Forget everything you learnt at "home" about the importance of riding as far to the left as possible. Here in Thailand, thats about the most dangerous place to be!
Nearly all roads have a narrow motorcycle lane down the left edge. You DO NOT want to be in or near that lane because traffic entering from driveways, side roads and sois (lanes) will pull out into that lane WITHOUT LOOKING. That includes both scooters and pickup trucks... Riding anywhwere near that left side of the road invites trouble, because it automatically implies that you're on a slow scooter... Thats where the majority of serious or fatal accidents occur... Many scooter riders are 11 to 15 years old, with no license, no safety training, minimal awareness of danger and extremely poor judgement...
Thailand has millions of motorcycles - but a very small percentage of big bikes. From 200 metres away, a 1000cc road bike doing 120kph looks just like a 110cc Honda Click doing 60kph... UNLESS YOU DELIBERATELY PROJECT A DIFFERENT ASPECT!
Overall, a lot of people here seem to have great difficulty judging motorcycle velocities, and even when you'd think you're close enough for them to figure it out, they will blithely;
- u-turn in front of you
- change lanes
- ride, drive or walk from one side of the road to the other
TWO LANE ROADS
In general I always ride 1 metre to the left of the centreline because I think its the safest place;
- to avoid vehicles blindly entering the road from your left
- it projects an impression that I'm on a big bike to oncoming traffic
- it reduces the chances of oncoming vehicles overtaking into my lane
- its the best place to avoid tail-ending songthiews (pickup taxis) that stop without warning
FOUR LANE ROADS
In general I always ride 1 metre to the left of the right lane because I think its the safest place;
- to avoid vehicles blindly entering the road from your left
- it projects an impression that I'm on a big bike to traffic I'm gaining on
- it allows fast overtaking vehicles to flash past without me needing to move from my line
- its the best place to avoid tail-ending songthiews (pickup taxis) that stop without warning
How do YOU deal with these bike placement issues? :?:
Nearly all roads have a narrow motorcycle lane down the left edge. You DO NOT want to be in or near that lane because traffic entering from driveways, side roads and sois (lanes) will pull out into that lane WITHOUT LOOKING. That includes both scooters and pickup trucks... Riding anywhwere near that left side of the road invites trouble, because it automatically implies that you're on a slow scooter... Thats where the majority of serious or fatal accidents occur... Many scooter riders are 11 to 15 years old, with no license, no safety training, minimal awareness of danger and extremely poor judgement...
Thailand has millions of motorcycles - but a very small percentage of big bikes. From 200 metres away, a 1000cc road bike doing 120kph looks just like a 110cc Honda Click doing 60kph... UNLESS YOU DELIBERATELY PROJECT A DIFFERENT ASPECT!
Overall, a lot of people here seem to have great difficulty judging motorcycle velocities, and even when you'd think you're close enough for them to figure it out, they will blithely;
- u-turn in front of you
- change lanes
- ride, drive or walk from one side of the road to the other
TWO LANE ROADS
In general I always ride 1 metre to the left of the centreline because I think its the safest place;
- to avoid vehicles blindly entering the road from your left
- it projects an impression that I'm on a big bike to oncoming traffic
- it reduces the chances of oncoming vehicles overtaking into my lane
- its the best place to avoid tail-ending songthiews (pickup taxis) that stop without warning
FOUR LANE ROADS
In general I always ride 1 metre to the left of the right lane because I think its the safest place;
- to avoid vehicles blindly entering the road from your left
- it projects an impression that I'm on a big bike to traffic I'm gaining on
- it allows fast overtaking vehicles to flash past without me needing to move from my line
- its the best place to avoid tail-ending songthiews (pickup taxis) that stop without warning
How do YOU deal with these bike placement issues? :?: