Unleashing the Fire Storm
Some things just take you by surprise. As you may be aware, I write for Examiner.com as their Denver Motorcycle Examiner. I post on this blog three times a week and I post on Examiner three times a week.
Well, yesterday I wrote a piece entitled “Share the road, not my lane.” It was about how a car pulled across the center line–directly into my path–as he was passing a bicycle. I won’t go into more specifics; if you ride you know it all already.
Imagine my surprise when I checked this morning and found that more than 2,000 people had read that post so far and there were six comments. And more surprisingly, three of the six were hostile toward motorcycles and motorcyclists. Two were favorable and the sixth was more neutral.
One of the hostile comments was the sort of thing you just blow off and ignore:
You should cry more.
The woman who was neutral had this to say:
True, but you have to keep in mind how often those of us in cars see motorcyclists zip between us, riding the line on the highway. Maybe they guy just thought, “Well, they do it all the time, why can’t I?” I’m not defending his actions as they were very reckless.
Then, there were these:
Sure thing douchebag, but make sure you don’t share my lane the next time there’s a red light and a line of traffic that you really want to sidle past, m’kay?
And what are you going to do about it when someone does? And another thing, with the engine cooling excuse ready at hand when you pass huge traffic jams, you cannot expect to be taken seriously when you claim that your personal space corresponds with traffic conditions, because basically, that is what you are saying. When guys like you behave normally in traffic jams, normal people will begin to show you some respect, or at least, stop hating your guts.
It would be easy to dismiss these people as jerks but I don’t think we would be wise in doing so. Considering that these are the people who are out on the road with us, and we’re the ones who always lose in a collision, we need to consider any validity there might be in their statements.
The one argument they all make is that bikers share their lanes at times. Now, if you’re in California and you’re lane-splitting, that is absolutely legal. And I can see how that diminishes the argument that motorcycles have a right to the entire lane, just as cars do. We can’t have it both ways. At the same time, that in no way excuses the reckless, dangerous stunt I described. If I hadn’t swerved that driver would have had to choose between a head-on with me or running the bicycle off the road into the rocky hillside.
Elsewhere, lane-splitting is not legal, although here in Colorado I don’t ever see people lane-splitting anyway. I do, however, see bikers passing on yellow lines (because we know that we can do it safely) and ignoring other laws that were designed with cars in mind, not bikes. It might be worth our while to think about how the people in cars see these things. Obviously some of them, rightly or wrongly, see them as unfair, improper, and justification to act improperly toward us.
Food for thought.
Biker Quote for Today
Remember all the others on the road are crazy & out to kill you.
Tags: share the road
October 8th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Hi
you wrote:
quote:
I do, however, see bikers passing on yellow lines (because we know that we can do it safely) and ignoring other laws that were designed with cars in mind, not bikes.
unquote
Been in the above situation many times and have resisted breaking that law each time leaving me stuck behind some slow driver until there’s a legal opportunity to pass…..does it really justify breaking the law because the biker in question believes that “we can do it safely”?
I think longingly about lane splitting in some situations but also recall the anger I felt back in my cager days driving in California and seeing squids zipping by my car door at rather high speeds…..
As you say and know, we as motorcyclists will lose each and every time when in collision with a car. I still anger at cars violating “my space” but have also learned I am invisible to most of the them and ride accordingly. This is from a guy with a modulating headlight, blinking tailights, used to wear really hi-viz stuff, and still just practically invisible. It’s not like we can do much about it besides dodge and weave and if possible lay on the horn to wake their stupid selves up.
What I take away from this posting? Yeah, there’s jerks in cars as well as bikes, trouble is the jerk in the car can kill you with little risk to their own hides due to the cage they ride in.
Ride like you’re invisible and expect them to do something that might kill you, 99% aren’t even aware you’re there, that remaining 1% is the real danger.
October 9th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Dear Ken:
I beg to disagree, but if my understanding is correct, the driver of the approaching car had another option. Seeing that there was not enough room to pass the bicyclist without cutting in front of you, the driver should have slowed down until you passed. Then he or she could have swerved around the bicyclist without incident. Actually, I wouldn’t call this an option so much as an obligation. But you were quite correct in swerving, as I have no doubt the other driver would have hit you head-on and said, “I didn’t see the motorcycle.”
I am amazed at the viciousness that motorists display today. Until this year, I was averaging about 14,000 miles annually on my bike, a BMW K75. On a run from West Virginia last June, I could have walked across eight lanes of traffic on the hoods of cars around me on I-95. This is nothing remarkable except we were all doing 85 mph — without an inch for error. I drove up from DC to Philly last month, averaging 70 mph and was amazed at other vehicles swerving around me with mere feet to spare. And I was driving a Suburban that night.
Automobile technology has progressed to the point where drivers are far less conscious of their behavior and rely on the vehicle’s handling characteristics or braking power to avoid accidents. This is nothing but bad news for the motorcyclist. I am reminded of a film classic — Forbidden Planet — where a computer-like device frees the Id of the Krell to destroy themselves. Cars today are like that.
By the way, I had a woman in a minivan pull a similar maneuver on me last June. Full gear and a full face helmet prevented my death. The bike was destroyed though.
Fondest regards,
Jack Riepe
Twisted Roads
http://jackriepe.blogspot.com/