Safe zone: needs maintenance

As we get used to things, we leave ourselves less and less room. Sound familiar? It happens in all things. In an unfamiliar house, you will usually keep away from walls and furniture. Then you get used to it, and get closer and closer. Then, one day, you'll stub your toe and maintain a safer distance again. Do you see where we are going with this? Stubbing your toe, is effectively a reset or reality check button. It tells you that you are taking something for granted and shouldn't be.

How does this work on the bike?

In my case, I hit a reset today when my mirror gently made contact with the mirror of the chap parked next to me. I will admit that I needn't have stopped to think about this – we were pretty much packed up like sardines in a traffic jam, but still, contact is not good. So today onwards, I will reset my safety zone to a much wider area.

Take it as a thumb rule. Anytime you find yourself squirming slightly because someone's moving, standing, whatever-ing too close to you, that's a sign you need to re-check what you consider as a safe zone around your motorcycle and what you are doing about it.

And don't worry about the idiots who will run smaller safe zones and want you to squeeze between the bus and sidewalk. Not going there is your privilege. All they can do about it is honk.