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Starting Member
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Last Login: 6/21/2008 8:28:39 AM
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 A Rider's Plea For Attention
In light of all the recent meetings and near misses with cars, trucks, and SUVs, I'm working on a draft of a letter I can cut and paste to the editor of the Bee and other media. What many of these incidents stem from is inattentiveness on the part of the general driving public. I plan to send a copy of this to as many forums as I can as well as the editorial staff of as many news papers as I can find. I'll forward a copy to everyone in my Email address book as well.
Can you help me draft such a letter? Save the sarcasm, (I've got that covered), I'm going for 'sincerely concerned for one's personal safety' on this one. I am trying to achieve a(/n inter)national open plea for awareness to all automobile drivers. Will you help? Any and all suggestions you offer will be seriously considered and greatly appreciated. I'm realy looking for ways to cut it down while retaining the tone and message.
J
A Rider's Plea For Attention.
Dear car, truck, minivan or SUV driver, I am writing to you in an attempt to draw your attention to the rising number of motorcycles appearing on the roadways these days. As gas prices soar, more and more people are turning to the motorcycle as a form of economic transportation. I'd also call your attention to the fact these vehicles do not enjoy the luxury of crumple zones which you all do. Inadvertent contact with a motorcycle might not affect you much but the effect on a motorcyclist is often disastrous! Sadly, many of these contacts could be avoided by simply checking your mirror and over your shoulder before merging into another lane.
In the past week of commuting, I have experienced four incidents where an automobile driver has merged into my lane while I was occupying it. In two of these incidents the driver continued to merge even as I sounded a long, loud, continuous blast of my horn. In one of those incidents, I had my son on the back seat with me. Were I half as inattentive as these drivers, I might not have been writing you today...and my son might not be starting school next fall. Fortunately, these inattentive drivers are the minority on our streets.
It would be easy to blame all this poor driving on cell phones, but they account for a small portion of the distractions which present themselves in an automobile cockpit. No, I believe inattention is the root cause of the problem. The lack of awareness of what is around you, especially before you change direction in your vehicle can cause problems which sometimes lead to fatalities.
I understand your frustration with people riding irresponsably, I assure you I am not one of them. I am just trying to get to work, or the store, or to the hills where I can enjoy a nice relaxing ride with a minimum of traffic.
I figuratively stand before you and beg you for my life. I beg you for the life of my children who both share the love of motorcycling that I do; and for the lives of motorcyclists everywhere. Whether you know it or not, you all possess the power to kill. You also possess the power to save lives by granting us your attention.
Please, check around you for other vehicles before changing lanes and merging with other traffic.
I thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
Larry W Peer RN BSN
Motorcycle Safety Foundation Ridercoach
Father of Daniel and Melody
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Starting Member
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Last Login: 11/27/2008 8:53:26 AM
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| Jester, I can't think of anything to add to your very well composed letter. The only advice I would give is to send it!! Please check PM for some ABATE of California contacts that are also actively involved in Motorcycle Awareness
DEDSLED "Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not all out to get you."
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Junior Member
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Welcome to the forum Jester. I think your letter is very well written and I hope it has an impact. Having said that, I'll be honest with you...always a dangerous policy. If you feel a need to increase your likelihood of survival in today's traffic, you would do much better by spending your time and energy analyzing your traffic smarts. So many incidents suggest you could do things differently. In all honesty, the common denominator in all these close calls is you. Hate me if you will, but you owe to yourself and your family to be honest (there's that word again) with your evaluation.
Wife,R1,Kendon,Mountaineer,Alpinestars,Levis,Bose
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Junior Member
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Last Login: Today @ 6:40:29 AM
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| I agree with RePete. We are the ones with the problem. If an SUV pulls out in front of me because the driver wasn't looking, I'm the one who's accountable. His insurance may pay, but I'm the one who gets hurt or dead. It's up to me to drive defensively and anticipate the idiots who pull out in front of me. when I pass another vehicle on the freeway, my thumb is always on the horn button and I'm as far to the left as I can get. Before I start across an intersection with stop signs and other vehicles, I try to make eye contact. I wear bright clothes, etc. I consider the "See Motorcycles" campaign a waist of money.
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Junior Member
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| I'm with you guys - ride like nobody else knows you're there.
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Senior Member
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| Not to minimise the importance...or the agreement(s) I have with this letter...but you're fighting the human situation: "If I'm bigger than you are.......", plus the almost non-existant STANDARDS of GETTING a drivers' license...like it's a RIGHT...and not a priviledge...iit's too easy, I'll betcha' if we (America) ever came up the German standard ($2000 and extensive training over many months) these "I never saw him..." or worse...would be substantially reduced. But that ain't gonna happen....so we plod along......
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Junior Member
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| A well written message, but I feel it will fall on deaf ears. First of all, where should it be published? How many will read it? Worst case scenario will have some dimwit reading it from a newspaper while driving down the road! I'll have to go along with other's suggestions to evaluate your own driving skills and attitude. While motorcycling is a somewhat dangerous undertaking, the risk can sometimes be managed -- it all starts with the rider. I've been riding 57 years. I consider myself a very conservative rider, mostly in a touring mode, but with no compunctions about riding in traffic, light or heavy. I've never had a collision with another vehicle, tipped my bike over only three times with only one of them in motion. I can count on one hand the number of times I've had another motorist violate my right of way where evasive action was needed. I wish I knew the secret of success -- maybe it's related to how one considers other motorists around oneself. I consider ALL of them potential hazards and give plenty of space AND attention to what they appear to be doing while driving. Lots of extra space is given to cell phone users, moms with kids in the car, and anyone else who appears to be distracted. I believe in a method, sometimes called the Smith method, of keeping your eyes in motion, with NO staring of more than 1.5 seconds, even less if possible. Head checks are important as well as mirror checks every 2 seconds or so. I try to know where everyone nearby is located and hopefully I have a plan to get out of their way quickly. When someone gives me a break I ALWAYS respond with a friendly wave -- sometimes they even wave back! I'll give way rather than claim my right of way. I don't use the middle finger much, preferring a thumbs up or down to those who deserve it. I often get a one fingered salute back, but who cares? I consider a horn a courtesy, letting someone know of my presence, but NOT as an expectation that they'll get out of my way. If they ignore it okay, at least I tried. I especially try to engage motorists in conversation whenever practical, hopefully communicating that I'm human too. Gas stations and restaurants are often good for this -- maybe I've softened an attitude or two this way over the years. A riding buddy once told me I sit on a motorcycle like a cop. Maybe that's true, although I don't know why that would help much in traffic. I do try to keep a smile on my face at all times, maybe that's helpful too. I act like everyone's out to get me, mostly because they're NOT thinking much about what they're dong behind the wheel. Having motorcycled in Norway, Sweden and Finland a couple of times it seems those drivers are MUCH more conscious of driving and are much smoother operators, especially in heavy traffic. I suspect European drivers, in general, are more conscious of motorcycles and scooters simply because there more of them on the roads. Their traffic laws seem Draconian by our standards, but then the laws seem to expect more from the drivers too. I saw several motorists pull over to answer a cell phone or make a call in Norway -- no one seemed bothered by having to jog around them at the roadside. Our tour guides would do that if receiving a call -- making a call ONLY took place when they were stopped. The Scandanavian countries seem to have very polite people and that extends to their driving -- something we could use more of in the U.S. Ray Nielsen, in Minneapolis.
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