requiēscat in pāce - motovlog - tribute to a friend  By  ungabunga (Read 437 times)

Nice tribute.

I understand all too well. Back in the 1960's several of my riding pals were killed in traffic accidents. Some were their own fault, doing something stupid. Others were victims of drivers who just were not paying attention (and THIS phenomenon is many, MANY times worse today) because of texting, phoning and the TV screen dashboards on modern cars. What ever became of the sensible 1950's practice of having dashboard controls with different tactile knobs so a driver could turn on the headlights, wipers, control the radio, heat, AC and all that stuff simply by "feel" WITHOUT taking his/her eyes off the road?

I do NOT want to have to access a video menu to turn on my headlights. Or windshield wipers. Or heat, AC or defrost.  And for the love of God, PLEASE stop driving with your eyes glued to the satellite positioning map on that doggoned TV screen.  Would someone PLEASE bring back PAPER road maps so you HAVE to pull over to read how to find uncle Bubba's house?

And in fairness, this idiocy is NOT limited to car and truck drivers... Two years ago, I was on my scooter at a red-light. The light turned green, and, through the cross-traffic full-red came a lady on a Vespa. She must have had a "cruise control" of some kind, as she passed through the red-light riding no-hands, both thumbs happily texting away.

Cars were skidding over curbs, all over the road frantically trying to miss her. They did. And she never heard the honking horns or screeching tires... Just absorbed in whatever she was texting... She was no brain-dead kid, either: rather a 30-something stylish business lady dressed to the nines, but no helmet of course.

Several times while at a red-light, I've checked my mirrors to see a car approaching my rear with the driver absorbed in texting. I've always been able to quickly get my scooter out of the lane, usually over the right-hand curb... while the approaching vehicle slammed into the one I was sitting behind just seconds previously.

That has happened three times in nine years of scooting. All three times, the offending driver was hurt badly enough to keep him from running away on-foot. All three times, the offending driver was an illegal alien driving a stolen car.

The Texas DOT published a report last year stating that on our freeways, one out of four cars around you is STOLEN. And the drivers cannot read English, and have no knowledge of traffic control lights and signs.

And... nearly HALF of these "drivers" are between 11 and 15 years old, and the car they stole represents the FIRST time they've even been behind the wheel. But they are expert at texting... LO not so L.

I've been driving since I was 12 (yeah, in 1958 you could do such things...) and lived through the "Leave it to Beaver" and "Ozzie and Harriet" years. In a heartbeat, I would give up my computer, cell-phone, color TV, instant this and that, etc. and drive a carbureted dinosaur car, Harley or Cushman with points and condenser ignition to go back to those simple times when everybody had a gun and seldom ever had to use it...

Riding a bike then, was probably 10% as dangerous as it is today. But being stupid would still kill you, or somebody else.

So... Watch your mirrors, watch the lanes next to you and always err on the side of caution. One mistake can easily be your last one...

Ride safe!

Leo in Texas

PS: Anybody want to take bets on just how surely a "driverless car" will recognize your scooter?  We have had to deal with brainless drivers, NOW we have to deal with driverless cars.  So, I suppose with NO DRIVER, there's NO RESPONSIBILITY when the thing hits you... Cheesh!