[wplug] OT: Risk management (helmet laws)

[Doug Green]

Almost ALL motorcyclists would agree that lane splitting is a dangerous
practice. Heck, it's even part of the written exam! Still, people do it, and
frequently with reckless abandon. :( Splitting lanes isn't illegal because
it sometimes makes sense (very low speed, obstacle avoidance, etc). Again,
it's hard to legislate common sense. No helmet will save you from bad
decisions. 

I totally agree that the motorcycle community needs to work more on cleaning
up the image of being "stunters". In most parts of Europe, motorcycles and
mopeds are THE main mode of transportation. They're fun, economical, easy to
park, and easy to get around on. Then again, there don't seem to be so many
"soccer moms" driving armored vehicles over there...

I had 2 "exciting" interactions while riding yesterday, and that's a pretty
average number. One was a girl, maybe 19 (if you ride a bike you're already
rolling your eyes) who was merging from her Yield sign with her face down
changing the radio station. The other was a middle aged guy eating his
Panera who pulled out on me on McKnight Road (I was in the slow lane doing
the speed limit). Both cases were avoided only because I saw the problem way
ahead of time. In neither case did the driver even acknowledge their
error!!! That's a very frustrating thing for an already cautious biker
(imagine "oops, sorry I almost killed you back there...").

I'm all for tightening the driving regulations, and pulling the card from
about 60% of the drivers out there. If you can't drive responsibly (on
whatever vehicle you operate) you have no business on a public road!

ALSO- I wish more physicians stepped up to the plate and pulled the license
from people with a history of strokes, TIAs, heart attacks, and chronic pain
syndromes requiring narcotics (include methadone users here). We do it for
people with epilepsy all the time, why should other medical conditions be
different?!

I feel the warmth of impending flames here, but I'm confident that we can
all disagree politely. :)

-D


On 6/13/06 10:26 AM, "Shane Liesegang" <shane at shaneliesegang.com> wrote:

> Out here in California, it's legal for motorcyclists to drive between
> lanes on the freeways. It's a good way to scoot through traffic when
> it's stopped, I suppose, but it seems like a terribly unnecessary risk
> -- there have been plenty of times where I've been about to change
> lanes, but had a motorcycle zoom by me at the last second out of
> nowhere. If I was a little less cautious in checking my mirrors, it
> could have been disastrous.
>