Motorcycles should be Illegal

We were driving down I-91 South, noticing that the Northbound side was suddenly empty…  Bad omen.  Then, our side of the highway began to slow, almost to a crawl, not because of anything in our lanes, but because of a horrible event that had taken place on the ashphalt 50 feet across the median.

With ambulance lights flashing and fire trucks on-site, there, on the pavement, were two motorcycles lying abandoned, with chalk lines drawn in frightening remembrance of their absent pilots.

I thought of this again today as I whisked down a main artery, legally bound to travel in a car that has passed federally mandated crash tests, surrounded by air-bags, wearing a seat-belt, (lest I endanger myself, not to mention incur a $50. fine!).

So, how is it that motorcycle riders can sit astride an engine, pass me on the expressway, perhaps carrying a passenger and wearing little more than cotton pants and plastic flip-flops?

Learning to ride on a Suzuki 850 was, for me, a thrilling experience.  Twist the wrist, pronate the ankle, release the clutch, and, WOW!  What power!  It’s incredible.  On passenger motorways, I don’t think it should be allowed.  Not because I don’t like bikes, but because I like people.

Unfortunately, I have personally known several bikers who’ve had minor accidents, just in small residential areas.  One has no spleen, another experienced traumatic brain injury and another is still undergoing surgery to emplace pins inside his fractured ankle.  And these were small bingles that would have been most forgettable had these individuals been sitting in a car, even a tiny sled like a Fiat, or a beatup rusty Yugo…

Blazing backwoods trails is one thing, but even on small town streets, with a motorcycle, fender benders can easily be fatal.  I can’t see why this should be legal.

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