a little rant about motorcycles

[Guest LadyC]

let me preface this by saying i have NOTHING against motorcycles. i've enjoyed riding one a time or two in my years. nor do i have any problem with motorcyclists who obey the rules of the road.

having said that, here is my rant. it seems i constantly see signs and bumper stickers and all sorts of reminders to 4-wheeled motorists about watching out for bikers. and it seems that there is a general attitude that when motorcycle accidents happen, it's usually a 4-wheeled motorist's fault.

why isn't there more of a campaign out there to stress the importance of safe biking? why aren't they told to be more careful around cars and trucks? why isn't there more pressure applied to them about personal responsibility?

here are some of the things that i see all the time that really just tick me off no end. these are not just random, occasional, rare instances. i see them happen DAILY. and it's not just where i'm currently living... i've seen these things on every road i've ever travelled in any part of the country. frequently.

things like... swerving suddenly and unexpectedly between a vehicle and the one in front in order to get to the lane on the other side. most of the time there's barely enough room for a car to do something like that, but a motorcycle is smaller and the driver thinks he's invincible. this not only puts his own life in danger from the obvious, but it puts countless others in danger because the driver that's being cut in front of can panic, swerve, put on breaks, and cause accidents with other vehicles even if the biker manages to avoid it all.

or how about when they pass on the shoulder of the road? that's highly illegal, the shoulder is to be used for emergency purposes only, and yet motorcycles (and even some 4 wheelers) use the shoulders just to get arround traffic.

or the worst offense of all, and yet the most common, is when bikers decide to create a third lane between two others... this happens most often when it's heavy traffic, and the biker is too impatient to go slower.... and so decides to zip right past all the cars that are creeping along (even though that creeping may be at 30 mph or more) by riding BETWEEN two lanes of cars. how insane is that?

and most pathetic, i've even seen these things done by motorcycle cops! (although not so often... and they, perhaps, might have a legitimate reason, like being on a call.)

ok, rant over. am i the only one who gets annoyed by this?

[coheir]

let me preface this by saying i have NOTHING against motorcycles. i've enjoyed riding one a time or two in my years. nor do i have any problem with motorcyclists who obey the rules of the road.

having said that, here is my rant. it seems i constantly see signs and bumper stickers and all sorts of reminders to 4-wheeled motorists about watching out for bikers. and it seems that there is a general attitude that when motorcycle accidents happen, it's usually a 4-wheeled motorist's fault.

why isn't there more of a campaign out there to stress the importance of safe biking? why aren't they told to be more careful around cars and trucks? why isn't there more pressure applied to them about personal responsibility?

here are some of the things that i see all the time that really just tick me off no end. these are not just random, occasional, rare instances. i see them happen DAILY. and it's not just where i'm currently living... i've seen these things on every road i've ever travelled in any part of the country. frequently.

things like... swerving suddenly and unexpectedly between a vehicle and the one in front in order to get to the lane on the other side. most of the time there's barely enough room for a car to do something like that, but a motorcycle is smaller and the driver thinks he's invincible. this not only puts his own life in danger from the obvious, but it puts countless others in danger because the driver that's being cut in front of can panic, swerve, put on breaks, and cause accidents with other vehicles even if the biker manages to avoid it all.

or how about when they pass on the shoulder of the road? that's highly illegal, the shoulder is to be used for emergency purposes only, and yet motorcycles (and even some 4 wheelers) use the shoulders just to get arround traffic.

or the worst offense of all, and yet the most common, is when bikers decide to create a third lane between two others... this happens most often when it's heavy traffic, and the biker is too impatient to go slower.... and so decides to zip right past all the cars that are creeping along (even though that creeping may be at 30 mph or more) by riding BETWEEN two lanes of cars. how insane is that?

and most pathetic, i've even seen these things done by motorcycle cops! (although not so often... and they, perhaps, might have a legitimate reason, like being on a call.)

ok, rant over. am i the only one who gets annoyed by this?

I lived between Orlando and Daytona and had a bike for five years. Drove motor cycle every day 7 days a week made many 10 to 12 our trips on it. In the 5 years of using it everyday I probably saw something like you

describe maybe at most once or twice a week. Most often it was young guys on what is called croch rockets.Many rides were saturdays we ( 2 to 10 people ) would ride over to Daytona then either up on down the coast a couple hours then back to Daytona then back to Orlando area. Usually roads not interstate riding. An easy 150 miles on saturdays some times more.

During the week from 10 to 40 miles after work. So Im thinking it has a lot to do with lax enforcement in your area.I have had many people on the phone nearly run me off the road because they were only watching in front of their car. Know several people hospitalized while setting at red lite got rearended by car. I would say the worst drivers car or cycle are between 16 an 26.

[OneLight]

There are many times when, at least in the North East, people are not watching for a bike. They are either enjoying the view, distracted by something or just not thinking that a motorcycle could be around. A car or truck is a massive hunk of metal moving into their vision, where a bike is much smaller and easier to miss if one is not paying attention.

[Guest LadyC]

of course a bike is more vulnerable than the hunk of metal on four wheels. and yes, there are a lot of distracted drivers in cars and trucks. but that should not lessen the importance for bikers to ride responsibly. if anything, it should give them reason to obey the rules of the road even more diligently.

coheir, that's amazing that you see these offenses so rarely. maybe floridians are smarter or something. but i can tell you that on the highways between texas and nevada, and between nevada and california, and mostly in the larger cities in and among those states, this is a pretty constant thing going on. yeah, i'd be willing to bet that you're right about youth playing an important role in that. it's hard to tell a persons age sometimes with helmets on, but wisdom usually comes with age and experience. certainly true with drivers of cars and trucks... i actually know (of) some young people who text and drive at the same time... in fact, i suspect one of my nephews is among them, and he's old enough he should know better.

what it boils down to i suppose is this... drivers of ANY type of vehicle should be more aware of what's around them, and should watch out for each other. but the emphasis should really not be put on any one group, because there is MORE than enough "blame" to go around. nobody gets a free pass. i get offended at the constant implication that i, as a car driver, am careless around motorcycle drivers. i AM watching out for [you]... please try watching out for [me]! don't drive like an idiot around me, because i'm trying to keep us both safe!

[B3L13v3R]

Does sound a bit lax police wise in your area, on occasion when I see them acting in the way you describe, more then enough times there has been a state trooper about to show them a "better way."

In general all the way around vehicle wise, there is more of the self centered "road rage" then I have seen the in the past.

Had a truck recently following me so closely all I could see was his grill and middle finger in my direction. I thought enough of this man to get his plate number and business name on the side of the truck and call him in with complaint to his company with date, time, location.

I generally am always watching for others when riding my bike as oftentimes they are not looking for me. Always looking to be responsible, and have had to make many quick evasive maneuvers over the years to avoid the sightseer who would have otherwise plowed into me...

I recall one driver that was not going to stop at the red light I was stopped at, he was locking up his brakes at the same time I was quickly pulling left into the median strip.

I still enjoy handing people Christian tracts while riding as we sit next to each other at a red light waiting for the light to turn green, or carefully pulling up to a perfect stranger and handing them a Gospel tract generally always with a prayer asking the good Lord to use them to His glory.

[coheir]

Passing the test should be more about the "test drive" than the written test. This has nothing to do with cycles but it shows the level of attention some use. Some years back I had parked my car in a small strip mall to meet other coworkers for morning coffee. The strip mall only had about 6 separate businesses. We were sitting by the window having coffee and a lady pulled up

and parked on the passenger side of my car leaving one parking spot between us she went into a small flower shop and was back in her car in just a couple minutes. As we sat there and watched her back out and turn her wheels she made a complete 360 circle while backing up and hit my car in the back driver side door. I was lucky I had coworker witnesses.

[Bold Believer]

Bad drivers in general irritate me no end. I live in an area where people run stop signs every day as if they don't exist, pass slower moving cars over a double line WITH oncoming traffic and speed. When I called the county police about the matter, they sent a patrol car through the area for about 5 minutes, then the officer (yer gonna LOVE this) trundled back up my street and ran right through the stop sign at the end of the block without even slowing down. Why should the PEOPLE bother to obey the law when the POLICE don't?