good shape, especially your dimmer switch. I lemember once in rain when I was in a huiry and really hustling. I was approaching the crest of a hill, and I flicked my dimmer to warn anyone on the other side that I was coming, and every damned light 1 had went out. Nothing. And not a light for miles Just me and the bike in pitch darkness, and I was moving at what is technically known as a fair lick. 1 switched back to main beam in a hurry, and fortunately it worked.”

“I can see why you check and double check,” I said.

‘ And check every time I stop,” he replied. “But there’s one thing just as important as being able to see at night.” ‘What’s that?” I asked.

‘ Being seen, day or night, but especially at night. One of the big problems we have is that many car drivers don t seem to be aware of us often until it’s too late. I suspect it s because most of them aren’t looking for us. They’re in a car environment, and they’re looking for cars and trucks. We just don’t seem to figure in their calculations. And we are a small target, and automobiles have a lot of blind spots. I often think one of those reflective jackets worn by hunters and survey crews might be a good investment after the sun goes down.

“Just a week oí so ago, I was traveling down an unlit road in rain with a lot of traffic approaching me, most of the cars with their lights out of whack There was a lot of dazzle and reflections of light bouncing off the wet road. I nearly didn’t see a youngster on my side of the road He had been traveling in the same direction as me, and had stopped close to the white line to make a left turn, which he was signaling. But he was on a little two-stroke, his battery was low, his engine was id.’mg -just giving a faint glow to his taillight and he was wearing dark clothes and a black helmet. If a car coming from behind had hit him and driven him into the oncoming traffic man!”

“What did you do?” I asked him.

“Well, I stopped behind him and put my flashers on, and I shouted that he was hard to see.”

‘ What did you do?” I asked.

He smiled. “He told me to get lost But just for the heck of it, one night, get a friend to wear the clothes you normally wear, and ask him to sit on your bike with the lights on and the engine idling. Then walk behind him and take a good look at yourself at various distances. You may get quite a shock.”

“See and be seen,” I mused.

“It’s a good motto,” he replied. “I use a lot of reflective tape, and I even put it on the back of my mitts so that when I give signals they’re easily seen. Your life depends on being seen.”

“But it could be that a guy who doesn’t see you is suffering from highway hypnosis,” I suggested. .

“Could be,” he said. “I’ve almost gone to sleep driving a car, and that’s one thing you’ll never do on a motorcycle. But if a guy should wander onto your half of the road at 70 or so, you should have some idea of what you’re going to do. loo many accidents happen because drivers are faced with a situation they’ve never had to deal with before. I have an idea that the mind refuses to work, or they run through a number of possible solutions and by the time they’ve selected their answer-too late.”

“Well, what do you do?” I asked.

“You don't slam on your brakes, because you might need some speed. Ease off on the gas, and keep flicking your lightshe could be asleep, or drunk. Start selecting an escape road to your right. If you go to his side of the road, he may swing back and then you’re in real trouble. Now when I say don’t go to the left, I could be wrong, because it might be the only place left one day. And while you’re driving, constantly look for an out. Leave yourself margin for error-their error -because you can’t afford mistakes.

4 Pick a quiet road early one Sunday morning, and practice running out of road. Start at low speeds and gradually work the pace up until you can take off into the boondocks at highway speeds without losing any teeth. And think about it all the time.”

I finished my coffee. “There’s one thing that really scares me,” I said thoughtfully, “and you’ve just covered it. Some drunk screaming over the brow of a hill on my part of the road. And the drunks are usually out at night.”

“I think you’re a lot better off at night than by day,” he answered. “At night you can see the halo of approaching car lights above hill crests, and it’s amazing how far away you can spot headlights reflected on the underside of phone cables. But I never worry about drunks.”

“How’s that'*” I asked him.

“The drunk drives erratically,” he said. “He brakes a lot, weaves all over the road and often leans on the horn. You can spot a soak a mile away, and you can usually give him a wide berth. The one to watch is the real killer, and that’s the average Joe who’s just had a couple of drinks, and who’s convinced that his reflexes are faster and that there’s no situation he can’t handle.”

I nodded. “I see what you mean. I have friends who claim they drive better if they’ve had one or two drinks.”

“Yes,” he replied, “and they probably do-most of the time. The trouble with driving and being under the influence of alcohol or drugs is that you can get sudden and violent changes in your capabilities. One night you might be able to handle half a dozen beers with little or no change in your faculties, and the next night one beer can cause a momentary blackout or put the brain cogs out of mesh-and it need only be for an instant. The reason depends on so many things, such as how long since you’ve eaten, what you’ve been eating, how tired you are, your mental attitude and so on.”

“Yeah,” I said, “but we’ve got laws about this.”

“Not with any teeth,” he went on. “Two whiskies in one hour will raise the alcohol blood content to about .05 percent. The critical level for most people is .08 percent, but most of our states, those that actually have laws about this, give the limit as . 15 percent. In any case, we repealed the Volstead Act and the car is part of our way of life. I’m afraid it’s the God-given right of every North American to drink and drive, and I’ll give odds that the drivers Of one third of the cars you’ll meet after 11 p.m. are under the influence of alcohol to some degree. One of the automobile associations handed out a blurb on how to drive safely after drinking!”

“You’re kidding,” I said.

“No,” he answered. “It’s quite true. In Saudi Arabia, it’s been reported that drunken drivers have been shot out of hand. Now while that may seem to be pretty strong, they do have some effective legislation about drunks and driving in Denmark. A drunk with an ignition key in his possession is liable to prosecution, and if he can’t pass a physical and mental examination including urine and blood tests, his head is on the block. And they don’t play around either. Conviction means a mandatory jail sentence and license suspension—two weeks in jail and two and a half years for the first offence. They hit them harder and harder if they don’t shape up, and for the fourth conviction it’s three months in jail and loss of license for life."

“Well,” I said, “I’ll sure as heck exercise more care at night.”

“You can never tell,” he said. “I treat them all as drunks after dark.”

I told him how I had caught on to his passing technique, but couldn’t understand why he waited some way back, instead of overtaking immediately if the road was clear.

“Simple,” he answered. “First of all, by pausing at his speed, I can tell how fast he’s going. Remember how I told you about your judgment being out at night?” I nodded. “Secondly, the further I am behind him, within reason, the more I’m able to see of the road ahead. Finally, if I’m going to pull out at his speed and slowly accelerate past him, I’m increasing my time in a dangerous part of the road. And seconds count. You should pass as quickly as possible. This is why the acceleration times of vehicles are vitally important, and the most critical of these is from 40 mph to 70 mph.”

“Then fitting speed governors, as some legislators have proposed, is not a good idea?” I asked.

“It will probably kill more people than a war,” he answered. “I’d like to see one of these self-styled safety experts travel coast to coast with a governor fitted to his car. I suspect you wouldn’t hear any more nonsense about speed controls. You see, they are trying to reduce speed, and they are confusing speed with dangerous driving.

“Speed does not kill, and it’s not a sign on the side of the road. Speed depends on so many things-your ability; the condition and design of your vehicle; visibility; traffic speed and density; road surface and environmental factors. I saw a guy last winter traveling in the city at 30 mph and he should have lost his license for life. He was on glare ice on a street with no sidewalk, and little children were walking to school beside him. But he was complying with the letter of the law. No, speed is a motorcyclist traveling at 20 mph in traffic moving at 10 mph or at 20 in traffic moving at 40. I think we need to read something else for speed, and I think the answer is education and not legislation.”

“I had a friend,” I said, “who talked about the only effective laws being natural laws.”

“That’s right,” he smiled. “And it’s a natural law that if you overtake where you shouldn’t, or travel faster than your environment allows, you’ll end up in a casket, and long before your time.”

I paid for the coffee, and we walked thoughtfully out to the bike. He removed his sunglasses, switched on the lights, and slowly walked round the cycle, checking. He didn’t miss a trick. He cleaned his goggles and the lights while we gassed up, and I insisted on paying. And then away with the miles sliding effortlessly under us.

When we pulled up beside the driveway, I could see Karen’s anxious face, and I suddenly realized that I had completely forgotten to call her. I waved, and she grinned like a tomboy. I exchanged addresses and phone numbers with the maestro, and thanked him for the lift-and the lesson.