Motorcycle Journal

February, soon it’ll be Spring. With this marvelous season comes warm weather, nice flowers, shorter skirts and comforting sun. For myself however, it also means a new motorcycle season. Motorcycles bring a sense of freedom, of peace. Whenever I’m on my motorcycle, my mind is solely on the current moment, the “here and now”, for two main reasons–to appreciate the moment in itself but also as a means of protection. No one can deny the fact that a motorcyclist is less protected on his motorbike than the automobile driver behind the wheel of his car, surrounded by a metal cage (for motorcyclists, drivers are often referred to ‘cagers’ for that reason). The motorcyclist thus has to be more conscious of what is happening around him, and not just in front of him.

The dangers are numerous and having only two wheels, although sometimes an advantage, has its downsides: The little patch of sand or gravel can be as slippery as sheer ice, as can be the small pools of oil or radiator fluid. However, the biggest danger (aside from himself, but that’s another topic) is the automobile driver. It is obvious that a motorcyclist is less visible on the road than a SUV or a small car. For this reason alone, the motorcyclist has to be more aware and cautious. But it is not only the motorcyclist who has to be more aware, drivers have that responsibility as well and must take the time to look correctly before each maneuver they are about to execute. But the biggest threat, in my humble opinion, is the cell phone. I have stopped counting how many times I had to brake, swerve and simply use the horn to avoid being rammed into by a car because the driver was too busy holding his cell phone against his left ear. Sometimes, the driver would notice my presence and correct his path while giving a look meaning “sorry!” but other times they probably noticed my presence when my headlight showed “out of nowhere” in their rearview mirror. I never stay beside a car and much less in the car’s blind spot.

The main issue is awareness. I have no trouble admitting that my driving habits have changed since I took my motorcycle classes (for us Quebecers, classes are mandatory). We cannot force everyone to take motorcycle courses, but a focus on awareness is critical. I haven’t yet seen an awareness program in North America although there are apparently some in Europe as shown by this publicity:
http://ruiner.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/howclose.mpg

When will we see this kind of publicity on our continent? Not sure, but there’s definitely room for some awareness.

Ride safe.

Louis Savard

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 21st, 2006 at 2:52 am and is filed under Motorcycles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.