Modern Vespa

And here's a general response:

This may not be the most dangerous to life and limb, but I think the most dangerous for minor damage property and self is wherever lots of folks are moving at slower speeds and doing a lot of turning, which usually means a parking lot.

I think we all know that the most challenging scooter riding is maneuvering at slow speeds. Higher speeds, unless they're crazy high and curvy, are much easier to handle.

Then, of course, there is the explosion or urban and suburban deer...

The most dangerous part of my commute is my trip down stairs each morning. Seems my cat would love nothing more than to send me ass-over-head into the tile below early in the morning before I've had a chance to really wake up.

Yup

Seth

The first 3 miles. Two lane that is surrounded by state park and I am usually on it pre dawn or just at dawn. We have deer, turkeys, bears, boars, and the numerous opossums and armadillos.

Oh and the occasional texter or cell phone talker drifting across the line.

Maybe not, but it sure is a pain in the ass. Especially when I know damn well that it's going to melt a day or two later, anyway. I just don't want to slip and slide and really find out if my crash bars work or not. The GTV is too heavy for me to pick up, especially on ice, if I were to drop it. Not to mention embarassing by not being able to even get off my own street.

my worse parts are the ones with cars in them... at the mo im starting work at 6 and theres very few cars on the road but i do see 3 vespa ps in 3 miles .... are the cool vespa riders early risers

Anywhere I get impatient...

Anywhere there are new roadworks!

A neat game to play is to collect polo mints... ride through (both wheels) all the O's in the SLOW and BUS STOP and 0's in 30/40 roadmarkings.

If you don't have time to see and hit them then you are too close to the car in front

This was one section of my commute that was the most dangerous. It ran alongside interstate 35 and crossed 635, so there were entrances and exits, and it also ran through an industrial area with "adult entertainment" businesses in the vicinity.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSHb3WoGssI

Part 2 was also pretty dicey because of rough road and meeting gravel and cement trucks.

The most dangerous part of my daily trip on Pine Log Avenue is going through the intersection with Whiskey Road. That particular intersection is successful in living up to its name.

Crashtest,

I am not trying to lecture, beat a dead horse, or point out the obvious. However, I saw several areas where you made yourself vulnerable, when the need did not exist. Granted, I may not be seeing everything, so feel free to take this with a grain of salt. I also noticed that this video was dated last year, so maybe you have more experience now.

Blowing through the stop sign was really bad, but I think you knew that. Also, passing the truck on the right was pretty dangerous. Passing on the left could have been even worse, especially if he was turning left without signaling. I also thought sitting in the intersection for the left, not too long after the truck, was not very safe. Maybe you could not see oncoming traffic and had to move forward for visibility.

These comments were with good intentions. Remember what they say about good intentions? "The road to hell is pave with them " Ride safe. I used to live in Dallas, and the area you ride in is pretty crazy.

Hi Soniam! Hey, I've ridden with Piston Broke S.C. a few times down there. I don't tape a lot of my riding, but yeah, I've got something like 6 years and 80,000 miles of 2 stroke scooter riding experience. Got laid off at the last of January, so I'm riding, but not commuting right now, but since that was a real commute I didn't see the harm in posting the video anyway. Thanks for your feedback.

First, the stop sign. You can't really see the actual road configuration in the video well. The service road goes to the right (down to Luna Road) but there is no road to the left, hence the only traffic coming at from the side would have to be "wrong way" on the service road, and I looked. So the only legitimate traffic, and reason to stop other than the sign would have to be coming straight at you, and since at the sign I'm on a one way, they have to turn left. Unless anyone is coming straight at you, no problem. That sign should be a yield sign.

The truck passing - I used the truck to block the cross traffic coming from my left. Had I stopped behind the truck, a car would have turned left and I'd have lost 10 seconds. The reason I didn't go ahead and get past the truck in the intersection and go on was there were a couple of holes in the road, then some debris that might have hidden glass/nails, etc, so I pulled back behind the truck 1st, then continued with my right passing. He couldn't turn right, but could have into a parking lot, and he was kind of hugging the center line and meeting traffic too.

I see all of your points, and agree with them, but I knew what I was doing when I did it. Videotaping rides tends to bring out "riding on the edge", otherwise there wouldn't be so many awesome crash videos out there.


PS. You didn't mention speed. Somewhere in the 60 in a 40 range (slowed down near the cops that were arresting someone on the left there, then again by the stop signs and anywhere I saw a threat, of which there were many.)

+1

Getting that distance right is crucial for avoiding those square speed cushions!

I was hoping that I just couldn't see everything from the video. I have seen some incredibly stupid things done on scooters (and motorcycles too) in Austin. So I have started to assume that a lot of people who ride 2 wheels are trying to be organ donors. We had a bad experience with another scooter rider while dropping off my scooter at the dealer just this week.

Sorry to hear that you got laid off. I hope you find a job soon.

I've had the most near-misses on a section of Prairie Road that intersects with the entrance/exit to a retirement housing development. There have been several instances where one of the elderly residents from the apartments pulls out on Prairie without even stopping to look either direction.

The only part of my commute which feels dangerous is when I have to cross the large parking lot at work in order to park my scooter. Imagine going through a maze filled with cars driven by blind formula-1 drivers. I'm getting rather good at this strange version of "pacman".

In general the most dangerous THING on the highway here is the suburban SUVs who are busy doing anything but driving in the morning.

The only SPOT that's really dangerous is when I have to go past a high school and there are dozens of teenagers, frustrated mothers, and school buses all trying to turn in/out of the parking lot. This is the only place I dare to filter in MN since I'm actually safer just getting out of the way than I am standing still. I'll take the ticket if the cop can get through that rat's nest.