2496 Muffled is not the problem

Sunday, July 12, 2009

It is a little-known fact that the job of the Vice-President
is to act so freakin' crazy
that no one wants to assassinate the President.

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[Note - I know some people who ride motorcycles, and at least two of them do read here, and please understand that the following is not directed toward you guys, because I'm sure you don't do crazy things. You have brains and are interested in self-preservation, so relax. You're ok. I hope.]

I've heard several motorcycle riders say that loud is safer. I saw many signs and stickers at the antique motorcycle show a few weeks ago saying that loud saves lives. Non-riders hate loud motorcycles, just as much as they hate cars with bad mufflers.

The theory is that if automobile drivers can hear you coming, they're aware you're there.

But not hearing them is not the problem! It's not seeing them that's the problem.

In the past few weeks, I've had several close calls with motorcycles, and I'm one of those people who carefully maintains a double distance when I'm following a motorcycle.

Leaving the motorcycle show I was very aware that there were bikers on the road. And yeah, I could hear them, especially because they were traveling in packs. And yet, I almost got ploughed when I started to turn right from route 9 onto 199. They apparently didn't seem to feel that they had to wait in line for the light, and when it turned green, they jumped line and zipped past all the cars waiting for the light on the right! Not even on the road! I did have my turn signal on, but there was a big truck behind me, so maybe they didn't see it. Doesn't matter. They should have been in line with traffic, waiting their turn through the intersection, not passing on the right. I didn't expect them to be there. Being loud didn't change that.

Being loud doesn't help when you play fast and loose with the rules.

Being loud doesn't help when you're traveling at 20 or 30 mph faster than the speed limit.

Being loud doesn't help when you weave in and out of traffic, with little regard for lanes.

Being loud doesn't help when you're going so fast you have to swing wide on right curves.

Being loud doesn't help when you run lights and stop signs.

Being loud doesn't help when you "come out of nowhere like a bat out of Hell".

Being loud won't save you when your actions piss off so many drivers so much that they don't really care if you do "get what you deserve". They might know you're there, but you've taught them not to care. In fact, you've taught them to be downright antagonistic.

When you are traveling much faster than the speed limit, you become invisible. Inside a car even if we can hear you we can't always tell what direction the sound is coming from. We can pull out from a stop sign and run right into you - not because we couldn't hear you, but because when we looked down the side road before pulling out, you weren't there! Nobody sees a vehicle coming around the curve doing 60 in a 35 mph zone. You are invisible.

That's why in so many accidents the automobile driver says you "came out of nowhere". You were somewhere you weren't expected to be, and wouldn't have been if you followed the rules.

Thursday I got very annoyed at a guy on the Thruway weaving in and out of multiple lanes with no regard as to whether drivers would expect him to be there or not. Yesterday morning I got pissed off at a cyclist zooming down the center line at a good 15 mph over the speed limit on a two lane mountain road with heavy slow traffic in both directions. I found myself hoping he'd meet another center-line cyclist at the top of the next hill. I even fantasized what I'd say.

Before stabilizing his neck, I'd ask, "Wassa matter? Didn't you hear him coming?"

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I'm not convinced loud is safer. I don't think it makes any difference. I think following the rules and being where drivers expect you to be and doing what they expect you to do is safer. I think the "safer" argument is a cover for your desire for noise. A manifestation of your arrogance - your desire for bigger balls - which is evident in the way you treat the road and the other drivers who share the road.

[Um - this doesn't apply to you folks who ride with courtesy and respect. Yeah, you. The one who thinks she goes too slow.]
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