Saw an accident yesterday, a woman in a tiny car needed to cross a busy road to get to a side street. The same street I was on, so I had a head-on view of her.

The first lane she crossed was the left hand lane ofUS1 northbound (backed up, stopped due to light)
The second lane was the right hand lane, now the middle lane, (backed up, stopped)
The third lane was the turn lane, not stopped or backed up.

Believe it or not I was watching her eyes the whole time and I KNEW she was gonna do it. She just accelerated through the lft/middle breaks in the stopped car when a medium size 'casino ' bus rammed her broad side. The car was pushed about 5 feet.

My point is that most people have forgotten how to be aware in their cars, cell phones, stereos just general head-up-the-assness that a dose of 'oh my god I am on only two wheels and I don't have a seatbelt or an airbag' might cure.

 

I don't know what it is about cars, but I think people forget that they are piloting 2000lb missiles down the road.
The thing that gets me irate is cell phones and driving. Don't even get me started! Since it's been warm here, people are driving with their windows down. I've done this a few times (I would do it more, but I don't really want to be an *** or make riders look too bad): Pull up at a stoplight and be next to someone with their window down talking on a cell phone. I just rev it up to about 5k or 6k and hold it there while giving them the evil stop-talking-on-your-phone-while-driving look. The D&D pipe is usually enough to get there attention. Still, I don't think they care, but at least maybe they'll think about what they're doing.

 

People on two wheels need to learn how to drive as well. How many threads do we see about,

1. What's the fastest you've been on your bike (99% are on public roads)
2. How do I make my new bike faster, I've mastered this 600 after a month
3. Look at my mad wheelies on the freeway

A higher percentage of motorcycle riders drive like crap, especially younger, noob riders. I agree that people in cars need to be more aware, and not just about us but it isn't always the cagers fault, and riders need to look to themselves to be accountable as well.

 

+1 ^,

People on 2 and 4 wheels all need to pay a lot more attention. Everyone thinks it won't happen to them, and generally don't change until it does.

Cars are so comfy, its very easy to loose focus. I know I am guilty of it, and for that reason I try to avoid rush hour traffic on my bike. When people are tired after work,
they are not focussed on driving, so I just keep off the road wherever possible.

 

just the other day I was being tailgated something fierce.. I pulled intoa plaza and so did my tailgater... when I parked my bike I look over to see some hefty woman just chatting away. then when she got out of her car I said "Excuse me mam Next time you are behind a motorcycle" and before I could finish she rudely says "I DIDNT SEE YOU" So I responded "WELL GET THE F@#$ OFF THE PHONE WHILE DRIVING AND YOU WILL SEE THE BRIGHT ORANGE MOTORCYCLE" I wish they made it legal to drag people down the road for that crap.