Motorcycle Accidents

For those blaming the motorcyclists I say is this. You would be screaming a different song if Hum-vees were driving around and crushing little Toyota Prius's every other day. You would protest, write letters to editors, call congressmen to get Hum-vees banned and jail their drivers. Hum-vee drivers would be blaming the owners of such small cars for driving something that can't be seen, has little or no protection for the occupants and blame them for their deaths if they weren't wearing a seat belt. Of course you would rightly reject those excuses.

However, you more than willing to blame motorcyclists for their own deaths when someone driving a car kills one of us. The international get out of jail card 'I just didn't see him' is used and your off the hook. After all, it's just a biker. Never mind that we're normal everyday people and drive cars in the winter. You blame us for your unwillingness to see us, unwillingness to recognize us, your unwillingness to hangup the phone and your lack of driving skill. You claim that we need to wear bright colored clothes in addition to my already bright headlights and taillights my brightly color bike and loud pipes. In order to see us you need to open your eyes, hang up the phone, drive sober, slow down and actually watch the road.

To the "Helmet Law" people. Stuff it. Do you think that helmets are the magical savior of motorcyclists? It is true that in some cases helmets have saved lives. They DO NOT ALWAYS save lives. I've seen my fair share of dead motorcyclists with helmets on their heads. This is the same false argument that led to the seatbelt laws. It was claimed at the time that people would not die if they wore their seat belts. I have personally seen people killed while wearing their seat belts. Do they help is some cases? Yes. Should it be law? No! It's personal choice. I choose to wear mine.

So, I propose this. We need to start pushing our congressmen to make this sort of action to be classified and chargeable as second degree murder. When you violate the rules of the road and do things like reckless or careless driving, illegal passing, drunk driving, running red lights, excessive speed and you kill someone the police and prosecutors need to be able to charge you with a stronger offense than vehicular manslaughter. We need to push for second degree murder charges in these cases.