Do I actively want to kill or harm someone on a motorcycle? No, not really.
But, nothing infuriates me more than those yellow yard signs and bumper stickers that say “Check twice to save a life! Motorcycles are everywhere!!!”
Most of the time, it’s motor cyclists who are riding like absolute dicks.
Why is it solely MY responsibility to be careful for motor cyclists when they’re the ones lane splitting at top speed, swerving in and out of lanes erratically and tailgating me?
Fuck motorcyclists.
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> Do I actively want to kill or harm someone on a motorcycle? No, not really.
You’d hope it would be “No, not at all”. But gotta use that fake outrage.
Don’t put all motorcyclists into the same category.
There are responsible motorcyclists out there, but they’re not generally the ones that are remembered.
Same, I don’t know why motorcycle riders think they get some kinda award, special treatment or badge of honor because they chose a stupid mode of transportation. I’m going to look once and if you slam into my car running 150mph that’s on you and your family to set up the go fund me.
I think your opinion is “motorcycle drivers should not drive like assholes” which is not unpopular.
I don’t think it is solely your responsibility. The signs don’t say check twice because motorcycles never need to check. If you’re driving a car or a motorcycle you should be cognizant of everything around you.
Yeah, most of the time.
The dickheads who ride like they’re the only people on the road suck and are real nuisances, but there are good motorbike riders who don’t do that.
Are you willing to risk injuring one of the good ones because you have a grudge against some stupid people?
100% true
Imagine being upset at a bumper sticker that reminds you to have the slightest bit of situational awareness.
Is it that hard to check your blindspot? Are you in a neck brace?
It’s your responsibility because you’re operating heavy machinery that can easily kill pedestrians, cyclists, and bikers.
Other people being shitty drivers or riders is not an excuse for you to be one, too.
“No not really” lol
Thats not how blind spots work
You dont do it for them. You do it so you dont get a first hand view that imprints on your brain just what happens when a moving human suddenly becomes stationary.
lol OP thinks those signs are saying “check twice because motorcyclist are important” when really they’re saying “check twice because motorcyclists are hard to see”
The nurses in the ER that I completed my emergency medicine rotation at called motorcycles organ donation machines. Kinda morbid and insensitive, but that is healthcare personnel humor for you I guess.
My motorcycle thread got deleted yesterday lol thank you
The point of looking twice is because you have blind spots, and they are a much smaller thing to see. If you just take a glance, don’t see anything, and just go, it doesn’t matter if the motorcycle is doing something wrong or not.
It’s the same as the saying “look left right and left again, to be a good pedestrian”
If you just look left, see it’s clear, and walk, you are in the wrong. Same functions while driving, observe multiple times, then make your action. It is your soul responsibility to drive safely with others. As it is with all others
Plenty of people in full size cars drive like idiots. Are you not looking twice at them?
What about how police drive? Looking twice at them?
Who says it’s solely your responsibility? The sad fact of the matter is that a lot of drivers are careless and simply don’t pay attention to what’s in front of them.
I used to ride a motorcycle (didn’t ride like a dick), and I quickly realized that I needed to pay much more attention to other drivers. I couldn’t tell you how many times someone cut me off or almost forced me off the road because they simply weren’t paying attention or doing proper shoulder checks when changing lanes.
Do you know what the most common explanation is for vehicle accidents involving motorcycles and buses? “I didn’t see them”.
Not excusing the driving behaviour your describing. Lane splitters, tailgaters and high speed swerving are all irresponsible, regardless of whether the vehicle has two wheels, or four. 😉
Fuck bad drivers!
lol this is so true. Whenever someone is on a loud ass Harley all I can think about is the South Park episode
OP hasn’t ever heard of a blind spot. You should always check twice or you might kill yourself.
You can tell from this post OP is a bad driver.
The point is that people do not see motorcycles as easily as cars and, regardless of looking, will still not see them coming. The same is true with bicycles and pedestrians. We are all too busy looking for larger vehicles.
The problem is not all drive like assholes. Most don’t. Apply that logic to gender, race, identity and see where you land.
Motorcyclists are actively taking an optional, RIDICULOUSLY dangerous form of transportation and that risk falls entirely into their hands. I also fully agree that motorcyclists, on average, drive like asshats (especially in the Midwest, at least)
That said, it is every drivers responsibility to check twice regardless. So I guess… half unpopular opinion?
I check twice to save my own life. Other people getting saved is a bonus.
I’ve met only a few who drive like assholes. A lot of them drive like they have some sense.
Have you ever ridden a motorcycle?
Two things can be true. A lot of motorcyclists drive like assholes, and motorcycles are small and easier to lose in your blindspot. You should check twice to avoid running one over.
It’s my duty to know what’s around my car when I change lanes or turn… I even look for cars passing legally or illegally and bikes in shoulders and shit.
If a motorcycle rides up splitting lanes going 40mph faster than cars that’s suicide.
The ones driving like dicks aren’t going to be saved by looking twice. They’re coming up too fast, you wouldnt see them even if you look thrice.
The point is that motorcycles are smaller and don’t register to your brain as automatically as cars. So the ones driving politely can easily be invisible to you for a moment. If that moment is at the wrong time, your car gets dented and they die.
I never see those signs but yeah motorcycles speed a lot. In 20 yrs of driving I’ve never seen one go any lower than 60 mph unless in stuck in traffic
As a cautious rider, heavy disagree. I can’t say that for every rider because there are some that ruin it for us, too.
I have never had as many people not see me, push me out of my turn lane and into traffic, cut me off, etc than when I am on my bike.
I drive cars and ride motorbikes.
I’ve done both in countless countries.
Europe and America have a serious blind spot when it comes to motorbikes — simply because there aren’t many.
If you perform an overtake without checking and kill a motorcyclist then you’ll be in jail for dangerous driving.
You should check twice for ALL THINGS while driving regardless of it being a bike or car or pedestrian. Motorcycles move faster and there’s fewer of them and they’re smaller so just keep them in mind.
you should absolutely check twice regardless. don’t drive if you cant look out for hazards
Don’t people always check twice anyway? Like I’m looking after my own life 😂
As many as 2/3 of motorcycle accidents are caused by another vehicle entering the motorcyclist’s right-of-way.
Really these two issues are unrelated. Sure, many motorcyclists misbehave and put themselves at risk. But, even in a world where that never happens, there’s still an effect where drivers just fail to notice motorcycles existing.
To combat this, many motorcycles have modulating headlights and taillights, and many riders use high-vis clothing. But the problem remains.
As a motorcyclist, fuck motorcyclists!
Most of the time is not all the time. Yes, some of them ride like assholes, but a motorcyclist riding correctly should be watched out for. If you run into a motorcycle who was near you riding correctly, and you come out saying, “well I didn’t check for you because most of you drive like assholes” it isn’t really going to fly
Motorcycles can be hard to see. So you could pull out in front of one even if it’s not driving like an asshole. The sign is warning you to be cognizant of this.
Are you also not looking around at pedestrian crossings and when turning over a bike lane?
You’re driving a two ton machine – it is legally, practically and morally your responsibility to take every precaution to avoid injuring others with it. If you hit a rider who’s been legally lane splitting beside you – you will find yourself behind bars.
In many cases if you hit a rider who’s been illegally lane splitting – you’re also going to jail. Because looking where you’re moving your car is still your responsibility.
YTA.
oops wrong thread.
But you are.
Stop generalizing for one thing.
Yes, there are motorcyclists who drive like assholes. Those are the ones you notice. What about the other 90% of bikers who drive respectfully? And what of jackasses in cars? I would say that douchey driving is not limited by the number of wheels.
When you ride a motorcycle, the best way to stay alive is to imagine that you are invisible- to never assume that someone sees you. Because often, they do not. A good percentage of collisions happen when a car is making a left turn and plows right into an oncoming biker. Why? Because the driver did not notice the biker.
I don’t think it’s solely your responsibility but if they ride into you, you get hurt too. I agree with you though, most motorcyclists are dicks and they act like they own the road. They act like everyone else is just supposed to get out of their way.
The sign is to remind you that sometimes what looks like a gap between two cars that you want to merge into is actually a motorcycle on the far side of the lane (often lots of crap in the middle, so riders tend to follow the wheels of cars) and you might merge into them if you don’t check twice. Not a rider myself, but have lots of friends who are.
Completely agree
I commuted daily on a motorcycle (in Florida) for 8 years. I like to think I wasn’t one of the bad kind of rider. I never split lanes or went 4 times the speed limit while weaving through traffic.
Riding a bike is terrifying, which is what kept me safe. But I wound up installing a 130dB air horn on my bike because the sheer number of drivers who are oblivious to everyone else is staggering. People changed lanes into ME, when I was clearly visible if they had just looked out their driver window, or the scariest is when someone is turning left in front of you, and you just have to dodge them or slam into the side of their car.
I’m sure that you aren’t the dangerous kind of driver, so those stickers aren’t for you. But there are plenty of people that need to be reminded that roads are also used by other people, both in cars and on other vehicles.
it’s on the motorcyclists to be extra cautious
> Fuck motorcyclists.
Vehicle racism. You can’t just assume a group always or mostly has bad behavior.
I ride and I have to agree, albeit reluctantly. Some motorcycle riders are aholes.
How about “Ride right, get home at night”?
Every single day where I live, multiple motorcycles drive on the divider between the highway and the HOV lane.
Every. Single. Day.
As a biker. We can do everything right. Wear hi-vis follow the rules of the road. Stick to the middle of our lane.
And still get killed by some dumb bastard that doesn’t look when pulling out of a side road because he is reaching for his vape.
We live in a country where every other inbred jackass finds it necessary to drive a 7000lb tank everywhere they go. If the occasional sign reminding you to consider motorcycles is that annoying to you, just imagine it’s one about bicycles or pedestrians instead.
>Do I actively want to kill or harm someone on a motorcycle? No, not really.
Only a little bit, then?
>Most of the time, it’s motor cyclists who are riding like absolute dicks.
this is categorically untrue. There are some, yes, but it’s not most.
I do not ride like an absolute dick and I don’t want to be killed because you can’t put your phone down.
—
Besides, the whole “check twice” thing only refers to the fact that they’re small and harder for you to see, not because they’re doing something wrong. If you change lanes and hit a bike, it’s still your fault.
just yesterday two motorcyclists cut me and my partner off.
we were in the left lane to (of course) turn left. they cut us off from the right lane to also turn left.
Cries in native Milwaukeean. The Harleys are out, and with them, the riders who operate like complete twat waffles. Some, not all. But a significant some.
I don’t want to harm a motorcyclist. What I WANT is for them to remain cognizant that if they pull a hairbrained bullshit maneuver, I’m in a 3500lb SUV. A collision with me or 80% of the vehicles on the road is gonna turn out much worse for them than someone with 4 (or more) wheels.
So maybe, just maybe, knock it off with the asshole bullshit.
i’ve heard it said that when you’re in a car or a truck it’s easy to overlook motorcycles because they don’t pose a threat to you necessarily, they’re just so much smaller. So the check twice is just to make sure that you are conscious of motorcyclist for their sake and not for your safety sake.
“Check twice because motorcycles are usually fucking invisible to motorists and generally aren’t predictable”
They always say that not every rider is bad but I swear to god any fking motorcycle that pass me on the road always do it in a zone where they couldn’t and going over the speed limit. Every. Single. Time.
You’ll find that everybody on the road has the view that “well all these other people are behaving impossibly, I’m doing just fine”.
And it’s that attitude that actually kills people.
Yes, others could be doing a much better job. Is it fair for you having to compensate for other people not behaving right? It’s not fair, bo, BUT IT STOPS PEOPLE DYING and saves either your life or the entire hassle that occurs when you’re involved in an accident where somebody dies.
Just LOOK
Do it for your own good. No matter how much it’s the other guy’s fault: of your involved in the death of a person and you could have avoided it, it stays with you for the rest of your life.
I get the point, but ‘most of the time’? Seems like confirmation bias to me. You have a predisposed dislike for motorcyclists so you remember the bad ones more. I’ve found that a vast majority of motorcyclists are responsible, safe drivers. Some are idiots, just like some car drivers are idiots.
I’ve had people merge I to my lane despite the fact that I’m wearing a neon backpack, white jacket, and my loud ass exhaust is right next to their open driver’s window.
So yeah, driver’s need to pay better attention.
You should be checking twice regardless.
Because you’re not supposed to kill people, even when they are reckless fuck faces
A few years back I was driving down the freeway. I put on my turn signal, checked my blind spots twice and then went to move into the left lane and suddenly there was a motorcycle that came out of nowhere Going over 100 mph. I almost took him out. He then got behind me and followed me All the way until I exited the freeway and turned into a retail store parking lot. He came up and tried to confront me like that shit was my fault.
I think the fault is equal overall. Yes, motorcyclists cause a lot of problems. But drivers, particularly distracted drivers, cause a lot as well.
The best general rule is everyone on the road should treat everyone else on the road with respect. When you “check twice,” you might notice a responsible motorcyclist instead of, to paraphrase you, one of the “usual assholes.”
You are correct
Here is a great video explaining why you don’t see motorcycles with a quick glance. Motorcycles don’t have to be speeding for people to nearly run over them. That’s not even accounting for at least 40% of people in their cars playing with their phone and not paying much attention to anything around them.
I’m a responsible rider, and let me tell you, there are way more wild, aggressive car drivers than bike riders, it’s not even close. Yeah there are some dumb riders out there, but cagers are fucking crazy.
I’ve had to slam on my breaks a few times while riding. I wasn’t doing anything crazy, nothing against the law, heck even going slightly below the speed limit in residential neighborhoods.
Would be nice if people, I don’t know, looked!!!!
Now as far as those asshats who ride aggressively? Yeah, I watch out for them. I’ll most certainly try!
But it’s hard when they’re going 2x the speed of traffic. No one expects that. If those riders don’t care about the lives of everyone, why should I care about them?
Imma assume everyone who cant take five seconds to doible check are the same assholes who pull up and stop in crosswalks at redlights only csre about themselves and getting where theyre going five seconds sooner
The same steps to check your blind spots for other cars that you should already always be doing also catches motorcycles in your blind spots. This just reads like you don’t want to check your blind spots.
It’s everyone’s responsibility including ours as automobile drivers… but on the flip side of the same token perhaps they shouldn’t be splitting lanes 30mph faster than the flow of traffic and driving 100mph+.
Because it sounds good to talk tough but when you’ve got a dead body in front of you and a court case to decide fault, it’s not going to feel so good.
Not quite sure why this needs to be explained.
Driving safely is everyone’s responsibility. Checking everything around you is a fundamental part of driving. When changing lanes, you start to blink, then check mirror and blind zone before you start changing a lane. Not just for motorcycles, but also other cars, semi trucks etc.
What you describe is a reason why there are so many motorcycle accidents: Yeah many do drive irresponsibly, and it often has serious consequences even when other drivers drive responsibly.
“Most of the time, it’s motor cyclists who are riding like absolute dicks.”
You don’t need to “check twice”, but if you’re moving lane and don’t check your blindspot for people undertaking you (bike or car), you’re the dick as much as they are.
So your opinion is that you shouldn’t have to drive cautiously because what other people on the road do? You should drive defensively regardless of the type of vehicles on the road. There’s a reason bikers have the mantra “ride like you’re invisible”. Because of people in their massive cages who have your cager mentality.
Either way do you want to be responsible for hitting them? I would guess no.
Nah, next time you’re a passenger in a car just look around at the other drivers in their cars. Half of them are eating, texting, doing their hair, looking down, doing anything but 2 hands on the wheel and driving.
Even if you follow every traffic law you basically have to ride with spidey senses up to 11 and act like you’re invisible at all times.
I was cruising the speed limit a few days ago on a back road and almost got wrecked by an Amazon driver who came barreling out of a driveway. Didn’t anticipate someone doing 30 out of a driveway onto a road.
Just chill out a bit and use your eyes it’s not an unreasonable request.
If a motorcyclist hits your car, your paint gets scratched. If your car hits a motorcyclist the police are mopping his brains off the road.
It’s not about who’s right or wrong. It’s about the consequences. As the person who has the potential to deliver vastly more fatal consequences you have more responsibility. Don’t like it? Get a motorbike I guess.
The reason you need to “check twice to save a life” isn’t because motorcyclists drive like assholes and they’re not where they should be, it’s because of psychology.
There’s something called “Inattentional blindness” where you won’t see something simply because you don’t expect it and you’re sort of in an autopilot mode. On your way home from work or school, making a drive you make very regularly. Maybe you’re thinking about what you’re gonna have for dinner. If you’re not fully paying attention, you can literally look directly at a motorcycle and not see it because you’re not paying attention and you’re only really expecting cars.
Getting people to look twice and think about motorcycles prevents that from happening
I’d be happy if drivers actually started checking once.
As someone who rode motorcycles for years but stopped because of safety concerns OP is correct that their are a lot of bad drivers out there. Both car and motorcycle drivers often suck, but some states make this worse by allowing certain motorcycle behaviors that “encourage” asshole driving by motorcycles.
The term “white-lining” refers to when a motorcyclist drives on the white line between two lanes treating this white line as a separate “motorcycle only” lane. Now most of the time motorcyclists are encouraged to only use this lane to pass other cars but some will stay in this middle section for long distances. But regardless of how they white-line it can be disorienting and surprising for car drivers and i consider the practice inherently unsafe.
White-lining is illegal in lots of states, however some states (like California) use it to help mitigate traffic and make it legal. This practice contributes to the negative reputation of motorcycle drivers and causes some of the issues OP refers to.
A surprising share of drivers put the brain on energy saver mode and simply don’t recognize anything smaller than a car.
Although that might seem incredible, it’s common enough that there’s an idiom among motorcyclists called “getting left turned,” where an automobile driver makes an illegal left turn into the motorcycle at an intersection.
Other common inattention accidents include pulling out of a driveway into a motorcycle and changing lanes into a motorcycle.
You’re really only noticing the ones driving like dicks. You don’t notice the ones driving respectfully because it’s expected and common… But you still need to take extra care to look out for them. They’re very easy to miss if you’re only half paying attention or not thinking about a motorcycle specifically
Knowing several people who have died while riding motorcycles, investigation and footage have proved that they weren’t the ones driving like assholes. For as many as there are that aggravate you there are even more that die due to other assholes on the road.
Those signs aren’t so you can watch out for some cyclist doing wheelies, they’re because motorcycles are much, much harder to see from inside a car.
This isn’t an unpopular opinion, it’s just a shitty one. “I shouldn’t have to do my due diligence when driving because other people are the problem!”
Fuck you.
You should check twice because even if they are assholes, do you really want to kill someone? Like, actually, are you that mad about Motorcycles in particular that you will be happy seeing their skull open on the highway, knowing you are responsible? Because you didn’t want to check your mirror for a second?
I don’t think most or even the majority of motorcyclists drive badly. Unfortunately some groups that drive in pacs on the sport bikes ruin the image as well as some Harley drivers with glass packs and loud music who insist on holding the clutch and opening the throttle when going through towns. Another thing i tske issue with is the double standard in some states. Active seat belt stops with citations and at the same time not requiring motorcyclists to wear head protection
I check twice because there’s lots of small cars that can sneak up as well. It’s just a good defensive driving habit.
Even if somebody else on the road is an asshole, simple defensive driving practices prevent you from ending up in an accident, prevent you from potentially being found guilty of vehicular manslaughter, and just generally makes the road a better place.
In the end, it doesn’t matter what the deal is with some other driver. They could be entering a diabetic coma. They could be having a heart attack. They could be having a seizure. You don’t have any idea why someone else on the road is driving, erratically, including a motorcycle. It doesn’t actually matter. Is your goal to get where you’re going safely and without hassle, or is it to pat your own yourself on the back for your moral superiority?
If your excuse not to take simple precautions when driving is because other people are assholes, then you’re now the asshole.
ill give you a more unpopular opinion: motorcycles should be illegal
Yes you should. Asshole cyclist or not, you are the one operating heavy (and certainly heavier) material. So the burden of responsibility is on you, even if the blame of riding like an arsehole is on him.
If you’re not comfortable taking on the bulk of the responsibility when dealing with people who are less protected—motorcyclists, cyclists, pedestrians, even people in smaller cars—then you shouldn’t be driving.
Bike rides who run stop signs are also irritating
Theyre the ones that need to pay more attention. Im the one in a protective metal shell that is a car
Motorcyclist lives matter
This should just be called the “I had a bad day and I’m complaining” subreddit
If you’re operating a heavy machine at high speeds it is definitely your responsibility to be aware of what’s going on around you. The presence of some assholes on the road doesn’t change this
If you want unpopular (on Reddit) do this about bicycles.
Anyone ever notice that those signs are often in the same yard as the “all lives matter” ones
OP probably believes in the epitaph of “Here lies xxx. He had the right of way.”
Motorcycles and even small cars or people can be hidden in blind spots while you drive, it’s why checking your mirrors more than once while driving is ideal and safer regardless of how other people act. Odd to have a grudge against safety advice but you do you.
I just stay away from cyclists. If they wanna gamble with their lives and act like hooligans that’s their prerogative. I’m not getting blamed for their stupidity.
I’d say you notice the cyclists who are assholes. They are not the ones we are worried about. We’re worried about the sedate cyclists who don’t get noticed when someone decides to change lanes without signaling.
When you’re given the right to drive vehicles weighing 2 tons, then you’re obliged to check a hundred times to make sure you don’t hurt anyone. Sounds like you shouldn’t be driving.
Idk I see a whole lot of assholes in cars and trucks too. Driving is at an all time low.
Either way, the way I was taught was that it’s your responsibility as a driver to help semis and motorcycles to the best of your ability, because they can’t just stop on a dime and the results of a bad move often end in death.
I was recently on the scene of a fatal car/MC crash. I don’t know what happened but the rider and two in the car were killed. The front of the car was totally demolished with the impact almost dead center. Skid marks indicated the car took evasive action. There were no skid marks from the bike. There was one survivor with serious injuries, a child in a car seat in the back seat of the car.
It seems to me that the MC was at fault. Any ideas how it could be otherwise?
It isn’t your responsibility. It is theirs, and they are the reason they get killed. I drive roughly 500 miles a day for work. The biggest problem causers are motorcycles and semis. The motorcycles ride between cars on the highway when everyone is driving 80 or above. The semis don’t even look before they do shit. The amount of semis I’ve seen kill someone or almost kill someone because they think they have to get over if someone is pulled over is insane. If you have space absolutely get over but these dudes are running people off the road at a high rate of speed for empty abandoned cars. Don’t tell me I’m wrong, I watch it happen every day.
You notice the ones that are driving like idiots. You don’t notice the ones putting along with traffic following all the rules. Those are the ones you need to check twice for, people hit and kill bikers all the time just because they didn’t see them.
It’s not yours, it’s everyones responsibilty. You have to check twice ALWAYS not just because of motorcyclists.
Okay but, yeah, actually, you should still check twice. Why? Because most people on motorcycles aren’t the assholes you like to think they are.
It should be car drivers checking twice AND bike riders not riding like assholes.
I love that excuse its as if me looking twice is going to change the asshole who thinks taking mountain roads at almost 100 mph is going to make a difference . Its not the drivers fault who’s now traumatized for life , idk how many crotch rockets I’ve seen on the highway dodge and weave through traffic like they are indescribable.
It literally takes half a second to “check twice” OP is a sociopath
If you’re feeling pressed about being asked to be aware of your surroundings while driving, I’ve got to assume you also drove like an asshole.
That’s the same as a conversation going
>Hey be safe out there
>Fuck you
OMG. This comment is everything wrong with giving a drivers license to anyone.
I don’t agree with all of this, but I will say that motorcycle drivers typically do drive more recklessly than car drivers. I think motorcycles themselves appeal to daredevil/immature types
Well, as a road jogger I constantly fear for my life. Biggest problem is people don’t need to look right when turning right, and I always expect to be hit. Same deal with motorcycles and left turns – people suck at driving and don’t properly look before pulling out.
Yes motorcycles can drive fast on the highway, but that’s not where the danger is. It’s on secondary roads where they get hit. Also don’t blow grass clippings on road.
You complete misunderstand the message.
Motorcycles are smaller, less frequent and easier for your brain to not register on one quick glance after thousands of hours of autopilot driving.
This attention span test is exactly why the phrase check twice exists, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo&pp=0gcJCdgAo7VqN5tD.
You are using asshole drivers as an excuse to not care about the good drivers.
You’re driving too slow
Bet op looks at their phone while driving
This is what happens when your brain doesn’t fully develop ladies and gentlemen
Same people with these signs will complain because there is a bicyclist on the road.
I dislike motorcycles because it adds so much unnecessary stress to my life.
I very would very much prefer to be not involved in someone dying while I drive to work. Lane splitters going 10 mph over the speed limit is not really compatible with that preference.
You just found the douchiest way to say motorcyclists shouldn’t be douchy
“No, not really.” is not the refutation you think it is. Dont think that would hold to a jury.
Downvoted because not unpopular. I also very much agree with your opinion.
Literally just check your mirrors, blind spot, and for the love of God use your turn signal before you initiate a lane change or slow down for a turn…. Not after you hit the brakes and your half way into the turn/other lane. That all anyone is asking. Just drive in a manor that doesn’t endanger everyone else in the road. If other people are riding like assholes that their problem.
No matter how the person in the bike is riding, the best thing you can do is drive in a predictable manor.
I actually ride a bicycle… like a pedal bike, for my only mode of transportation. It’s a 3.3 mile ride from my apartment to my waitressing job and I CANNOT tell you how many times during that brief ride I almost get hit by cars and I’m on a sidewalk the whole time. Cars come flying out of residential areas without checking both ways. Approach intersections without reducing speed at all, while I’m crossing.. because I waited for the walk signal to cross. Maybe you’re tired of people on their motorcycles, but a lot of drivers seem to not give a shit about those of us who literally are just trying to get from point A to point B like any other human being.
We are still human beings at the end of the day, you realize that.. don’t you? If you crash into us you know we most likely won’t survive or be able to recover from injuries like someone behind the wheel of a 3,000 lb car… right? Absolute morons are out there every hour of every day driving OR riding.
You are not entitled to the murder of a motorcyclist just because an amount of them does not drive properly.
You have to check twice. They have to check twice. We all have to check twice. So check twice.
I don’t care about your opinion of the morality of motorcyclists. Check twice. Them not caring about the rules does not mean you get to do the same.
Sincerely, someone who’s never been on a motorcycle and probably will never be.
I think you are misunderstanding what “check twice to save a life” means.
It doesn’t mean “some bikers ride like assholes so you should be extra careful for their sake”
It means “it’s really easy to overlook a smaller vehicle like a bike when making your observations so check twice just in case you missed something the first time.”
The motorcycle rider can be obnoxious. But think about it. Even you can’t stand them you will sleep better at night not having run someone over.
I feel the same way about signs in people’s yards that say things like “slow down, kids at play”. Obviously I would never, ever want to hit a child with my car, but for god’s sake they’re your children and their safety should be more important to you even than it is to me. So watch your kids and supervise them and don’t let them play alone in the street. Instead of not doing those things and leaving their safety up to chance and depending on the driving skills of strangers to keep your kids safe.
As for motorcycles, many of them ride like they have a death wish. Again, I don’t want to hit you but if you are really concerned about your own safety, act like it. Your safety will never, ever be more important to me than it should be to you. Slow down, stop weaving and lane splitting; and if you really really want to protect yourself, choose a vehicle that doesn’t almost guarantee serious injury or death if an accident were to happen.
Truly. Is this even unpopular?
So many genuinely toxic opinions ITT. I ride a motorcycle to commute most days, and a car when I need to. “Look twice to save a life” is for the dozen+ people I see every single day that are on their phone, that change lanes without signaling or looking, that treat driving like they’re the only ones on the road.
Yes, some motorcyclists drive like assholes, and no amount of looking twice is going to save them. I’m just trying to not get killed on my way home from work. because you couldn’t be bothered to put your phone down or take half a second to look at your mirror.
For all the people saying that riding is a choice and we accept the risks: yes, and we are all very keenly aware of the risks without you calling us organ donors in training. I guarantee you that I’m paying more attention on the road, because my life is on the line in ways that yours isn’t.
I exercise the same amount of caution on the road no matter which type of vehicle is around me.
It’s not my responsibility to engage in a heightened level of awareness just because a few people are choosing to ride on a more dangerous contraption.
I don’t think this is unpopular.
People who drive and don’t pay attention are far far worse than lane splitting motorbikes…
Give your license back and stop driving for the sake of literally anybody else
Take the upvote. This is immature, misanthropic garbage.
The space between 2 cars is not a lane.
People are so fucking blind when driving a 2 ton vehicle… People should concentrate and watchout… even as a car driver I see this crap too often, and HOW THE FUCK DONT YOU SEE A CAR? Yeah the cases where a bike isnt seen is even way worse
I never ride my bike faster than 80. And the closest calls I’ve had are from people attempting to merge into me or from being way too close and not understanding that a bike has a practically negligible stopping distance compared to a car.
The people going 120 or 150 don’t need you to look twice. The people riding safe and following the laws do need you to look out for them.
Yes, but you will feel horrible for the rest of your life if you kill someone who wasnt driving like an asshole.
Sometimes, the right thing to do lets assholes face little to no consequences, but it’s still the right thing to do.