Is it okay to clip mirrors while splitting?

[flimflam]

I gently pulled up between cars following the "if its close, DON'T do it rule" and stopped with plenty of room between me and the cage...

well, it WAS rush hour SOO this BASTARD flips out when it turns green, GUNS it (I'm NOT rushing, just taking it easy - trying to NOT piss folks off) and this guy swerves toward me!

I was PISSED! I had my left foot out, about to kick a nice boot print in his door JUST before I recalled that HE did have a FEW pounds on me - like a ton... and instead I just used the rest of first, BARF SALUUUUTE, and poof, gone...

IF I woulda' clipped HIS mirror, I could be dead right now.

AVOID IT.

 

[Chief]

I clipped a mirror once. I pulled over and apologized profusely. The guy said he was so shocked that I actually pulled over and owned up to it, that he forgot all about being angry. He then proceeded to show me all the nicks and scratches his car has suffered because of riders splitting lanes. Apparently, I was the first to ever stop. He didn't take my information and told me not to worry about it, which I thought pretty damn cool. I don't think I would have been so lenient.

Tom

 

[RickyHayden]

I'll go against the crowd and say that I clip mirrors.

I commute 50 miles a day, most of it is in really bad traffic.

I don't feel that it's acceptable, for sure it's a mistake. But if you commute everyday in tight lanes, tight traffic, it's going to happen. You need to accept it and move on if it does happen.

Certain cars will be the same height as your bike and make it really easy to clip... My VFR likes to hit Jeep Grand Cherokees. It took me about 3 clips to figure that one out.

Sorry, I just can't lie and say that I don't clip mirrors.

Geez atleast one person is pretty honest!!

I have clipped maybe 4-5 mirrors and all but 1 wasnt on purpose!!

It happens sometimes....especially to the fucks who swerve over to try and purposely block you from splitting....then I just might kick your mirror

 

[Max Smiley]

ok, honest fucking injun, I try to be the least intrusive out in heavy traffic and take less chances including when to split and how fast. yeah I got knocked down at 0 mph and to add insult to injury at a red light so shit happens. maybe paying the price for some other riders, I still don't know what was in that guy's mind. I do know that I don't want to die out in traffic. just reading the mail and "watching the market" here doesn't look too good for bike to cager relations-wise with every mirror clack and door kick. well, you do what you gotta' do.

stumble you might fall.

 

[Outta Control]

I clipped a mirror once. I pulled over and apologized profusely. The guy said he was so shocked that I actually pulled over and owned up to it, that he forgot all about being angry. He then proceeded to show me all the nicks and scratches his car has suffered because of riders splitting lanes. Apparently, I was the first to ever stop. He didn't take my information and told me not to worry about it, which I thought pretty damn cool. I don't think I would have been so lenient.

Tom

Just a thought. If ever rider would do what you have done, the likely possible return is that cagers would be not so angry at motorcycles.

 

[Silence]

I'd be more concerned about cagers if they were more concerned with our health than damage to their cars whenever we're involved in accidents with them.

 

[budbandit]

Here is a question: When I am walking down a crowded street, sometimes I find that people get in my way. Is it ok to give some of them a quick elbow or bodycheck to knock them out of the way or just toss some of the smaller ones aside if they are not fast enough about stepping out of the way? Do other people do this too?

 

[gsxrbabe]

i'm guilty. i've done it. no so much so anymore, tho....did it alot when i first started riding...mostly cuz i was young and inexperienced. then cuz i felt experienced and tried to fit where i had no business being. now i can control a bike well enough to get in between two cars without clipping a mirror 95% of the time. if i do, i say sorry if it's in stopped traffic and wave a peace sign if it's moving traffic.

fast clipping....bad news. i wouldn't do it. the one time i did, it was a beemer mirror, and i hit it so hard that my mirror folded in and smashed my hand and i heard him cursing at me at the top of his lungs. ugg. that taught me a lesson. i think if i brain farted and this happened again, i would stop like chief did.

BB: i like your point ; sometimes, if i am in a particularly grouchier than normal mood and am wearing an armored jacket, i will 'let' people bump into me. most of the time they apologize, and some look at me like they just ran into the terminator.
but most of the time i try to avoid those who do not pay attention to their surroundings.......

 

[pukilupukster]

The twenty six percent who answered "yes" just might reconsider one day, after going down. Someone posted four contacts in just one ride, and eventually they will hit the ground. Hitting hard parts is not good.

I've never hit anyone's mirrors. Always tried not to. Always thought everyone else tried not to.

But I have been taken out while trying to pass. Now I see that one in four riders think it is okay to hit a car and run??? No wonder the cagers get so pissed off. No wonder they try to block us, cut us off, run us down. No wonder the police don't like it. You guys are f'n it up for everyone else. No wonder it's like a battleground out there.

 

[deaconblues]

Tapped a mirror once -- was on my old ride, and the bars were at JUST the right height to make BRAKE LEVER meet car mirror. Oops.

The narrower it gets, the slower I go. If it's too narrow to go thru without tagging somebody, I hold back, or change lanes and go around that way.

And screw any squids stuck behind my slow ass, too.

 

[Tri-me]

I have hit one mirror. The car swerved towards me when I was next in the other lane. She came across the bumps and our mirrors touched. The sadest thing is that I think that she was more pissed that I gave her the finger as I rode off. She was so mad that she was trying to hit the gas and speed up, she did not notice the brake lights and hit the car in front of her.

I consider this as her coming into my lane even though I was splitting. She failed to follow the traffic control devices and failed to maintain her lane. Therefore, her fault. Granted CA is wierd, but that is what I learned at the sheriff's office in Oregon.

 

[mud]

I have hit one mirror. The car swerved towards me when I was next in the other lane. She came across the bumps and our mirrors touched. The sadest thing is that I think that she was more pissed that I gave her the finger as I rode off. She was so mad that she was trying to hit the gas and speed up, she did not notice the brake lights and hit the car in front of her.

I consider this as her coming into my lane even though I was splitting. She failed to follow the traffic control devices and failed to maintain her lane. Therefore, her fault. Granted CA is wierd, but that is what I learned at the sheriff's office in Oregon.

That's when you shout "OWNED!"

 

[Outta Control]

Here is a question: When I am walking down a crowded street, sometimes I find that people get in my way. Is it ok to give some of them a quick elbow or bodycheck to knock them out of the way or just toss some of the smaller ones aside if they are not fast enough about stepping out of the way? Do other people do this too?

I would agree to your example especially when it is those people that walk through a congested area (ie busy mall on a weekend sales event) and suddenly stop to look at something at a distance.

 

[beemergirl]

Here is a question: When I am walking down a crowded street, sometimes I find that people get in my way. Is it ok to give some of them a quick elbow or bodycheck to knock them out of the way or just toss some of the smaller ones aside if they are not fast enough about stepping out of the way? Do other people do this too?

Re: mirrors, yes I've clipped but totally by accident (lack of experience). Mortified yet not in a situation where I could stop safely I tried some sort of "sorry" handwave.

Re: walking, it's a different story. Culturally some folks are pushy so when in Rome I push back, HARD. Sometimes I feel I'm overly sensitive about the whole make way thing, why should I always be the one to move? It can feel personal sometimes but my response varies depending on the situation. I say, when in doubt body slam em into traffic!
Beemer

 

[Silence]

I know who I'm not bumping into!

 

[beemergirl]

I know who I'm not bumping into!

But, but... I do it all affectionately and stuff. Besides, with my padding nobody gets really hurt.