Monday, July 23, 2007

PLEASE WATCH OUT FOR BIKERS

I ride a motorcycle once in a while, and I have come across a problem. People DO NOT watch for bikers. Case in point; Saturday I had a woman almost run me into a wall. She never looked in her mirrors to see if it was clear. She just came over to my lane. She had three kids in the back seat whose eyes got as big as saucers. Think about this: If she had hit me (I always watch and try to anticipate before they know what they are going to do. And it has kept me alive and wreck free on a bike so far.) what would those kids may have seen would quite possibly have been traumatic for them. I may have lost a limb (gruesome), or may have been killed. What would that have done to those kids? They may have been messed up for life or at the very least been scarred for life. You don't ever get that picture out of your head. About one mile later, I almost got ran over by a police car that was getting on the interstate with lights going. No siren, just lights. I had to hit the shoulder to keep from getting hit. You may not know me or even like me, I don't care. What I do care about is that I and other bike riders can ride safely without worrying about getting run over. But as long as there is inattentive driving we will have to watch out for you BEFORE you see us. Just like when around a big rig, PLEASE GIVE US ROOM. It doesn't take as long to stop as a truck, but if we have to shut our bike down in a hurry, it can be dangerous, so we need a bit more room. AND PLEASE signal so a rider knows your intention is so we can compensate to prevent a wreck or our death or dismemberment. Thanks for letting me vent. And a BIG THANK YOU TO ALL THOSE SAFE DRIVERS THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES.