Ash

Ok.. let me start off by saying that I know that there are alot of people on here with bikes and people who like to rip around on their cars. So call this a rant, call this a warning.

I just got 101S here at about 11:00am on Saturday morning. My "encounter" was in moderate traffic.

about 20-30 bikers going roughly about 10-15 mph faster than traffic. That's not really the thing that concerns me so much as their irresponsible driving. Now I don't have a problem with people driving 10-15 mph faster than me on the freeway, in fact.. if you are, I'll do my best to get out of your way. What happened here was that this group of bikers comes up on traffic, zipping in and out of lanes, causing the flow of traffic to slow, and in some cases swerve. Lane splitting, 2-lane changes around cars, revving, rapid speeding up and slowing down... all that good stuff.

I also know that when people are on their bikes they have to "drive defensively." Sure, do what you need to to survive. But keep in mind that all my sympathy goes down the drain when I see this type of behaviour.

It wouldn't have been hard to imagine some mom in a Navigator, talking on the phone with one hand, other hand half on the steering wheel and holding her Starbucks driving along going 65 in the fast lane oblivious to the traffic around her and then all the sudden she freaks out when 5-10 bikes are wizzing around her, she jams on her brakes, swerves, takes out 2 bikes, and proceeds to cause a big pileup. Mind you that I obviously don't think her driving is safe to begin with, but then we can only be as safe as the person driving next to us about to hit us.

my point? Don't do that crap... and if you absolutely have to? 11:00 am on busy Hwy 101 between 92 and 84 isn't the place to do it.

Rant off

s2kpdx01

army of darkness is great!!

xviper

Collective Behavior sometimes equals Moronic Behavior!
Oh well, the world needs organ donors and sooner or later, a percentage of those types will give back to society.

samlee888.com

wait were they driving sport bikes or harleys? cuz if they were a bunch of middle age crisis cocasian overweight men on their loud harleys, i saw that crap too. they're all part of some weird 'crew,' although the guys i saw weren't doing dangerous maneuvers. they actually just occupied the far two left lanes piling up traffic a bit.

Voodoo_S2K

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Ash
[B]It wouldn't have been hard to imagine some mom in a Navigator, talking on the phone with one hand, other hand half on the steering wheel and holding her Starbucks driving along going 65 in the fast lane oblivious to the traffic around her and then all the sudden she freaks out when 5-10 bikes are wizzing around her,

Ash

I think it's one thing for A biker to whizz by, and that is usually over before you know it started, but having bikers weaving all over the road being unpredictable isn't safe, isn't helping the situation, and it would be just as much the fault of the biker as it would be the driver.

There are always bad drivers out there, choosing to ignore their existence doesn't make them go away.

At the same time that you are a biker and are tired of people saying they hate it when bikes go whizzing by.... this group of people definitely isn't helping your cause any either.

Everyone's instinct is to avoid an accident, and when you have a pack of guys driving very erratically around a bad driver , they might swerve to potentially avoid one accident only to cause another.

Brian@Partshelper.com

I don't think he meant that bikers were necessarily at fault for what soccer moms in navigators should or shouldnt be doing. However i do believe that it would be in everyones best interested to use a little more caution when riding. Don't get me wrong, i love bikes and the last thing i would like to see is a biker splattered on the side of the pavement

Penforhire

I ride and I have no issue with lane splitting. The only point I agree on is the relative speed has to be kept down so you're within maybe 15 - 20 MPH of traffic you're passing. Otherwise you will "come out of nowhere" and spook the cages. But the soccer mom in the Navigator never looks behind her (or next to her) so that cow will be spooked no matter what we do.

Whenever I'm riding in traffic I feel like a phantom because I can slip through traffic as if it wasn't there. That's part of the thrill.

VTECS2000

I agree 100 percent with Ash on this. I think that alor of driving defensively is always being alerts for someone to pull out in front of you or do seomthing stupid. I think people should not be allowed to have as many distraction while they are driving. My mom does that alot, like she will call people just to talk to them while she is drving home from work. Sometimes it really scares me the way she drives and how many distractions she has.

I also think that cutting in and out of traffic at 11 is dumb too. Especially on a motorcycle. Think if the guy on the motorcycle would have an turned to sharp and fell and a semi would swerve to miss him and cause a chain reaction slamming one car into another. This all would have of not happened if the guy on the motorcyle (or even car) would have of used his head and thought before he did soemthing dumb.

Ash

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Penforhire
[B]I ride and I have no issue with lane splitting.