"If loud pipes save lives, imagine what learning to ride that thing would do!"
Personally, if I'm in my truck listening to the music, I can't hear loud pipes until the bike is in front of me. And my truck has no sound proofing at all; rolling down a window actually makes it harder to hear because the wind noise is higher, but the sounds aren't really any louder.
Then imagine sound proofed luxury cars. They really can't hear you. I notice people notice me more with my projectors, and if they don't I can flick my highs on and off a few times and suddenly they really notice me. Should it be "Bright lights save lives"? :don'tknow: Because I've nearly been hit in a bright vest.
My point is, it's easier to just pretend that every car is going to pull out in front of you, or change lanes into you and adjust your position/speed accordingly. In my mind, if you need to rev your engine, or honk your horn, then you weren't planning far enough ahead.
I live in Jacksonville, FL. We have old people, college kids, young dumb sailors, soccer moms, plenty of teenagers that want to race, and police that don't really care how fast you drive. Maybe not the worst place to ride, but it's nowhere near the best. After a month of having an "Oh S***" moment every time I rode, the MSF SEE strategy finally clicked when Keith Code was talking about his "wide eyes" deal. Since then, I haven't had an "oh s***" moment in 2 months.
Have people pulled out in front of me? Yes, but I had already made plans on what to do, and then just excecuted that plan when they did. No panic, and I only honked the horn in lieu of the finger when I ride by. Have people tried to change lanes into me? Yep, but I already had decided that I'm going to be fully in front of or behind cars beside me, so when they change lanes without looking, they don't hit me. And I usually just flip them the bird.
But still practice your swerve and quick stops.
