The last couple of weekends have been disastrous in Massachusetts for motorcycle relations with the general public. Also this past Monday was deadly for one Cape Cod woman while heading to the 911 run in New York City. I have said it before and I’ll say it again. WE ARE OUR OWN WORST ENEMIES! We are bringing down on ourselves the attention of the State and local authorities by our actions. It’s not loud pipes, this time its reckless riding. Last week in Taunton MA a group of crotch rocket meat heads held a fund raiser for Pop Warner football. Great cause, but they neglected to tell the local police and proceeded to pull 60mph wheelies and ride reckless. Several people in the run were appalled as to how the event was run and complained to the organizers. Their thug buddies stopped them from voicing their objections. They had no choice but to contact the local police the next day and tell them what went on. The Taunton police are now investigating.
Yesterdays fiasco happened when a group of riders heading from Cape Cod to Hopkington MA to participate in the 911 run to New York City got tangled up on the highway on-ramp leaving town heading to NY. Two bikes went down and one woman was killed. I happen to have been invited to this event and ended up backing out because I was told the group "white knuckles it" down there. If I don’t know someone, there is no way I’ll trust my life to a bunch of yahoos "white knuckling it" anywhere! Well I’m glad I backed out of that disaster also.
These are just the sorts of things that will force the State to come down on motorcycles like a hammer. You think the loud pipe regulations are a pain in the ass, just you wait and see what happens when every charity run, poker run, or any organized event will require a special permit and license and proof of liability insurance!
Enough is ENOUGH! We MUST control ourselves and act and ride responsible.
5 comments:
That's exactly what I tell my sons every time I take them out oh the bike. Of course, I mean it on both the larger and smaller scale as I tell them you have to watch out for the others because they damn sure won't watch out for you!.
Sounds like a good decision on your part not to join that particular group.
Some people are only alive because the fates haven't gotten around to killing them, yet. But they will... Given enough time, stupidity will catch up with everyone who partakes of it...
Hope you had a good Holiday weekend & I'll catch you on the road.
Camron
Sad, but the people who need to see this either won't read it or will ignore it because you are an "Old Dude." Never mind that learning these lessons is how one gets to that title.
Keep preaching Crusty, there are some who are listening.
I also begged out of this 911 run because of the amount of people with little to no group riding experience. My biggest complaint is that harley riders get grouped in to all the motorcycle bull no matter what. Around my neck of the woods a lot of crotch rockets are the real cause of noise, reckless driving, show boating, and a host of other complaints but the harley people get reported into the mix as well. Don't get me wrong, we have a few noisy h-d jerks around here but i've yet to see an Ultra do a wheelie going down the highway at 80 mph. (if you can, you got more balls than me and I been to Nam!)
We had an accident here in RI several weeks ago but I don't remember all the details. A biker picked up a girl in the wee hours of a Fri. or Sat. night and rode up rte. 95 with her on the back. She fell off the bike and got run over by another bike that was trailing and soon after died. Story I got was that they were drunk and it was a crotch rocket as well. I apologize if I have the details wrong but this is the way I remember it.
I agree that at times we are our own worst enemies and only hope (but doubt) that the authorities clamp down on those that create the bulk of these problems.
This is an online article about the accident on RT95 Aug 21, 09
http://newsblog.projo.com/2009/08/1-woman-dead-1.html
Amen!
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