Shoulder check

[Davidtav]

So is a shoulder check still recommended? I think it is a good idea when changing lanes etc. but I was watching a video that seemed to imply it was a bit old school

[Bender]

Just now, Davidtav said:

So is a shoulder check still recommended? I think it is a good idea when changing lanes etc. but I was watching a video that seemed to imply it was a bit old school

Once test is passed I guess it's down to how well you keep up on what's around you but no harm in making sure, it's not called lifesaver for nothing  

[Stu]

How else do you see in your blind spot if you don't do them  

 

Regardless if that video says its old school nothing has changed in regards to riding/driving blind spot checks are still neccessary 

[fredc]

If you ask yourself "should I do a lifesaver "  its probably a good time to do one

[Tigs]

You need them to pass your test (they are critical fails) 

[Steve_M]

I was once advised that, if you’re constantly aware of developing situations through use of mirrors etc., then fewer shoulder checks are needed.

 

 

My personal take on that is “am I absolutely certain that I haven’t missed something?”.

 

‘Cos if I have, I’m the one who’s going to get hurt. 

[Fiddlesticks]

Having done lessons in the early 2000s, they do teach a slightly different system these days, with regards to lifesavers.
I never could get on with OSMPSL though. Not enough letters. When turning right, for example, there's at least ten things to remember.

 

• Check Mirror
• Signal
• Lifesaver
• Manoeuvre (into position 3)
• Slow down
• Lifesaver / look
• Focus on where you are going
• Turn
• Speed - get going again
• Cancel indicator

I call this the MSLMSLFTSC  system (patent pending).

 

[Tiggie]

I still do Lifesavers when pushing a trolley in Asda!! 

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

I still do a quick glance into the blind spot whenever I move in either direction. On most A roads I use my mirrors a lot and am usually aware of what is around me. On dual carriageways or motorways things can change very quickly, especially around junctions.

 

Much depends on which bike I am on as the mirrors on both work differently. My Honda mirrors have a larger blindspot which I have to some extend alleviated with secondary mirrors. I still glance over my shoulder though just to make sure.

 

The Triumph mirrors, though smaller, seem to work much better. 

 

One thing about shoulder checks is that it's a good way of communicating to other road users. If I get a numpty riding in my blind spot a shoulder check often persuades them to either get on with it and overtake or drop back a bit.

Edited March 19, 2023 by Mississippi Bullfrog

[Mick67]

Yes still worth it, you never know when another bike/vehicle has crept up into that blind spot unless you look, especially important on motorways.

[KiwiBob]

If you don't want to do shoulder checks you can always go down this route! ... 

 

http://d3d9npwwya966f.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/scooter-mirrors-1.jpg

Edited March 19, 2023 by KiwiBob

[bonio]

Definitely not old school!

But if you're  superobservant and you already know there's no-one in your blind spots, because you've been monitoring what's been happening behind you, then you don't need to do one. 

To be fair, this sometimes happens with me, when I'm out on quiet roads and there's not much traffic around. But I still do them out of habit.

[Davidtav]

I will still do shoulder checks. I agree with all of the comments on here. … I watched the video again this morning. And to be fair, he does say do a shoulder check if you want. 
 

This is the video if anyone is interested. And the comment is at 6.40

 

 

[MikeHorton]

On safety this was a good video to watch. Bruce has a lot of experience but goes to show brushing up on skills is no bad thing 

 

Edited March 19, 2023 by MikeHorton

[fifthwheel]

Ive been caught out a couple of times missing bikes coming up quick, one time I hesitated filtering, I didnt think I had enough space then the next thing a rider with more confidence filtered very fast from behind me I hadn't seen him at all. Another time on a long straight country road I missed a bike coming from behind he passed me a bit too close and frightened me to bloody death.

[Davidtav]

2 minutes ago, fifthwheel said:

Ive been caught out a couple of times missing bikes coming up quick, one time I hesitated filtering, I didnt think I had enough space then the next thing a rider with more confidence filtered very fast from behind me I hadn't seen him at all. Another time on a long straight country road I missed a bike coming from behind he passed me a bit too close and frightened me to bloody death.

Absolutely. That is a very good point. Other faster bikes are the easiest things to miss in the blind spot. That is why I will continue with a quick check to left or right. 

[MikeHorton]

It's good to always think when overtaking has that person seen me. If there's not much room it's often worth waiting until you know you have been seen 

[onesea]

9 hours ago, Tiggie said:

I still do Lifesavers when pushing a trolley in Asda!! 

As a male shopping mid week alone, it’s probably as important there as anywhere. A great place to learn about when to do them.

It is generally assumed by other shoppers you don’t know what you want, or doing, or where your going and have all the time in the world. Making you the lowest species on the food chain.

Occasionally you might get an elderly lady who asks for help with a heavy item, they might even say thank you. The rest of the time you are on your own in hostile territory.

It’s rough in there I tell you, pushed about carved up bashed by trolleys. “Excuse me can you move out of my?”

”So you can stand in front of me behind the lady who is blocking the isle?”.
 

Very occasionally the person asking is of such style grace and presence (cute ass, nice legs) that you cannot help but say yes. If your female don’t read to much into this, it might equally be that what ever is blocking the isle is so repulsive any view is better.

 

There is only one time I can recall being treated with some civility, I remember it well…..

 

 It was spring 2007 late April or maybe early May, the weather was fine, dry a little light cloud, not to cold or warm.  It may of been a Friday or Saturday, the super market was busy.

I was sent out with new born to buy female sanitary products, chocolate, and baby stuffs. With sleeping baby I was ushered through without a single raised word, for once I felt like an equal in there.

The Golden ticket only worked the once, I did try again within weeks however that one event all just seemed like a distant memory.  
 

I suspect it was a combination of the newness wearing off, the shopping type changing to include beer and other male essentials.

 

Or maybe it was just a dream.

 

Edited March 19, 2023 by onesea

[Stu]

26 minutes ago, fifthwheel said:

Ive been caught out a couple of times missing bikes coming up quick, one time I hesitated filtering, I didnt think I had enough space then the next thing a rider with more confidence filtered very fast from behind me I hadn't seen him at all. Another time on a long straight country road I missed a bike coming from behind he passed me a bit too close and frightened me to bloody death.

 

A mate of mine has a habit of doing this! 

 

He will sit behind you all day long then just out the blue he will come flying past! 

[billy sugger]

The use of a left shoulder life saver probably saved me from harm about a week ago. 4 lanes leading to a roundabout and I needed to be in the second from left, for a straight ahead route, clearly marked on the road. I checked mirrors, activated my indicator, then looked over my shoulder just to be sure though I knew the lane was clear only to have some twat undertake me at speed, that then cut across all the lanes only to have to stop at the lights. I managed to pull up beside the dickhead, saw his passenger window was open so I explained to him what I thought of him. he had tinted sunglasses on, in dull weather, and just stared straight ahead with no acknowledgement that I was there at all

[Breezin]

About two years ago, doing about 70mph,  I looked back over my right shoulder as I moved into the outside lane of a motorway to overtake a slow line of cars. A few inches from the bike loomed the corner of a huge, light grey jeep that hadn't shown in my mirror. If I hadn't looked, I'd most likely be brown bread.

Literally a lifesaver.

Ever since, I never change position without looking back.

Edited March 19, 2023 by Breezin

[S-Westerly]

Do look regularly as bikes coming up fast from behind are the things most likely to catch you out. Also on motorways in Germany- bats out of hell don't even come close.

[Nute]

I looked at a helmet with some sort of prism system which displayed the rear view onto a display just above your eye line. 
 

I assume they weren’t that great as they seem to be out of production but I always thought it was a bloody good idea. I’m surprised there aren’t more attempts at achieving the same thing. 
 

I always have my mirrors adjusted so I can see as much of my blind spot as possible (just beyond the point at which I can see my arms) but still do shoulder checks. I think I’m pretty good at being constantly aware of what is going on behind me but there have been a couple of times when something has come past and I’ve thought where the hell did that come from. 

[John Metcalfe]

I had the shoulder check "life saver" drilled into me when I did the Road Craft course with the police many years ago so it still come as second nature. I've fitted adjustable blindspot mirrors onto the fairing mounted mirrors on the K1100LT and have them set to cover the wider angle into the kerb area and the centre of the road.

There have been a number of times over here in Tunisia when if I hadn't done the "life saver" then I could have been wiped out by a numpty on a battered moped/scooter who have no road sense or in the majority of cases no sense at all, to the point that the street cats and dogs have more awareness of traffic than they do.

[Steve_M]

On 19/03/2023 at 16:45, S-Westerly said:

Do look regularly as bikes coming up fast from behind are the things most likely to catch you out. Also on motorways in Germany- bats out of hell don't even come close.

I generally cruise at around 75mph on autoroutes/autobahn roads. I became curious about what sort of speeds those overtaking me were doing in a no limits stretch of autobahn. I pulled out in a clear space after one particularly quick motor passed me and accelerated… he was still pulling away when I took pity on my pillion whose head was being bounced around in the wind turbulence. Reviewing my satnav later that day it indicated that we got up to 127mph… and still not keeping pace. 
 

Frequent vigilance in rear view mirrors supplemented by shoulder checks was the order of the day …