In the past couple of months I've been giving a lot of thought to things like good brakes, suspension, making more HP, etc. I've had a couple of close calls lately in traffic with panic stop situations, the latest being this past Sunday on the Vrod which has excellent brakes (Brembos). I consider myself to be a pretty good driver, both on the bike and in the car. I consciously try and stay focused and look for avenues of escape when approaching potentially bad situations. I've also got out in empty parking lots and practiced swerving, panic type braking, etc. Not nearly enough, but I have at least done it a bit. I think I need to do it more, and with my passenger on the bike as well, as that changes things a great deal, and would also allow her to get a better feel for what's happening when those situations arise where we have to all but lock the brakes up or make sudden changes in direction.
The problem I am experiencing though is more related to following distance behind other vehicles. I live in a fairly large city...not by some standards, but there is a lot of traffic at times. I am finding it almost impossible to maintain what I consider to be a safe distance from the car in front of me...it is all but impossible to do so on the interstate, as someone will simply fill the gap you have created between yourself and the vehicle in front of you. But I'm finding this to be the case, even on the state highways and other secondary roads. If I leave a gap, someone tries to get in there!! Even at speeds of 40mph, it takes several feet to stop one of our bikes. I don't ride around like some grandpa, but I don't fly around like a sport bike rider might either....OK...maybe I do sometimes, but I reserve those time for when I have a clear line of sight.
Anticipating other people's behavior in their vehicle is something I find impossible NOT to do...you have to make assumptions about people not doing stupid, unexpected things to some extent. I think I make the assumption that most people are going to do what is expected of them by others. Therein lies the flaw in my logic, I think...people do stupid things: not signaling, following too closely, not paying attention to what they are doing, much less those around them...you all know the drill.
What, if anything, do you guys/gals do? How many here find that drivers seem to be getting worse and worse? Or am I just getting old and more concerned about it? Or is it just a matter of odds: the more miles you ride/drive, the more likely you will be in situations with stupid people? If there is some specific behaviors I can learn and incorporate into my riding style, I want to hear about them. TIA...