Dear Incompetent Motorists...

[CathyBogart]

...and people think motorcyclists are the ones with a problem.

[Cataholic]

...and people think motorcyclists are the ones with a problem.

Again, who are the 'people'? I didn't know motorcyclist (responsible, careful drivers of motorcycles) were seen as causes of accidents, like the argument that cell users are. I do think motorcyclists have inherent problems on the roads, irrespective of the types of drivers they may think they are. The fact is that they do not have a shell of steel, metal, hard plastic surrounding the bodies, so, when they take a hit, it is usually sigficant.

Like everything in life, there is a risk. To ride a motorcycle, better make sure you have proper insurance on the bike, the rider, adequate physical protection, and a guardian angel. People just don't see motorcycles, they see cars/trucks.

I would rather take a bus. I gave up riding bikes on the road, and running along roads without sidewalks, for similar reasons. Too darn risky.

[sparks19]

...and people think motorcyclists are the ones with a problem.

I didn't realize we had to be so specific but I have heard people (forgive me for not listing all their names and stats lol ) say how dangerous motorcycles are. Well sure they are but it's not because they drive like idiots (although some do) most of the time a motorcycle accident is caused by a car.

I actually witnessed an accident when I was just a little girl. it was horrifying. A car decided to speed up and cut a motorcyclist off, the guy on the cycle had to swerve to avoid hitting the car and he wiped out. he was all kinds of hurt. the car didnt even stop.

I also had a friend who's father rode a motor cycle and he got cut off by a car. Once the car was in front of him it slammed on it's brakes. He was too close to stop safely so he tried to just bail out and dump the motorcycle. he had on all the appropriate gear so he figured he wouldn't get hurt as badly as if he slammed into the car and flew over it. unfortunately, he was so close to the car that the motorcycle bounced off the back end of the car and landed on my friends father. it broke his neck instantly and he died.

I am deathly afraid of motorcycles. I won't ride on one and I get nervous when there is one near us in the car. i get so scared that something is going to happen and I will have to relive that awful day all over again. My brother rode a motorcycle for years and always tried to get me to take a ride with him. I never did. Luckily he mainly stuck to back roads that weren't very busy and he rode in a "gang" LOL just a group of friends that would get together on weekends and just go for a nice ride. Thankfully he was one of the lucky ones and he decided to stop riding after a friend of his was killed in an accident. he has 3 1/2 children and it wasn't worth the risk anymore and losing his friend only made it all too real.

I just don't understand the absentmindedness that people are suddenly struck by when they get behind the wheel of a vehicle. do they not realize they are driving a machine capable of major destruction and death?

[areias]

I won't get on a motorcycle, period. They are just too dangerous, unfortunately. I do have to say that a lot of people on street bikes can be idiotic when they are out there-weaving in and out of traffic and doing wheelies going 100mph.

The same thing with horses-I will no longer ride my horse near traffic. People are absolutely idiotic when it comes to that-beeping their horns as they go by or FLYING by.

[CathyBogart]

Some people seem to be under the impression that in California, it is illegal to lanesplit. These people love to lament motorcycles lanesplitting as a cause of accidents. I don't have a more specific "some people", becuase it's precisely that. Scattered opinions, but enough of them to make the road more dangerous for folks with only two wheels beneath them.

Some people get angry when they didn't see the bike they hit, blaming the biker instead of the fact that they weren't looking closely enough to see a skinny two-wheeled silhouette because they were only looking for cars. The biker "must" have been "flying" by them for that to have happened, right? Never mind that the person in the car was probably changing lanes without signaling when this happened.

Some bikers speed and weave in and out of traffic. Some people do that in cars too. I don't appreciate that generalization about folks on sport bikes. (Not that anyone here was making that generalization, but it does seem to be a prevalent one in the world at large)

[Cataholic]

Yeah, I get the point, people. There is a difference between quoting authoratatively from some unknown source (as above, and LH filled in the information), and opinions from the general population. Sorry if trying to clarify when someone is just spounting off their opinion, or, actually talking about some research out there causes such a problem. I like to squash any urban legend that I can.