You know, it's funny how many people can look at the same situation and see something totally different. Case in point: if a person is involved in a car accident, how many people will cluster around them, admonishing them on the dangers of driving and try to persuade them to give up driving automobiles altogether?
None, right? So pray tell why is it, that if you happen to have been involved in a motorcycle accident, the "most logical thing for you to do", should be to give up doing what you love?
I will take a moment here to add that I am very fortunate that those nearest and dearest to me, do not take this viewpoint. Sure, they're concerned about my well-being and my safety, but they understand that neither the bike, nor riding, were responsible for what happened. I didn't almost get killed because I was riding a motorcycle... I almost got killed because some airheaded dumbfuck driving a pickup truck did not have the skills required to be doing so.
Still, it's astounding how many people arrive at this fatally-flawed conclusion. It's as though for some reason, you shouldn't be riding them in the first place and you really ought to have known better. Really??? THIS is the type of uneducated and judgemental mindset that inevitably leads to the equally retarded leap of logic that it's 'okay' to run bikers over, because let's face it... "they're just asking for it".
I think it's safer to assume that this is a knee-jerk reaction that many drivers have when confronted with this scenario, because THEY don't want to be held responsible or accountable for their actions on the road. Maybe they know only too well that they themselves are guilty of so many of the bad habits and lapses of attention, that normally lead to the typical car-motorcycle encounter. And that is without taking into account the fairly recent phenomenon of cell phone usage and texting.
What they're actually thinking is: "If I accept that you have the same right to ride on the same roads that I drive on, that means I'm going to have to actually drive my car and pay attention to what I'm doing out there!!" And guess what? That's absolutely right. I do have that right and I do choose to exercise it!
There are many people out there that when questioned about motorcycles, will tell you that they are terrified of them. Without delving into what would make a person say such a thing, that statement is insane on the face of it. A vehicle which is capable of terrifying people? Unbelievable... When was the last time they had a motorcycle come catapulting through their living room window and kill one or several family members? Or were they ever stalked and subsequently run over by some demon, riderless motorcycle? Chances are they never were...
I can see them being terrified because they are aware of what might happen to THEM on a motorcycle, yes. All kinds of horrible atrocities which might be inflicted on them by drivers of cars and trucks... NOT by motorcycles. So if they should be terrified of anything, it should be of cars and trucks and the insufferable, mindless butchers who drive them.
The problem is that most drivers out there, regardless of gender, do anything BUT drive their cars. They occupy themselves with a myriad of mundane tasks, totally unrelated to the job at hand. They're bored. Jaded. They fancy themselves so proficient at driving, that they have become convinced they can get from point A to point B without even giving it a thought. Much less having to apply themselves.
The rising stats behind motor vehicle accidents seem to demonstrate that the number one cause of such calamities, is inattention and sheer ineptitude. Pure and simple. For those of you who drive pickup trucks, let me dumb it down so you can understand: "YOU DO NOT HAVE THE MENTAL OR TECHNICAL ABILITY TO SAFELY CONTROL A VEHICLE WITH SO MANY MOVING PARTS!!! YOU ARE A DANGER TO YOURSELVES AND TO THOSE AROUND YOU!!!" We have droves of mindless zombies out there, to whom the province has seen fit to give control of a motor vehicle, who have their thumb up their arse and their brain in neutral.
Maybe it's time for the "riding public" to go on the offensive. An eye for an eye. It worked back in the day... You try to kill me on my bike? Better do a good job of it. If I survive, you will be looking over your shoulder for the rest of your life.
A motorcycle enthusiast was taken out last September in Rocky Mountain House, Alberta. A driver in a truck made "an unsafe left-hand turn", which led to the death of this fellow rider. The driver's fine for causing this death? A paltry $115.00 traffic citation. So yes... in that part of the country, a motorcyclist's life is worth $115.00. If you bought a slave off the auction block for that price and killed him out of hand, there would be a great uproar across this land and elsewhere. And rightfully so... Funny how if you're a biker though, folks just don't give a shit...
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20110818/alberta-man-fined-traffic-violation-killed-motorcyclist-110818/
It has to change, people. If John Law and the courts can't protect us (and God knows they're not there to 'protect' anyone), then maybe we have no option but to defend ourselves. That is what nature expects of most semi-sentient beings in this world. Unless they want to travel down the road to extinction...
I, for one, ain't gonna travel that road willingly.
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