I rode the Harley today, for the first time in months. I didn't ride it far. The problem is that the drivers in Florida are simply terrible about running over motorcyclists. Every week or two there's another biker that gets hit, either by some elderly resident of God's Waiting Room or some punk-ass kid looking at their phone.
Damn, I used to love riding. We'd go from Castle Borepatch to Gettysburg by back roads, 3 or 4 times a year plus lots of regular rides with the HOG chapter. It doesn't look like there's a good chapter down here and so we just haven't gotten out much. Heck, I don't think The Queen Of The World has even been *ON* the bike since we moved here.
Le sigh. As buddy Eagle likes to say there are old riders and bold riders, but not many old, bold riders.
But we need a song for Saturday and I don't think I've ever done Gregg Allman. His brother Duane was killed on a bike (damn, can that have been a half century ago).
5 comments:
Yep, it's getting truly dangerous out there on a bike anymore.
Growing up in Texas, I learned that geographical areas have different drivers. Dallas drivers are dangerous, if only for the attitude "This is my space and I'll be damned if I'm going to move just because you want on," whereas San Antonio drivers are, well, crazy. In Arkansas, it took me little time to discover that if people are not already stupid behind the wheel, driver's ed teachers will soon show them how to be dumb drivers. I quit driving a couple of years after moving to Florida, so my only opinion on drivers here is, there are too many of them.
I think it might have been back in the 90's that researchers figured out that if a driver wasn't personally familiar with bikes, ie: rode, or knew someone who did, that bikes didn't exist in their visual world.
Add to that that a similar mental block was that people mostly didn't see any vehicle smaller than what they were driving themselves. The idea was thought to be that anything smaller wasn't considered a threat.
Add in the major distraction of playing with a handheld cell phone, and you can conclude that a significant percentage of drivers are essentially blind to other vehicles and objects in the roadway.
In the early 00's, I patrolled CA freeways in a cabover truck that gave me a sightline into the cabin of most cars and light duty trucks. At that time, I estimated that 40% of drivers were using a handheld phone at any one time. In fact, one of the first questions I would get when stopping at the site of an accident was if I could help them find their phone, as the crash impact would send it flying, sometimes out of the vehicle if windows were open.
The age cohort found in FL adds another wrinkle, as people age they tend to get ossified in their thinking. That lack of mental flexibility complicates the situation.
my bike hasn't seen the road in three years. i used to ride weekly if not daily. between the stupid, disrespectful drivers and the crap road conditions it has become too hazardous to ride around here. i just can't bring myself to sell it though.
I used to love riding back in Texas (Amarillo). Moved to Missouri in 1996 and haven't ridden since. As with most large metropolitan areas, the majority of the drivers are totally oblivious to anything not right under their noses, and it is even worse now that cell phones have become so pervasive.
Now that I am much older, I know that my reflexes are not as fast as they used to be, As a result, I stick to something with metal surrounding me. I used to also drive trucks. I wouldn't care to do that anymore either. Bleeping cell phones. If I am driving, I will not answer mine (voice or text).
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