Idiots on the Road
Last night Bruce and i got stuck in a massive backup on Route 50. The reason? A motorcycle driver ran into a police car. Yep, that's right. Apparently the wreckage was spread out all over the place and all lanes were closed, so that a helicopter could land to take the seriously injured motorcycle driver to the hospital. Fortunately, Bruce and I had stopped just before the last on-ramp (the next exit is, of course, at least 6 miles away), so we managed to maneuver our vehicles over to the onramp. It was pretty scary driving since we were going “against” the traffic but finally managed to get onto the highway that is below Rt. 50 and then took Rt. 450 back home, along with hundreds of drivers forced to go down this path. Thus causing us to miss the first hour of Amazing Race.
Argh - we were not happy campers about this. Especially since we'd seen this warning on a signage way before this section but the traffic looked normal to us, so we decided to continue. Wrong decision. The accident must have happened moments before that message went up on the electrical sign. I did have a feeling that perhaps we should go down on Rt. 450, plus Bruce wanted to pick up the key lime pie that my parents' neighbor had made for us.
Okay, now I'm going to start up a rant about motorcycle drivers riding motorcycles like this one. Once you get beyond the Beltway overpass, all the way until Bowie (which makes it about 10 miles), the highway is fairly straight. Yes, just the perfect playground for young people driving motorcycles. At high speed. Perhaps as high as 150 mph (I kid you not . . . I've seen them go past my station wagon out to a point way at a distance in just about 2 minutes), weaving in and out of the traffic and even on the dotted line edge.
Come warm weather, they come out to play on the weekends and in the evenings. I have to watch out when I'm driving on Rt. 50 at certain times.
Now, these folks have every right to own such motorcycles and use these however they want to. With that, though, comes responsibility, making sure they don't break the law and/or cause a serious accident. In addition, I'd like to see more cops on the road during times when these motorcycles are out on the road.
Well. Not ALL motorcycle drivers are reckless. It MIGHT be a safe assumption that the cyclist was at fault. Or, perhaps this is one of those people who HATE cyclists and do their best to "play chicken" with them, even the ones driving defensively?
Even in the BEST of circumstances, some drivers just don't watch out for motorcycles, or don't understand how vulnerable their riders are. Since the motorcyclist ALWAYS loses in a "battle" with a car driver, one should ALWAYS go out of one's way to protect a cycle rider (bicycles, too), even if the rider is doing something idiotic. Call me too nice, but I'd just rather not maim or kill someone, even if it IS as a result of that person's own reckless conduct.
Did you know that the most common road accident involving a motorcyclist is from an oncoming car driver making a left-hand turn in front of said motorcycle proceding straight through an intersection? It is NOT the cyclist smashing him/herself into a guard rail at 100 mph, etc. No. It is caused by the inattention of car drivers, whether they are either not seeing the cycle, or miscalculating how easily the motorcyclist can slow down or stop (never mind that the cycle has the RIGHT OF WAY!).
And then there are the jerks... There was a story recently about a motorcyclist who DIED because the 911 operator HUNG UP not once, but THREE TIMES, after finding out that the ambulance requested was for an injured cyclist. (The 911 operator was fired, but I think he should have been charged with voluntary manslaughter.)
We call them squids...darting in and out of traffic, without much regard to personal space. Also call them organ donors...idiot bikers make the rest of us look bad. But I agree with you on the cop thing...the thing is, the police aren't much of a deterrant, because the bikes are so much faster and more agile. I'd like to see all the idiot bikers (and idiot sportscar drivers) ticketed to high heaven...