“….He agreed that poor driving skills is one of the symptoms of an increasingly stupid public…..”

Hopefully this guy gets elected, however, from the sound of things he has his head screwed on correctly which is a determent in politics. Lets keep our fingers crossed for his election …. that, in and of itself would be a great beginning!

Keep up the good work from the left coast!

Over & Out,

Jeff

Just got home from a meeting with a conservative black mayor running for the CA legislature.

My message was that much of what is wrong in CA today goes back to the School System.
For decades the schools here have been gradually dumbing down students, trying to remove the concept of competition and trying to elimination “requirements” to achieve goals.

My suggestion was that, if he is successful in his bid for office, a good place to cut a busted budget would be to replace neighborhood high schools with regional high schools.

There would be two positive effects.
The economies-of-scale would provide the same service at a reduced cost. And there would be an added benefit of reducing the number of Leftist administrators who are at the heart of the problem.

He agreed that poor driving skills is one of the symptoms of an increasingly stupid public.

So, i “put my money where my mouth is”…… and also posted a sign on the front lawn….
Hope he gets elected.

I figure if i don’t do anything, i can’t expect change any time soon……

-nicker-

Roger that!

Jeff

RE:
“…This problem is not going to go away until motorist who kill motorcycle riders get stiffer punishments for their careless driving…”

Simply don’t see any judge sanctioning a “citizen” for “not seeing” a biker.
The legal system does a (not so subtle) value judgement.
Putting a ditracted mother in jail for killing a biker doesn’t score high on their “social justice scale.”

This has always been a problem. However, i believe it’s worse now the because general public’s driving ability is going down the toilet. People behind the wheel these days:
-1- don’t really know how to drive a car.
-2- don’t know the traffic rules… and,
-3- don’t obey the ones they do know.

IMHO, about the only way this is gonna turn around is to tighten up driver’s skills across the board. And that’ll be tough because it cots time and money. People here in CA expect not to be retested for years, routinely getting new licenses in the mail without setting foot in the DMV.

Moreover, driving is a necessity for most people. Any comprehensive testing measures would be seen as draconian by an increasingly stupid general public.

When a society has gotten to the point where it will graduate a functional illiterate for high school, you have a recipe for just this sort of social disaster… and many others.

IMHO, anyway.
-nicker-

The only “Snap” I heard was from other bones in my body breaking …. Thank God!

I agree that a helmet will only work in and under certain conditions. Fortunately I didn’t receive a scratch on my head in the accident, however, my head did “touch” the ground and I had the awareness to jerk my head up so as not to “smack the melon” anymore than I already had. My Son, who was behind me when the accident happened, thought that my head had bounced off the ground when I had “jerked” the melon up so hard.

As in most accidents the car that pulled out in front of me had the driver reciting the “I didn’t even see you” mantra, and I am sure he didn’t. He didn’t see me because, like most non riders, he wasn’t looking for a motorcycle.

Diane:

“This problem is not going to go away until motorist who kill motorcycle riders get stiffer punishments for their careless driving.”

I couldn’t agree more, however, the bulk of society do not ride nor do they give a second thought to any of us who do. In fact most would like to see motorcycles and bikers disappear from the American Highways all together. Therefore changing the laws and having the “elected officials” such as judges and District Attorneys enforce the laws, even if the laws were changed, will be a major undertaking.

Over & Out,

Jeff

Responsible drivers save lives, and educating the ones that are just learning how to drive to share the roads safely with motorcycles.

This problem is not going to go away until motorist who kill motorcycle riders get stiffer punishments for their careless driving. The ” I did not see them” mentality, is getting old and laws have to change to protect motorcyclist. Lets hold careless drivers responsible for their careless actions, after all they get to go home every day to their families, and we who are left behind get to go to the cemetery and suffer the pain, grief, and agony for the rest of our lives.
God Bless, and Ride Safe
Diane/Mother on a Mission

Of course, Europe has another motorcycle-culture than the US, and that’s what makes us looking at it in a different way. We simply didn’t ever know the experience of driving a bike without a helmet.

It’s a bit the same discussion about wearing your seatbelt in a car. There are big pro’s and even big contra’s. If you ask around, you will find a lot of people who are going to tell you the fact they didn’t wear their belt saved their live. On the other hand, you will find as well people who will tell you the belt did save their live.

RE : BOBCAT
” Since the helmet adds extra weight that your neck has to carry & the helmet bounces when it hits the ground, gee I wonder what will happen to the neck? **SNAP** To each their own…”

Don’t see it as a one-way theorie,
I don’t see any motorraces (GP, Superbike, Supersport, etc….) with guys wearing no helmets. And they do fall off their bikes (sometimes more than they like to) at high speed. Not all of them do have severe neck-injuries after a crash.

Helmets are no “wonder-items”. It may not give you a false safety-feeling, pulling you drive faster. Just see it that way, sometimes it does protect you from worse.
I am well aware that if I crash at 150miles/hour, into a truck that crosses the road and did not see me comming, it doesn’t matter much if I wear a helmet or not.
And here I reply to you again ;
RE “same-o same-o excuse “But officer I didn’t see the motorycle.”
It is sad, but here I fully agree. As many of you know, I’m a police-officer, and me also, I heard this one (to) many times. (I lost a very good friend that way 20 years ago)
Sometimes, the responsability is on both sides. Some car drivers are not aware of the speed of a motor bike and some bikers simply think the road is their own private circuit.

Me, iff I don’t wear my helmet (or seatbelt) I feel naked.
IMHO

Peace and ride safely (however you do it)

Greetings,
Gustian

I am not trying to say that helmets should not be worn but I am just giving you something to really think about the next time you snap that bucket on your head. Talk to the paremedics who comes to pick up the riders after the crash. Or the people in the emegancy room. I think they will enlighten the issues of wearing helemts.

But the real issues of motorcycle crashing is because of the
same-o same-o excuse “But officer I didn’t see the motorycle.”
That’s why motorcycle saftey education is so important… AWARENESS. The Aussies seem to have it together maybe the United States can learn from them. I for one feel that before people should be allowed to drive a car they should operate a motorcycle for 1 year. Imagine how the motorcycle crash stastitics will drop because of the fact, “Hey that could be my kid.”

To each their own…
Ride safe
Respectfully,
BobcatBikerLady

Once you pass all this you are then issued a license which restricts you to riding a motorcycle with an engine capacity no greater than 250cc for a period of 12 months. After this 12 month period you can then go and perform another practical test (same as above) to obtain your unrestricted license which then allows you to ride a bike not limited in engine capacity.

This might sound draconian to most of you, but I think it’s a good idea, and was most than happy and thankful to spend that first 12 months of my riding life gaining experience on a bike that didn’t have too much power for someone of no previous riding experience.

I would imagine that our road toll would be a lot higher around here if every hot headed young 18 year old could go from riding a bicycle, get a license and then jump straight on a Hyabusa or R1…

I just wished that people in their cages would respect the bikers
They can see a Bicycle so why cant they see us? Maybe they drop the cell phone or the latest craze is texting while behind the wheel. But its not these excuses folks what it is is that people feel safe behind the wheel of a cage and they get so wrapped up in their own little world they forget about the surroundings.
People are hitting livestock in the middle of the roads so why would they not be neglegent and hit a biker?

I think with gas prices effecting the economy and more people are driving motorcycles people will wake up because it is going to get to the point of everyone will know someone who owns a motorcyle to get back & forth to work. Too bad people have got to pay the ultimate price.

Hey Cyril Thanks for the email.

Come on and ride the wind…
BobcatBikerLady

Are sport bikes harder to see? I wasn’t riding above the posted speed limit and in the case of the two really close calls I was below the speed limit by quite a bit. The bike has ultra brite HID lights on the front and I know darn good and well it can be seen even in the brightest of sun. The bike is mostly black but I would think that that wouldn’t matter so much in the daytime. I have ridden many black bikes and never had a day like that.

With all that being said, I promptly went to the local MC store and bought a top of the line full face helmet, riding jacket with body armor, riding pants and gloves. I gave the little DOT half helmet that I had been wearing for the past five years to a guy standing in the parking lot, suited up, rode home, parked the bike out front with a For Sale sign on it and appologized to my wife for buying the darn thing in the first place.

I live in a no helmet law state but have always worn one just because it’s my companies policy and my life and health insurance are void if I have an accident without one. And besides, who’s going to walk my little girl down the isle when that day comes if I’m in a box or sitting in a wheel chair drooling on myself. I have 30+ years of accident free driving under my belt (sans a few stupid moments where I was riding beyond my ability off the road) but it seems even though there are more bikes on the road than ever the cage drivers are less able to see them.

I don’t know what defines “the best helmet money can buy” but I’m going out on a limb and guessing that a $300 one will offer more protection than a $49.95 one. (I went the $450 route, not that I couldn’t afford the $800 ones they had there, the $450 one fit good, looks good and I liked it most.)

In addition to ever-increasing bad habits on the road, senior citizen’s decreased driving skill is also a big topic that should not be forgotten.

After a collision with a cage 100″ from my driveway last year, i dont get on the bike w/out a hat on my head…3 broken ribs were painful enough, for long enough that it woke me up to the fact that as careful as I might be…shit will happen…and it is up to me to be prepared for every possibility….

As an aside, when i was in the ER with my wife – she asked me if I was wearing a helmet…and then reached up and pulled some dirt out of my hair….crying…if I had crashed 10″ further down the road, my head would have hit concrete and not soft dirt – and she would have been buying a box for me..so in this particular instance, a helmet would have helped.

I decided to view this as a wake up call and a 2nd chance, I am sure many would have simply gone on…biz as ususal….. its all about making the right decisions – for yourself…

“Nothing is the same after a head injury”……. I keep that in mind when i think “do i need to wear my hat?”

In So Cal. That’s a great Idea ! But as simple as it is it wont ever happen because it is to simple and a bureaucrat didn`t think of it. PS, Sorry Cyril I`m not trying to slip politics into the blog again ! LOL

As someone has already asked….how is that determined that it is the best?
Helmet or no helmet, when your time is up it is up. At a funeral if the deceased was wearing a helmet then it’s open casket.If the deceased was NOT wearing a helmet then it’s a closed caket funeral. It seems that most of the stupid and inexperienced riders are wearing helmets these days and they are the cause of the Sharp Rise In Motorcycle Deaths.