Most of them were extremely apologetic or even shocked (as if I appeared from thin air). None of them were angry for scratching their door. Some people are just lost in thought it seems...
Motorcyclists are invisible. Never rely on others seeing you, ride as if they're an obstacle you have to navigate.
You can hide a whole truck behind the A-pillar of modern cars, let alone a motorcycle. At certain angles, human eyes have complete blind spots that we're not aware of because our brain filters them out. Motorcycles fit perfectly into those.
Never hover in people's blind spots. Pass quickly or stay back. Do not drive parallel with another vehicle. Goes for cars too.
When approaching another car perpendicularly (like an intersection), remember that humans lose depth perception because their nose covers one of the eyes. A driver literally cannot tell how far you are. Our usual proxy is the distance between headlights. Motorcyles have 1 headlight so this heuristic doesn't work, but we don't realize that it doesn't.
Maybe I need a bigger bike, the 2cyl 400cc is particularly invisible. ;)
Best one was a woman who cut me off doing her left turn. I high-beamed her and honked. She put her hands in front of her face and came to a dead stop in my lane directly in front of me. I was already braking before I honked. Nothing happened. I stopped wondering and just assume everyone is out to kill me.
It's a rule that also applies to bicycles.
Personally I skip the honking and high beams. Just perform evasive action assuming driver will continue on their current path at roughly their current speed. Swerving behind their path of travel usually works great.
Spooked drivers behave erratically. Very dangerous.
So far I've had 0 serious incidents in ~8 years of riding. A couple close calls when I was being an idiot. So I think my approach is working :)
May I ask where you are riding? I am currently in Bavaria. The danger level is usually higher after the winter. Drivers need to re-accustom themselves to sharing the road with two wheeled riders.
Evasive action could be even more dangerous in cities. In my experience being able to come to a stop without hitting anything is even better.
Lot's of dead people had the right of way. Ride safe, I agree. I also had 0 accidents so far in 30 years. But you still experience new things you hadn't thought would be an issue.
San Francisco Bay Area. I never got into motorcycling back in Europe although the roads are lovely, the short riding season felt like a deterrent. Also the extremely long process to get a license.
Here in CA it was almost scary easy to get M certified.
Yeah, snow and scooter/motorcycle is not a great mix here. But touring the Alps down to Lake Garda was amazing. Can recommend.