I travel to school on an almost daily basis, and twice a week, my timetable compells me to partake of this journey during peak hours when most office workers are rushing towards their workplaces. And oft times, as I'm cruising down the expressway, I glance along the length of the road as far as my eyes can see, and all I see are cars, cars and more cars. In fact, I encounter probably 50 cars to a single bike on the road during those peak hours.
Why is this so? A brand new economical bike such as a Honda Wave would cost you roughly around $3k to put on the road...which is hardly a tenth of the cost a second hand COE car would cost. Not to mention the amount of money one could possibly save while riding. On fuel (especially with dwindling oil reserves). Road tax, ERP charges....heck...the problem of traffic congestion could probably be solved with bikes.
Of course, the first and most obvious hurdle one would have to cross in order to even start riding a bike would be parental objections. And these objections stem from the pre-conceived notion that bikes are dangerous. The argument that when you are driving, you are surrounded by metal, and when you are riding, you surround metal with your flesh.
But I wonder how many people consider that this false sense of security that arises from being encased by a few tons of metal gives rise to a certain detachment on the road, the mentality that, hey...since I'm protected, I can afford to get into an accident and nothing will happen to me! And with this school of thought, they go around driving recklessly, because they have nothing to lose. Whereas, as riders, you know you'll be the one in deep shit if you screw up, and more often than not, you'll find riders are the ones who take far more precautions than car drivers on the road.
But as it is, road safety isn't something that the local authorities are taking very seriously, for all the harping on the issue the TP is doing. Which is sad, because road safety is THE key issue today especially since it involves the deaths of motorcyclists. Most of the deaths could have, and should have been prevented if the authorities did what they were paid to do, that is to reduce the number of road-bullies on the road.
Just preaching about what they have done with road-safety rallies and dubious statistics is simply not good enough. What, do you think that safety rallies promote road safety when all contestants are made to do is ride around a given route with invigilators assessing their road safety skills? The authorities here believe that by improving the training at the driving center, the fatalities on the road especially for motorcyclists would be reduced. I say hogwash.
Looking at the way some drivers and riders alike behave on the road, I wonder if the boxes in the test form would have been sufficient enough to fill in all the erroneous moves each driver or rider made on their way from point A to B. As far as I can see, it is merely a facade to appease the public that something is being done with regards to road-safety for motorcyclists. If only the authorities could really open their eyes and look at things from ground level (which is highly unlikely), they would understand the root of the problem, which would contribute to reducing the number of unwarranted fatalities on the road.
Poor road ethics colour the freeways lining our garden city. Of course, it would be the simplest thing in the world to point the accusing finger at the rider, who is most probably dead or lying incapacitated at the back of an ambulance. But the real problem lies with the drivers on the road who disregard motorcyclists on the road, which is reflected
here. To quote from one of the posters, 'I won't feel sorry for them when they kana accident'. Of course you won't. You have nothing to lose, wrapped up in a couple of layers of metal.
There is a dire need for authorities to change the attitude of drivers on the road. Perhaps if drivers were made accountable for road accidents involving motorcyclists, and that they had to prove that they were not in the wrong, then drivers would make it a point to look out for motorcyclists on the road. Of course, this could backfire and lead to more reckless bikers...but I can't think of a better solution. It's the same situation as when a car or bike hits a pedestrain; the pedestrain may have been jaywalking..but the driver or rider gets the rap because the pedestrain has less protection, maybe? Then shouldn't the same thing equate to riders, since they have less protection and are more likely to be on the losing side in the event of an accident?
I can't think of anything better, but it sure beats the government's laughable suggestion that improving training syllabuses would stop drivers who've made their minds up that bikes do not belong on the road, tailgaters who highbeam you, speeding trucks and other fashions of road-bullies.
And based on this narrow minded bias, the police are out to get us riders, apparently. You can see that reflected in the way they pull all bikers over at roadblocks when cars simply get waved past. They want us to stop throwing ourselves through hedges and into the back of the car that just blindly pulled out on us. Now, since when did we need the cops to tell us not to throw ourselves under cars? Last time I checked, we were all perfectly aware that it's not big or clever, and usually ends in an enforced stay in a white room that smells of old people, piss, and disinfectant.
However, our reluctance, as a group of people, to take on more training and improve our skills leaves us wide open to the cops justifying speed as the primary cause of road accidents, when, most likely, it isn't. But the police is under considerable pressure to reduce accidents on the roads, and the simplest way to target bikers is to ruthlessly enforce speed limits.
The problem is that we attract police attention too easily, and when you're already perceived as part of the problem, it's hard to change the focus. I believe every rider is guilty of using a bit too much right hand on the roads at times. There are an alarming number of bikers who don't have the skills to ride safely at the speeds the devil on the shoulder is telling them they're capable of. The frequency with which the thousands of riders who make it there and back safely had to stop, while the police and paramedics dealth with another unfortunate who'd lost control on a perfect radius corner, which would've been laughable if it weren't real poeple who were doing real damage - to bike and self.
Trying to improve your skills on local roads will probably dump you in jail as you see your license flutter out of the window, on white feathery wings, no less. The only alternative bikers have is the racetrack, and given the number of people willing to go to a driving center to take up 'defensive riding' courses, I wonder what percentage of riders actually get through the 'aiyah...go track for wat...waste money... I oso not lacer...' mentality and realise that a track day would sharpen their riding skills and do them a whole world of good.
At a time when motorbikes could be offering the government, the environment, and many pressure groups viable solutions, or part of to the problems which congest our road network and pollute our environment, it seems the only pro-bike people on this planet, are bikers. So why are we perceived as part of the problem, rather than part of the solution as far as environmental and traffic issues go? I can only surmise that it's the anti-bike minority making the most noise, probably too jealous of our ability to get to where we're going while they sit stationary in their tin boxes, to even consider we may be part of the solution, and that they are the main problem that's causing fatalities on the road.
Riding hard, fast, safely AND taking a few corners.
