Lonewolf
Living near the capitol city in California I had the opportunity to respond to a young journalist who has been stirring the pot on Lane Splitting by Motorcyclists. I resisted on his first article but now the Highway Patrol have made some recommendations for it's safe execution. They are also initiating a study by UC Berkley researchers into MC related deaths. Here is my response:
I have got to confess, when I read your initial article I
wanted to peel the hide of your backside. I cut the article out and was
going to write seething comments suggesting that you mind your own business,
learn not to speak out of turn and stick to subjects you know something
about. Your slight, less than manly appearance would have received
some derisive comments as well, suggesting that someone of your stature
should wait until they grow up before launching into a man’s world (sorry Lady
Riders). Although I am pleased to hear that others of my riding brethren
took the low road and chided you leaves me to take the high road and attempt to
share some of the feelings and beliefs of an aging and well heeled rider.
First off, we enjoy the double edged sword of public
contempt created in part by the flawed premise of the 1953 movie, “The Wild
One”, staring Marlin Brando, the fear and contempt tends to push the general
public to avoid us when riding and protects our motorcycles and belongings when
left unattended on public streets. Don’t let that fool you, many of us
bikers are well paid professionals who don the gear and enjoy the seemingly
rebel lifestyle on weekends, sort of like friends with benefits. What we
are not is stupid unthinking idiots with a death wish and low moral character
needing those that fear us and don’t understand us to save us from
ourselves…………….thus the rancor and angry rhetoric you stirred up with your
first article.
Part of the joy of motorcycling is risk taking, the
adrenalin rush, the taking of chances, with the ultimate goal of keeping she
shiny side up. This tendency towards the daring scares the uninitiated
and leaves riders with another black eye, the label of lawless rebel, we just appear
to need the Nanny State of the well-intended to take care of us.
That having been said, we also believe that instead of
turning to the Liberal Berkley Elitists’ for answers to something they know
absolutely nothing about, with the potential for recommendations that would
limit our uninhibited use of the roadways, the Highway Patrol should take the
time to understand Motorcycling, make it part of their Accident Investigation
training so they could properly investigate motorcycle accidents, properly report
on their causes and make safety recommendations that could genuinely make
riders safer.
As with the false presentation of facts at motorcycle
accident scenes by the Highway Patrol, you, in your latest article on Lane
Splitting, tied the 414 CA motorcycle deaths to lane splitting by not
separating deaths caused by lane splitting from the total.
Therefore, you actually provide fodder for those fearful auto
drivers who have been unintentionally frightened by a lane splitting motorcycle,
reinforcing their belief that it is unsafe. If you are to grow up to
become a real reporter, you need to learn to present information fairly,
completely, taking the time to thoroughly investigate the subject you are
writing about. Which takes me back to the Highway Patrol Reports on
motorcycle accidents. When an officer who does not understand
motorcycling writes a report on a motorcycle accident he is completely out of
his league and thus not qualified to write the report, but this happens more
often than not which skews the data provided by the Highway Patrol against the
rider. So we riders feel under attack by those who do not understand us,
all attempting to limit us in some unfair way, taking away part of the joy of
motorcycling.
Now on the safety side…………..I am a rider that pushes my
skills and my motorcycles capacity while riding. Highway 193 from Lincoln
to Auburn, Highway 49 from Auburn to Cool, these are my playgrounds as are many
other two lane twisty roads throughout California, I live for the twisty bits,
the challenge of cornering at twice the cautioned speed for the particular
corner. Yes, rebel, yes, risk taker, but I have been doing this for over
20 years and have not lost control of my bike, never laid it down, and
generally with my darling wife on the back. We choose to take these risks
for the sheer joy of it all, the sights, sounds, thrills and chills. We
are not just driving to work, we are taking pleasure from the roads we ride,
exercising our passions and are moved by our experiences. We Are
Motorcyclists! We also acknowledge that there are others of our brethren
that haven’t got the skill set, haven’t any training and are too egotistical to
acknowledge that they need to learn some things before taking on a challenging
ride. Here are some principals that are typically missed and are at the
very heart of the accident rates among today’s riders:
1.
You go where you look. This
may sound like voodoo, but it is a natural reaction of man and motorcycle that
if ignored can become the very cause of loss of control accidents, especially
in corners. How, when a rider enters a corner he/she is to drop their
eyes and follow the line of the corner as the bike follows the eyes. This
helps position the rider over the bars for proper steering input and also
weight distribution which can also aid in directing the bike through the
corner. Riders that do not understand this principal can become
distracted by oncoming traffic, a belief that they have entered the corner too
fast, etc., and become focused on one the thing they fear the most………..a belief
they will impact the telephone pole, the guardrail or the oncoming big rig and
when the fear directs the eyes to focus on the object of their fear they will
assuredly impact it! Unfortunately, the uninitiated Highway
Patrolman comes upon the scene of a deceased motorcyclist that has failed to
keep his motorcycle in his lane and impacted some object in the oncoming lane
or shoulder and determines and reports the rider was riding too fast for
conditions and heads for the Doughnut Shop to write it up.
2.
Counter steering. This may be
the basis of the largest debates within motorcycling. As the phrase
indicates, motorcyclists must steer the bike COUNTER to the direction they are
intending to turn. The input is generally slight but the gyroscopic
nature of motorcycle steering causes the bike to pull itself around the
corner. When misunderstood or not acknowledged and applied properly,
counter steering can leave an inadequately trained rider to panic while
cornering and immediately divert to #1 above. Again, a Patrolman coming
on scene of a fatal accident caused by improper steering input cannot possibly
report the actual cause of the accident and falls back to the typical response,
rider driving too fast for conditions.
3.
Accident Avoidance Training. Again,
this is a skill most riders are unprepared for and usually because they are not
required to learn the skills to become a licensed rider and once a rider have
too much ego to admit they have something to learn. Some people are
simply more prepared for developing these skills by personality. My
brother in law always states he would love to ride, but he does not think he
has the mental aptitude, the concentration and focus to handle emergencies and
would probably kill himself. Many of my fellow riders may also be in this
category but lack the skill of self-evaluation before purchasing a bike and
joining the club. It takes cool calculation and a change of skills from
Automobile to Motorcycle operation. How so, well, when a sudden slowdown
occurs in front of your car you would typically lift your right foot and apply
the brake with as much force as necessary to avoid a collision……….often times
causing skidding having over applied the brake……..better more brake than needed
rather than a collision from behind, right? Not so with a motorcycle, if
a rider finds himself in the same position, having to avoid abruptly slowing
traffic and uses the same skills he/she typically uses in his daily driver he
will either go home sore from the experience or worse, cause his machine to
lose traction in the rear and should this bring the bike into a sideways skid he/she
would most normally be ejected from the bike in what is in motorcycle parlance
called a High Side and once on the pavement said rider is subject to be beaten
to death by his tumbling motorcycle or run over by the surrounding
automobiles……..OUCH! Stupid does hurt. A High Side ejection
from a motorcycle can also occur in cornering when a rider panics, thinking he
has entered the corner too fast and applies the brakes to reduce speed.
Proper use of a combination of braking options is a skill best learned quickly
by motorcyclists. We typically have front brake applied by our right
hand, rear brake applied by right foot and engine brake applied by downshifting
to the rear wheel. The combination of application of each of these brakes
in various conditions can dramatically increase a bikers opportunities at
accident avoidance but conversely can and is a major cause of loss of control
during emergency conditions. Other skills needed for accident avoidance
is the prudent application of throttle and placement of the bike in traffic,
simply put, the rider has to have extremely good judgment, the capacity to read
traffic and avoid positioning himself in situations that pose additional risk
of accident, sometimes using a quick belt of throttle to exit such circumstances
quickly before avoidance maneuvers are required. Riders should understand
that in areas of freeways and city streets where merging is done, the
automobile drivers selfishness is at its highest, they will bolt to change
lanes, typically hanging in the fast lane until they feel they have gotten
ahead of the line of exiting cars then dive, one, two, three lanes at a time to
land in the exiting lane at the last possible moment, causing cars to stab
their brakes in avoidance or swerving partially or fully into other lanes to
prevent a collision……………a biker should not ever find himself in these
conditions, he/she should anticipate these messy, accident in the making areas
and place himself in the far right lane until the mayhem is over. The same
applies to areas where traffic is merging onto the roadway a rider is in.
Automobile drivers assume that their air bags, shoulder belts and the brakes of
others will gain them forgiveness for making the three lane dive from merge
lane to fast lane. Anticipation of this type of behavior must be sensed,
observed and avoided by motorcyclists. This is just a minor synopsis of
Motorcycle Accident Avoidance but as any uninitiated observer can see, there is
a lot more to riding than driving. What is worse is the folks that
typically drive and only occasionally ride, it takes discipline to master these
skills and when an occasional rider pulls the dust cover off his/her bike for a
ride with friends after driving the family minivan for weeks, those skills are
not as present and the potential to mix up car operations and motorcycle
operations in emergencies are increased dramatically as will the potential for
fatal accidents. Again, this is an intangible for those 1st
Responders reporting on the cause of motorcycle accidents and depending on
those witnesses they can find who have negative views of riders who assume such
maneuvers as lane splitting as dangerous, riders get slighted in the reports
and unrelated causes can become the focus of the report.
4.
Ride Your Own Ride. Many new or
returning riders can’t check their ego at the door. When joining friends
on rides they feel they look stupid or will be mocked for not keeping up.
This exercise of ego can be life threatening, leading some to outride their
skill with deadly consequences. Each rider must check his ego and ride at
his/her own level and patiently gain the needed skills to keep up with more
experienced riders.
5.
Drinking & Riding. Not to say
it is OK for automobile drivers to drink and drive, but with so much more skill
required of motorcycle riders to be truly safe, drinking and riding is
absolutely stupid…………but within a certain segment of bikers a typical
practice. Some segments of the riding public do what is termed “Bar
Hopping”, riding with a group of friends from one bar to another throughout the
day visiting, playing darts and pool, etc. While socially fun, the
potential is not being capable of responding appropriately in emergency
situations, misjudging a corner or becoming so complacent as to misread
critical traffic cues and not making appropriate avoidance maneuvers.
Safe motorcycling requires much more judgment and vigilance while on the road,
no mind altering additives can be accepted.
I do not want to bore you with more detail and believe I have
provided enough information to help clear up the issues related to motorcycle
deaths. I have coined a phrase, “You don’t know what you don’t know until
what you don’t know kills you”, as a way of explaining the whole of
motorcycling and motorcycle deaths. Too many riders don’t have enough
training and/or experience to be allowed to ride. I will divulge that my
wife has an MC endorsement on her CA Driver’s License, but has neither the
training, aptitude or experience to ride or justify the endorsement and she has
had to do absolutely nothing to maintain it for decades. With this
endorsement she could run down to the Motorcycle store and buy a liter race
replica motorcycle capable of 178 mph, but should she be allowed to? What
we need to do is quit bantering about technical details of riding, such as Lane
Splitting, this is only brought up because it frightens automobile drivers
sitting inattentive in their cars when a bike whizzes by…………..it has frightened
me on occasion as well………….but then they pick up their cell phones and call the
Highway Patrol and complain. The real discussion should be TRAINING,
requiring motorcyclists to take a certain number of CEU’s of training from
certified providers so that they can become skilled at techniques required for
safe motorcycling, it is that simple. A more skilled rider will be a
safer rider and a safer rider will live longer.
As a grievance, I hold that the lack of interest on the part
of the Highway Patrol to properly educate their staff on the real causes of
motorcycle accidents, properly investigate and report on them is part of the
problem. Then with a lack of adequate information they commission Berkley
researchers to provide answers to something they know nothing about, even the
old HURT report on MC accidents/deaths was admittedly flawed due to a lack of
properly defined information provided by reporting officers. There was
simply too little information to create a reasonable hypothesis as to why nor
enough to suggest remedies. Then there is the lack of Journalistic
Professionalism for not properly investigating and reporting on the subject.
Journalism requires an adequate investigation into a subject and an
unbiased assemblage of facts on which to base a conclusion. Your
reporting did not address the many W’s of responsible journalism, did not aid
the public to understand why lane splitting is acceptable in California, did
not inform the public whether lane splitting is being reported as causing
excessive motorcycle deaths, nor did it provide any other valuable
information…………………..a puff piece at best.
Please feel free to talk to someone who intimidates you,
perhaps a biker, get some perspective to add to your reporting. Quit
hiding your squirrely, skinny, goofy little ass in your office repeating what
you get over the wire……………it may not be true! Don’t be afraid to balance
your reporting by investigating. Interview an AMA sanctioned Rider
Trainer, there have been classes held at Sierra College for years. Just
don’t skew the public mindset against riders with biased reporting…………….get the
facts! I would be pleased to answer any questions you may have about the
most important thing in my life, MOTORCYCLING!
Brian Davy
