We have many friends who are avid motorcycle enthusiasts--people who love cruisers and/or "crotch rockets". And we inevitably have some arguments with these people over proper road ettiquette--particularly with California motorcyclists. What brought this to mind was a recent article posted by the San Diego Union Tribune's site here. When we lived in sunny San Diego (which we miss every single day)--driving with terrible motorcyclists became the bain of our existence. I believe it's worse here than any other city I've lived in because 1. the weather is so awesome that many more people own & ride motorcycles and 2. the close proximity of many large military bases equals lots of young testosterone-filled males who over-aggressively speed & weave through traffic. Making the situation much worse is that California law has a grey area which allows motorcyclists to drive between vehicle lanes. This is what led Brad Pitt to have his little incident in the picture above. (Yes, that is Brad Pitt.)
When we lived in San Diego, Bryan had a big, nasty, beat-up redneck K-5 Blazer--we loved that damn thing! He had a motorcyclist come up on his rear quarter, carelessly weaving between the lanes, who ended up clipping the Blazer--falling over just like Brad Pitt. Bryan swears he heard applause from the other cars on the Coronado bridge that morning, and we've laughed about that incident ever since. However, we later ended up in a heated argument about it with a woman who thinks motorcyclists have every right to weave between lanes...are these people out of their minds? If it was me in my then-new Trans Am, I would've probably got out and beat the shit out of that guy for denting my car!
I don't mind sharing the road with these people--I enjoy riding motorcycles myself--but I cannot be responsible for their recklessness and stupidity.
And that's all I have to say about that.
1 comment:
As one of your friends who is an avid motorcyclist, I am sure you might have expected me to chime in with my 2 cents. We must realize that in all aspects of life, there are those who don't follow the rules. What grinds my gears in all of this, is that guys who do this sort of thing when they ride make all of us who ride look bad. I personally hate it when people see me on my bike, and immediately think that I am an idiot like all of the other riders they have seen out there weaving and pulling wheelies in traffic. As a safe and careful rider, these guys/gals who do this sort of thing offends me probably more than it does those of you who are driving in your cars & trucks.
Allen
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