Here's a letter that was in yesterdays paper in my area. The Hampton Roads area of Virginia has one of the highest death rates for bikers in the US. Feel free to write the paper, The Virginian-Pilot at letters@pilotonline.com, maybe we can educate just one person to watch out for US.<br><br>Post edited by: RoadieFF, at: 2006/09/26 07:49

Maybe I'll get the image up sometime today.

Actually, it has ALWAYS been my belief that we bikers/motorcyclists (whichever you fancy yourself) are primarily responsible for our own safety and well-being! You know the cagers are out there, blithely going about their merry ways, and have little or no appreciation for our true vulnerability. I hate to admit this, as I have been a biker for nearly 30 years, but there are times I have not seen a motorcycle (typically one without a headlight on) and started to pull out...now, as a biker, I know to look 4x; and have always caught the bike...but everyone can make a mistake (including bikers)...the writer is making the point that we do not have to act like assholes; even if we have the perfect right to do so...think about it, if the car driver was really a jerk, that biker would have been run off the road and in a ditch...so would have ended the road rage incident...whatchagonnado...bang bumpers with a car?

WE must ride defensively...WE must ride sober...WE must not dilly-dally while passing...

JM2C, YMMV

Ted

Stay out of blind spots.. you can train a driver to look for you ..but if end up in a blind spot you will be missed in the search...drive defensively

Roadie-

Didn't realize that you lived in the Hampton Roads area until now. I just moved out of Yorktown in April after serving in the Air Force (stationed at Langley).

I actually feel a bit sorry for the lady in the car. Imagine making a simple mistake and suddenly you have this biker guy following you and yelling at you - she was probably terrified. Granted, people need to be aware of their surroundings, and they need to be looking for bikes, but from the sounds of the letter she was trying to do the right thing. She wasn't preoccupied by applying make-up, or gabbing on the phone, or some of the other crazy stuff I see people doing in cars. Rather she looked, signaled, and checked her mirrors - did she actually pull into his lane? The article didn't say.

I don't understand the world we live in anymore. People just don't seem to care about other people. Whether it's someone not taking the extra two seconds to glance over and see if there is a bike coming down the road, or bulling a lady who tried to do the correct thing but made a judgment flaw, it seems that most people are so absorbed in their own life that they fail to realize the other 6 billion lives going on around their's. My wife works with a woman who's son was shot at by a bunch of thugs over the weekend because when he pulled up to a red light he glanced over at the car next to him and they apparentally didn't like it. Thank the Lord the bullet missed (broke the window but missed the boy). What is going on with society that people are shoting people for looking over from one car to another. People have lost all respect for others and they have definately lost all respect for the law. I worry about my daughter and what it will be like in 10-20 years as she grows up.

OK I know I am off topic but really it does come together with this... We are all God's children and we all live here together on this planet so we need to look beyond ourselves and start noticing the people who are around us. Whether it is paying more attention on the road, forgiving someone when they make a mistake (which we all do), or just holding the door for a lady at the store, think of how wonderful our society could be if people took the eyes off themselves and started looking at others. Really it's no different than how a successful business runs. The group works together to accomplish the vision of the company - growth! When people do what is right for the company, the company succeeds; when people do whats only convenient for themselves the company suffers. I could go on for a long time, but I don't think you guys are looking for a sermon. Just remember... ride safe and love your neighbor!


Grace and Peace
BP

I don't condone the riders behavior and would never act that way towards someone in a car, the woman lost all credibility to me when she tried to place the blame on the rider and his &quot;chosen method of transportation&quot;.

I view every other vehicle on the road as a hazard when I ride but the auto drivers need to be more aware. There's too many distractions these days with cell phones, loud music, etc..

We have a large contingent of &quot;crotch rocket&quot; riders in this area, many ride like fools. It's not unusual to see at least once a week one riding down the road on his back wheel only. Unfortunately this reflects on all of us.

As Pop Rivet said, be aware of blind spots. I never ride next to a vehicle, one awkward or sudden move by them could be my demise.

I posted this to mainly remind everyone of the hazards we face daily while riding (as if we already didn't know) and to show one auto drivers opinion towards us. Everyone please ride safely and aware.

Unfortunately when a motorcycelist ends up in an accident he/she always loses. The bikers behavior was his responsibility, the ladies lack of attention was her responsibility.

It really doesn't matter, when an accident occurs, we lose. Having riden bikes off and on since 1967, &quot;I'm older than I would like to be,&quot; I have come to the conclusion that we must be more courteous, diligent, aware, defensive and etc. than others in order to survive. It's just good sense. Thank the Lord I have only been in one accident, and that was the first time I had ever ridden a motorcycle. Must have enjoyed it or sumthin, cuz I'm still ridin, but it taught me a valuable lesson about motorcycles and riding safely.

May the Lord's safety net be around all of you, as you motor down the highway of life!!!!!!!!