RSSEveryone has a terrible story
31 Aug 2009 2 Comments
in Motorcycles, Soapbox
Everyone knows someone, or knows someone who knows someone, or has read about someone, or has seen someone on TV who was horribly injured in a motorcycle accident.
People who do not like motorcycles (or who don’t like the idea of me on a motorcycle) take a special pleasure in regaling me with these stories. It’s been happening ever since I first decided I wanted to ride a motorcycle, which was when I was approximately ten years old. Twenty years of horror stories tends to make one immune to the hyperbole.
You know what? I understand that a motorcyclist is at a higher risk of death or injury than a car driver or passenger. I know (firsthand!) that drivers do not see motorcycles on the road. Motorcyclists die. They get horribly mangled.They aren’t riding in a safe 3,000 pound cage surrounded by airbags.
I’ve been in a semi-serious motorcycle crash as a passenger, caused by an inattentive driver who ran a red light. That was the day I decided that I was done being a passenger; if I ever got on a motorcycle again it would be to learn how to ride it.
(Not that I blame the rider at all; I’m grateful for his quick-thinking. It saved us both from being hit by the car which would have been unimaginably worse.)
I knew I was addicted to riding the first time I went for a ride on the back of an ex-boyfriend’s GSX-R 400 (now that was a neat bike). Even though it was November and goddamn col I knew about two minutes into that ride that I wouldn’t be happy unless I got my own bike someday.
People take large and small risks everyday. Some people will never feel comfortable with the risks associated with riding a motorcycle. And that’s okay. I feel that I have taken the precautions I need to do in order to minimize the risks (lessons, proper gear, not riding like an asshat). I know that a lot of the risks are out of my hands: I can’t take the cell phones and Blackberries out of the hands of drivers, or teach them to look for motorcyclists (and scooters, cyclists, and pedestrians for that matter). I can’t take the idiot riders and make them better.
I’m not an idiot rider, but I’m an ignorant rider – I know that there is a lot more to learn. But ignorance is fixable. I know my limits and for now I’m content to ride within them. When I’m ready I’ll go somewhere safe (track days, Pacific Advanced Riding School) and start improving my skills and learning more.
I know people are concerned about me, but please spare me the horror stories. You aren’t going to change my mind. I love bikes, I have for many years. I do my best to stay safe.
