The wrong message?

[AZkatana]

they do say 'distracted driving' causes the most vehicle collisions ('they' being the local police accident investigator i was talking to) but he wouldnt admit that cell phone usage behind the wheel causes more accidents than any other distractions - said there was no data to suggest that.
(i think he's full of it - i drive for a living and 98% of the people i almost kill everyday are on the phone and not looking for the BIG WHITE VAN i'm driving and at least that many of the people trying to kill me on my bike are on the phone as well)

what i think is interesting, though, is that this is a largely american phenomenon. in fact, for the longest time, german auto makers couldnt understand why americans were putting drink holders in cars because they were supposed to be DRIVING.
of course they cater to the consumer and now have all the creature comforts we americans expect, but take a while to examine just what it takes to obtain a drivers license in europe as opposed to here, or a motorcycle license. i believe that half of the licensed american drivers wouldnt pass a european test were it given over here.
talk about the wrong message, what about creating the market for these gas guzzling beasts that our housewives carelessly hurl at each other on our roads while drinking their starbucks, yapping mindlessly on their cell phones and changing the disney dvd for the curtain climbers in the back seat?
i dont think they're saying 'you dont have to pay attention while driving our car', i think theyre saying 'we know youre not paying attention, so we've made our cars as safe as possible'.

[Clint]

Good post, AZ. I agree.

[chrisan]

Agree with AZ I had to take a months cource before I took my drivers license back home and it was expensive. Bike licence is tough too.

[chrisan]

Why Americans are so obssessed with MESSAGES and STUFF THAT OUR KIDS SEE.
Frankly I wonder to this day, although I've been living here for more than 6 years....

[chrisan]

Originally Posted by RowdyRed94

People will be distracted, no matter how much you tell them not to be.

[kwc50]

I was talking to my friend yesterday, the one who first rode with Ben Franklin (or maybe it was Moses), but anyway... while we were looking at his new Ultra Classic, the subject of the MSF classes came up and I asked if he ever went back to brush up. He said "no" and then started telling me about his experience at the PGCC course...

According to John, his class had two instructors and during the practice portion one of them took one of the Honda Rebels, buried the peg in the asphalt, and spun the bike around in circles while standing on top of it. At the lunch break, this same instructor gets on his own bike -- the name didn't mean anything to me, but it sounded equivalent to today's crotch rocket -- and peels across and out of the parking lot. John happened to be standing by the other instructor and asked him what lesson this guy was trying to teach the class. The second instructor gets defensive and says "hey, he's an EXPERIENCED rider" as if that excuses everything.

I'm just wondering if anyone else has had similar experiences or if this was an isolated incident?

[z281982]

If you get hit by a train, then theres one less stupid person on this planet. Period!

[tlwisner]

Originally Posted by kwc50

I'm just wondering if anyone else has had similar experiences or if this was an isolated incident?

I was very impressed with the 3 instructors that did the MSF course I took. They enjoyed riding, one a Goldwing, one an UltraGlide, and one a BMW K1200S. No squidliness, no telling anybody to buy a racing bike. Just three very experienced riders who knew their stuff, not expereinced in being idiots.