I tend to believe most of them are just clueless and don’t think about the fact that they’re operating a machine with more kinetic energy than a shotgun in close proximity to each other. The relative safety features of modern cars combined with people’s tendency to believe accidents only happen to other people leads to a pandemic of reckless driving. And I don’t resent them as people, only as drivers. But the fact is that I’m just as dead from an innocent mistake as an unhinged lunatic.
They are in the minority. And none of the regs want us to die. But yes, there’s a fair share of both hate for two-wheelers (motorized or otherwise) and victim blaming before the facts are in…everywhere on the internet. I would argue it’s less prevalent here, but it does happen. Normally it’s why I try to stay out of motorcycle and bicycle threads anywhere.
The theory that two-wheeled vehicles stay upright because of a gyroscopic effect has been debunked using a cycle with counter-rotating flywheels cancelling the effect. The test cycle could be easily ridden, in spite of no net gyroscopic forces.
The physics of two wheeled balance is a bit complex but it basically comes down to the ability (and natural tendency if well designed) for them to steer the wheels back under the centre of gravity as they start to topple. A two-wheeled vehicle with no steering can’t be (easily) ridden, even in a straight line.
Ill be that guy. Most people really don’t have the focus. judgement, or reaction time to be driving.
There is the weird phenomenon of peoples demeanors/ aggressiveness levels changing once behind a wheel.
I have learned on two wheels to be super vigilant, assume no one sees you even if they make direct eye contact, and even if you have the legal right of away physics is not on board with these rules.
@jlw The original video has been replaced with some social media links. Please take it down or replace it with one of the links mentioned in this thread that still work.
Nope. The majority view is that a jerk on a motorcycle kicked a car and startled the driver of the car so much that he lost control of the car and hit a bunch of other people.
I do have an anti-motorcycle bias though! Mine developed because the proportion of crazy-ass jerk drivers who do wildly dangerous things seems to be way higher for motorcycles than for cars. Plus they’re loud.
I still don’t think that further escalating the confrontation by kicking the car was sound. If you see a very aggressive guy in public you don’t go up to him and piss him off, then claim that you’re innocent. If the car driver did swerve at him on purpose i would say that the biker is partially liable for the resulting accident, but the car driver being guilty of the full extent of the damage.
In Ohio, there’s a longer sentence for leaving the scene of an accident than for involuntary manslaughter.
A bass player we know hit a mailbox and may have hit a pedestrian (he said no, the pedestrian’s mother said yes). The pedestrian later died, and the bass player was charged with the two crimes listed above. He was sentenced 6 months for manslaughter and 18 months for leaving the scene of an accident.
Citation, please. Every indication I’ve seen is that there is no definition of speed regulations. An earlier version of the bill that passed had some rules, but they were taken out before it was voted on (and a 35 MPH limitation wasn’t one of them anyway).
Well there it is, I’m officially getting old. Back in the day when I did my M license the handbook said you could do it, but only bellow 35. As of now the CA DMV sez "California law does not allow or prohibit motorcycles from passing other vehicles proceeding in the same direction within the same lane, a practice often called “lane splitting,” “lane sharing” or “filtering.” TIL
