On Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:49:55 -0500, the infamous snipped-for-privacy@teksavvy.com scrawled the following:
The 3 most likely causes are:
1) Human error. It's hard to judge the changes in others. HS = 20/20. 2) Complacency (if not redundant) and 3) Potential costs, which brought about our current policies-- The Smart Person learns from his mistakes. The Wise Person learns from the mistakes of others. And then there are all the rest of us...
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Because there's some that will sympathize with such a mind tormented so much that he went and killed a number of people. I doubt it was an intentional act. Not saying it's right or wrong.
You're again correct. My apology and excuse were woefully insufficient. Obviously an act of contrition is demanded.
I will, therefore, sit in the corner for an hour and feel shame.
I hope that will prove sufficient to regain your esteem.
Ah, a well-rounded and literate contributor.
Nice to have you with us.
Sounds like the biker method of being blind sided by some fence post.
Then you're opening the door to being attacked at some time in the future with those very weapons you helped them build. Not very likely. Tools that enable other countries to "visit" the USA in person I suspect would be considered serious taboo.
Heh. Yep, preferably with your middle finger raised to the rest of the world. : )
;-) Sounds a bit like the chickenhawks of the Pentagon.
Greg G.
It happens. A lot. Sometimes in traffic, mostly with big trees on the twisty's in my part of the world. If I recall correctly, stats for this country show a bike rider is 5 times more likely to be killed than a car driver. One big problem we have, is that so many car drivers act as if you're not there, so getting cut off or forced out of a lane is a common occurrence. In the bad old days of my youth, we would carry a length of chain. Any "cager" (car driver) that deliberately cut you off or forced you over subsequently recieved a length of chain across their hood or windscreen as we passed them. Does wonders for the paint work .... and their driving habits. Getting too old for that sort of behaviour now, which is probably a good thing. It's also an effective, if dangerous, method of transport in heavy city traffic. Traffic jams don't exist for bike riders. We are permitted to lane-split, so when two or more long lines of cars are stacked up at the traffic lights, or moving at a slow pace, we ride between cars to the head of the queue.
Bike riding is one of the few things the "Nanny State" hasn't managed to interfere with much, (apart from making helmets mandatory)....... yet. Hence its appeal. I let them take my guns, .... wasn't using them any more, and the possibility existed of some idiot stealing them, so it didn't worry me. I will *not* let them take the bike. : )
diggerop.
Don't have the stats for the US, but the advent of cell phones has worsened the situation. Defensive riding is a requirement for survival on any continent. Survived youth and was pretty aggressive on the twisties. Also built and raced SCCA type cars. Don't ride in the city anymore, however - the drivers are too distracted and thoughtless.
Over here, the balls from large ball bearings are effective against an errant driver's windshield. But again, cell phones make this problematic. The public attitude seems to be that poor driving habits and inattention are excusable, property damage is not. And the "law" mostly conforms to this attitude. Then you have the elderly to contend with...
Never too old for vengeance. Or behavioral correction measures. ;-)
Bought my first street bike (Honda CB900F) to travel to work down an interstate which took 5 minutes to travel on off hours, and 1.25 hours to travel during the commute hours. That was 2.5 hours a day I didn't want to give up. The scenic rides through the mountains were a secondary benefit. Crazy chicks are drawn to them as well. One of the leading items on my bucket list are to ride the length of New Zealand. Another is to drive a Porsche 911 Turbo Carerra balls out at Limerock or Road Atlanta.
I've owned both, and will give up neither. And believe it or not we still have a couple of states in the US which are helmet optional; Florida being one of them. Besides, beyond a certain speed, the helmet is only for identification purposes. ;-)
Greg G.
I don't think they treat us any different from anybody else, it's just that if we get hit we lose.
I don't expect it to save my life, but I do expect it to spare me some pain. Road rash on the face won't kill you, but it will make you _wish_ it had.
One of my favourite 'rewards' for cutting me off (especially truckers) was to ride the edge of the road and toe my steel-toed boot into the gravel shoulder and whip up a fountainous flurry of gravel which would invariably take out a truck's headlight or two. A fellow rider did that once and was pulled over by the cops and was asked if he knew anything about this truck who had radio'd in a complaint. My friend emphatically denied this as the copper was staring at his one,- totally devoid of polish- boot. He let him go.
Also, I was told, don't hang around in the next truck-stop too long after pulling one of those showers. Those bastards have radios.
I haven't had a bike for 29 years (the age of my oldest daughter). That is about to change...he said...dreaming of an antique r60 BMW.
I once saw a group (guessing 10 or so) of Duc riders thunder by me on The Great Ocean Road in Oz. I was standing by the side of the road after having peeked over the guardrail to the waves way-way-way down below... I think it was some sort of club, they were all in red leathers and red bikes(of course) They were moving. Sounded like a swarm of nuclear bees. THAT left an impression on me...enough to make that a bucket-list item.
No need for the chain anymore. The way cars are built these days, a heavy boot works wonders. The last cell phone talking, SUV driving bit** that tried to take my lane got a dented door for her trouble. The only way to stay alive on a bike is to ride like everyone is trying to kill you.
I haven't had a bike for 29 years (the age of my oldest daughter). That is about to change...he said...dreaming of an antique r60 BMW.
Nice. And addictive. A former workmate has two of them, one with sidecar. Late 50's I think. Keeps getting offers to buy them, but I think he'd sell his wife first.
diggerop
I wear a helmet, and have worn harnesses or seat belts since a teen. Only laid it down once; a drunk driver ran the sign on a side street on a Saturday night. This was 23 years ago, and the brown looking marks on my arms are still visible. I'm not sure, but think there is still some burnt asphalt in there. Glad it's not on my face - there's plenty of fugly there already.
Greg G.
No. We haven't had a war since WW2.
I've been off a few times, only once was it bad. Riding home in the country, doing around 85 mph on an unsealed road and someone had pulled a wire gate across a shared laneway to direct a mob of sheep into an adjacent paddock. (common occurrence in rural Oz back then) By the time I realised it was there, I was skidding down the road like I'd bee flung out of a catapault, face down and trying unsuccessfully to turn onto my back. Shredded my leathers and a lot of skin too. No helmet. Two weeks before I could walk or use my hands. Promptly sold the bike, a Kawasaki Mach 111, fastest thing on two wheels in it's day. And lethal. Went back to riding ponderous old cruisers.
diggerop
The first week I rode mine on the street I was buzzed by a large group of Harleys, sans mufflers of course. 25 or 30 passed on both sides in my lane and scared the bejees out of me at first. Not sure but think they may have either objected to rice burners on their roads or were testing the nerves of the unknown rider.
The friend who had owned several bikes for years and bugged me to buy one so that we could ride together wrecked his on the way home from the bike shop when I bought mine. We were flailing a twisting mountain road and he hit a culvert, broke the front forks and never rode again.
Greg G.
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