motorcycle fatality

[gleek]

Backing up traffic for miles.

[gleek]

Just passed the corpse. He was still laid out on the asphalt. Coroner hadn't even shown up.

[Spanky]

Sad.

[Aske]

 

[birdymaker]

yeah, we had one on one of our major roads this morning during rush hour. closed it down for hours.

on a motorcycle on a freeway during rush hour is no place to be in metro detroit. "cage" drivers are aware of the mismatch and us it to their full advantage. 

[spacey]

Dude. 

Nothing makes you more acutely aware of your own mortality than riding a motorcycle on the freeway during rush hour. I installed an air horn on the bike yesterday (the factory H-D horns are woefully inadequate). Had opportunity to use it twice today, and am pleased with the response it generates.

[MFAWG]

Seeing alot more bikes and scooters on the road.

I'll assume fatalities will skyrocket, particularly on scooters which require no endorsement or training AFAIK.

So, idjits will get out there and drive them like they drive their cars, which they aren't, and bad things will happen to them, which they do.

[MP]

and i was seriously considering buying a new 2008 ninja 250r .... 

[gleek]

Seeing alot more bikes and scooters on the road.

I'll assume fatalities will skyrocket, particularly on scooters which require no endorsement or training AFAIK.

So, idjits will get out there and drive them like they drive their cars, which they aren't, and bad things will happen to them, which they do.

Well, some people shouldn't be driving their cars like they drive their cars either. Hopefully, more scooters and motorcycles will mean smaller cars on the road too. One of big factors in this country's love of beast mobiles is the perceived "safety" in driving a 3-ton vehicle because everyone else is driving a 2.5-ton one. Don't want to be bringing a knife to a gunfight, after all.

[spacey]

Seeing alot more bikes and scooters on the road.

I'll assume fatalities will skyrocket, particularly on scooters which require no endorsement or training AFAIK.

So, idjits will get out there and drive them like they drive their cars, which they aren't, and bad things will happen to them, which they do.

It seems every single day there are more two-wheeled vehicles on the road. I see it as both good and bad. Good because the more of them there are the more drivers are forced to watch out for them. Bad because obviously not every new bike on the road represents someone who actually knows how to operate one.

Utah recently changed its licensing requirements for motorcycles/mopeds/scooters. It used to be that there was one motorcycle endorsement. If you were legal to ride a 90cc scooter  you were legal to ride a 2.3 liter Triumph Rocket III (which I really want to go test ride). No motorcycle endorsement was required to operate anything 50cc or smaller. So you could go take your endorsement test on a scooter and be perfectly legal to ride a 'Busa or a Big-Twin. There are obvious problems with this.

As of sometime in July there are now three tiers of endorsements, <249cc, <649cc, and >650cc, and they are related to what size bike you test on. Still not perfect, but better. There is no legal requirement for any sort of formal education/training. If you can pass the (very easy) test, you can get the endorsement.

As a side note, Laura is taking her MSF course this weekend. They'll test her on a 250cc which will be good enough to ride her 500cc shadow. In response to Utah's new licensing requirements the MSF is now providing a couple of 650s and will allow you to take the course on your own bike providing it meets a couple of requirements (which I have no idea what they are).