Modern Vespa

This isn't wild speculation or a bad case of 'what ifs'.

This morning, about five minutes from my office, I was stopped at a red light. I'd gotten to the intersection first and decided to 'own' the lane by sitting just off center while waiting for the light to change.

I know some people recommend moving over to the edge of the lane or even onto the shoulder to avoid being rear-ended. But this doesn't sit well with the 'agressively defensive' doctrine that many here sensibly recommend. If scooters are vehicles and we pay our licensing fees... we own our chunk of the road, right?

Anyway, whenever I approach an intersection I always check my mirrors to make sure of what is going on behind me (i.e. to make sure I don't need to bail out in a hurry due to on oncoming idiot). This time there was nobody coming up behind me so I rolled to a stop near the center of the lane and settled in to wait for the light to change.

It was a fairly long light and I was starting to get fidgety... fearing perhaps my scoot hadn't triggered the wires for the light. In the process of glancing up at the light my eyes couldn't help but also catch a glimpse of the rear-view image projected inside the center of the helmet just above eye level. In it I was horrified to see a pick-up truck approaching at high speed, and showing no signs of slowing.

I turned the handlebars hard to the right and gunned the engine to the stops (Break-in period? What break in period?). The rear wheel spun for a second on some gravel but finally caught traction and shot me onto the triangle of gravel between the right turn lane and the lane I had been in... just as the jack-ass in the pick-up locked up his brakes and skidded past me (and through the red light) into the intersection.

A car coming from the right (with the green) whizzed through the intersection and just missed having his rear bumper hit by the still-moving pick-up. If the car had entered the intersection even a split second later it would have been a direct hit!

The pick-up finally came to a smoky, shuddering stop about three car lengths past the zebra crossing on the opposite side of the intersection! After a few moments he re-started his engine (which had stalled) and drove on as if nothing had happened, leaving me alone at the now green light.

I let the light cycle through the colors a few times before I felt steady enough to ride. All I could think about was that if I hadn't caught sight of the oncoming truck in the Reevu helmet's internal mirror, I would either have been killed by the rear-end impact... or killed by being pushed into the path of the car that had barely cleared the front of the truck in the intersection.

Yes, I know that if I want to 'own' the lane, I should continue to check side mirrors even when sitting at a light. But for someone who has spent most of his life driving cars, it is natural to focus forward once you are safely stopped at an intersection.

Bottom line, I owe my life to that tiny rear-view image which is projected just above the center of my field of vision in the Reevu Helmet. I'm sure there might be better helmets to wear in a crash. But there is no doubt in my mind that this helmet helped me avoid an unsurvivable crash this morning.

holy crap. that must have been frightening. i'm glad to hear that you're okay.

i've heard enough horror stories about rear-enders at traffic lights to check my mirrors rather obsessively when i'm at a stop.

Glad you're OK Trep, if "shaken".

Has your helmet some sort of rear view facility ?

I must admit I tend to stop on the left (kerb side for us) and alternate between checking the lights and the mirrors.

I'm not confident enough yet to think in terms of "owning" the road, whilst stopped.

Ah, penny's just dropped, Reevu = rear view

My bad, I should have given more detail. I assumed that the helmet had been discussed at length here on quite a few threads.

The Reevu helmet has a window in the back of the helmet and a small mirror system that bends the light around the top of the rider's head so that it can be displayed on a small metal mirro just above eye level.

Here is an example of what the rider sees (full disclosure... this is a bit better than actual):

That is cool. Looks to give quite a wide left-right spread than either mirror could on it's own. It earned it's keep then

Wow, that is too scary for words, glad you made it out OK. That Reevu helmet is interesting. I think we all need to make it a habit of checking our mirrors when we're stopped at a light. I know one too many scooterists who have been rear ended while waiting at a light. It isn't recommended to stop in the shoulder at an intersection nor is it recommended to stop between lanes. We should however be watching our mirrors and be prepared to zip out of the way if there appears to be a vehicle coming from behind that doesn't see us. In fact, we should be stopped in one of the tire tracks rather than the middle of the lane. I tend to stop angled a bit and far enough away from the car ahead of me so that I have created an escape route quickly and safely accessible to me should I need to get out of the way in a hurry.

You survived everyones nghtmare!! Timing is everything. My wife says "We live a quarter inch from disaster at all times."

The helmet has been reviewed here at least once. I've find the entire concept intriging but have never seen one live.

Your story helps validate my strategy at lights: never be the last in line; always stop in a position that if I'm rear ended I don't get crushed but pushed between the cars in front of me; and if I am the only onein the lane I pull way over to one side. Occationally I have to deal with some that pulls up next to me. Most times I let them go as I'd rather have them in front rather than behind me.

Glad u survived and thanks for the conveying the story.
Best
Miguel.

Yes, it absolutely earned its keep. But the mirrors on the scooter are still far better for seeing traffic approaching close in on the right or left. This one give you a nice slice of the center-view directly behind you.

While moving I haven't stopped using the side mirrors... I've just added the helmet mirror to the constant scanning I do of my environment on the road. It's just when I'm stopped that I sometimes forget to keep checking the side mirrors. As a relatively new scooter rider it's something I have to work on. But if not for the Reevu, I wouldn't have lived to tell the tale.

Ahh...the joy of good karma! Really glad you're okay.

Although I've thought about someone rear ending me, I've never actually heard an account of someone that was nearly killed by such a thing. I'm glad you are okay!

Someone in our scooter club was rear ended while sitting at a red light a couple of years ago. He spent months in the ICU quite unwell losing a spleen in the accident. I am quite paranoid about vehicles approaching from behind when I'm at an intersection. It is about being aware of your surroundings at all times and making sure you always have an escape route and aren't trapped.

Glad to hear you were able to get out of the way! What a scary situation.

Glad you're OK. Well done for spotting the car.

Do you think that you wouldn't have spotted the car if you'd have been looking in your mirrors?

If I had been looking in my side mirrors I would certainly have seen it. My problem is that once stopped I instinctively reverted to cage jockey behavior and allowed my focus to rest entirely to the front.

It was only by chance that in the act of looking up at the traffic signal I found myself looking into the helmet's mirror system and spotted the truck speeding towards me.

I'm no hero here for buying a nifty helmet. I am sick to my stomach over my lapse in not looking in my side mirrors. Nobody should think for a moment that the Reevu helmet is a replacement for the side mirros. Like any safety equipment, it is added on, not a substitute for common sense and safe riding practices.

Not only is it good that you saw the danger coming, but you took action! That is often the part where people fall short. In a situation like that, you literally have a split second to decide what to do and do it. Good cool headed thinking on your part.

-Craig

But I bet that after this experience, you'll never forget to check them again. (So, once your heart rate has got back to normal, there's at least one positive thing to take out of this.)

We all forget to do things (well, I know I do). Stories like this are great things to remind us. Cheers.

We have less control of what's going on behind us than in front of us. This is why I don't understand why so many vintage Vespa people refuse to put mirrors on their bikes they ride daily.. You can tuck and look, but it's easy to forget to look when you have no mirrors.

I've been nearly killed by a Ford F350 work truck that I happened to notice coming up behind me at full 55mph. I was on my motorcycle and took the shoulder of the road and he went by at full speed. I sped up to yell at him and he claimed to have not even seen me because he was tired after working all day.

If I was the typical rider who assumes everyone else obeys traffic rules, I'd be dead.

I find the mirrors on the LX150 to be the best of any I've had on other motorcycles or scooters.

Last edited by Joe4pal on Thu, 05 Apr 2018 13:26:38 +0000; edited 1 time

JOE i haven't heard of them here in the USA. Might not be DOT but if your state doesn't have a helmet law there shouldn't be a problem with getting one. TREP glad you weren't hurt. I'm constantly scanning to see what the idiots are up to behind me I must confess i tend to not be so vigilant when i have a long like also. My mind is trying to find a way out since i think i'm not tripping the light. Thanks for sharing.

I would venture to say that the helmet may have helped, but it was the stuff inside the helmet that actually saved your life.

Your situational awareness, use of all mirrors available, decisiveness, and taking action is what got you of harms way. Glad to hear that the helmet was a great tool and that it was used in the proper manner.

+1 I can only hope I would be able to act as quickly as you did. Glad you weren't hurt.

Good move, Treppenwitz, that must have been shocking.

The description of what happened reminds me that even stopping at the side of the lane is not safe, if the violating car slams on the brakes last moment, locks the wheels, and starts veering to one side (which they basically all do, we just don't know which side it will be). So, being alert and ready to move out of harm's way is the way to go (and I am the first to admit that I don't always do that--with this scary account I got my wake-up call). Thanks for sharing!

Really glad to read that you weren't hurt. Good instincts and quick action prevails again.

Wow. Shocking. Thanks for sharing it, I'll probably never forget now.... I tend to get kind of lazy at stop lights.

Thanks to everyone who went out of their way to pat me on the back for my 'quick action' and 'good instincts'. But let's not forget that emergency action was required mostly because I got caught napping at the light.

I don't mind being a cautionary tale... so long as I get to be the one to tell it.

From now on I'll still try to 'own' the lane'... but I'll behave as if it's only rented. 8)

That helmet would so make the wife sick.... she can not take any spinning and that rear view like that would definately get her.. I am so glad to hear it saved you!!

I almost didn't reply with my first reply. It did remind me of some of the mental conversations I have with myself while riding. I have many situations on my commutes where I have the choice of sitting at the stop line in my own lane or splitting my way between the other two lanes with cages on either side. In some situations (mainly low visiblity situations) I split the cages and roll to the stop line bewteen them so as to have the two cages act as barricades around me. Another reason I am glad we can lane share in CA.

I know you were in a different situation but it reminded me of this. I don't like sitting alone at the stop line in certain situations. H

+1

Good job, quick thinking So glad that you are okay.

Luckily, in Austin, we have a lot of dump trucks that run lights. So I have the habit of watching my rear view mirrors even in a cage. My husband does the same thing. It saved our lives one day when a dump truck ran the light that we were stopping for. We were in a 2 seater convertible. My husband saw him and changed lanes quickly before we had come to a stop.

You and I must have different ideas about what is considered lucky.

Seriously, what is it about dump trucks and traffic lights? After that horrible crash [murder, if you ask me!] a couple of weeks ago, I find myself asking if this a trend I'm just now becoming aware of???

Another one got rear ended

My Poor GTS


After this few incidents and specially the one from Phoenix, i find my self to pay as much attention to the rear view mirrors as possible. Before I use to just chill at red lights, not anymore, I try to be on high alert and look for ways to get out of way just incase if someone is approaching too fast.

Does anyone know where in the US I can get one of these?

It sounds like a fantastic idea to have rear-view mirror

Thanks in Advance,

Dani

I'm not sure if they have gotten DOT approval yet. I know they meet the European standard...

You should check what the helmet laws are in Mass, and if they don't require a DOT sticker on your lid, you can always order a Reevu from the UK (where the company is based) and have it shipped.

I am thinking that these types of experiences really make the case for legalizing filtering even if it is only allowed at red lights. I had my first experience last weekend riding in LA filtering at lights and it did make me feel a little safer being between large steel objects rather than behind them waiting to become a bike sandwich. Too bad I stalled on my first filtering take off

+1

almost everyone already does it anyways Thanks but we require DOT

Hijack Alert: Where in Israel is your scooter club?
I'm planning on making a trip there in the coming year and maybe renting a scooter?
Will they honor my MA license?


Thanks,
Dani

I'm sure they will have DOT approval soon enough. The economics of a good idea will see to that.

As to riding here in Israel... the short answer is that tourists can drive here with their foreign or International license.

That said, I don't know of anywhere here that rents scooters. That doesn't mean you can't rent them... I just don't know anywhere.

Also, Israeli drivers are... shall we say, aggressive. I would not want my first experience driving here to be on a scooter.

The Scooter club seems to be based out of Tel Aviv (I just joined last week), and they arrange rides/meets throughout the year at different locations.

I will be in Jerusalem (I wont be relegated to only west Jerusalem ), Tel Aviv, and maybe Eilat.

Do you know of anyplace that rents motorcycles?

I plan on being there for a week next summer so I have plenty of time to plan

Thanks for the info.

I'd be happy to do some checking for you.