Bad Press on Sportbikes
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nusman68
Well-known member
I watched both parts...I must say I was surprised at their objective viewpoints...gotta give them credit for that...stressing that the problem is being caused by a small percentage of riders/they saw many other riders obeying the law/etc. etc. Can't deny the video footage, either.
C&C
Well-known member
Good stories; very little to disagree with.
bramfrank
BramFrank
I agree that there are those among us who do get into trouble. From the crashed machine they showed, I wonder if some of the problem (admittedly a small part) could be because of road conditions? Yes, riders do need to take everything into account, but there seemed to be a lot of dirt on the ground where they showed the crash scene.
It bothers me to see them sensationalise the problem by skipping some of the details.
In particular;
- The bicyclist, who really had no right to be pedaling on a public highway with no shoulders in the first place.
- The video of a bike speedo and tach that was unrelated to the story itself.
- Sensationalizing the problem by implying that the 300 accidents happened this year ("since 2005", not since the start of 2005). Yes, they did mention the January 2005 date in passing - once - but de-emphasized it.
On the other hand they could have compressed the problem by mentioning that the majority of the accidents happen on week-ends and holidays.
They could have suggested speed enforcement techniques.
There's more. But in the end, I guess it is tied to youthful exuberance, inadequate training, unreasonably low speed limits among other factors.
I suspect that more people are killed by drunk drivers than the number of bikers who have killed themselves over the past 22 months. But the public is immune to that type of story, so a story about speeding bikers gets the nod.
Progressive licensing is one possible measure that might be worthy of consideration.
It bothers me to see them sensationalise the problem by skipping some of the details.
In particular;
- The bicyclist, who really had no right to be pedaling on a public highway with no shoulders in the first place.
- The video of a bike speedo and tach that was unrelated to the story itself.
- Sensationalizing the problem by implying that the 300 accidents happened this year ("since 2005", not since the start of 2005). Yes, they did mention the January 2005 date in passing - once - but de-emphasized it.
On the other hand they could have compressed the problem by mentioning that the majority of the accidents happen on week-ends and holidays.
They could have suggested speed enforcement techniques.
There's more. But in the end, I guess it is tied to youthful exuberance, inadequate training, unreasonably low speed limits among other factors.
I suspect that more people are killed by drunk drivers than the number of bikers who have killed themselves over the past 22 months. But the public is immune to that type of story, so a story about speeding bikers gets the nod.
Progressive licensing is one possible measure that might be worthy of consideration.
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keithaba
Well-known member
It's pretty difficult to draw a line between riding fast, and riding wrecklessly.
There are probably people here, including myself, that have toed that line...
There are probably people here, including myself, that have toed that line...
GalaxyBlue
Well-known member
Guilty.
The line is VERY thin, But when someone is driving well below the speed limit, And there is a double yellow the whole way, And a clear stretch, I am going to pass on that double yellow.
I could not agree more with you on that.
The media will target the high profile articles in search of ratings.
The license thing might be a good idea, But where do you draw the line saying who can ride what?
Fencer
Why yes, I am a Smart ASS
I guess since Atlanta did it, Birmingham had to do it too.
Link
This is part 2. I did not find the link to part 1, but I saw it last night when it aired. Same video footage over & over again. Not As well put together as the Atlanta footage IMHO. More sensationalism than anything.
Did not mention the car street racing either. It goes on in many of the same places.
Part 1 also had a poor mother of a deceased twenty-something trying to bend the ear of legislators on how easy it is for a young/ inexperienced rider to get a speed rocket with no training.
Her son, with 3 months riding experience was killed, during his first race. IIRC he jumped a curb at 90 +.
WTF!!! RACING with 3 months experince!!! I'm sorry he is dead, but that was a dumb-ass decision on his part. It took me 6 months before I would even drive on the freeway, and I still don't care for that.
Edit
And as a thought to the License thing. Whats the difference in Daddy giving the 16YO a Camaro, Mustang, Corvette, Lexus, etc to a kid and then the kid drops a few grand into a suspension and engine and makes the car a drifter. We've ALL seen this. Maybe not the drifter but the TOO FAST/ TOO STUPID Mitsubishi et. al. with the PPTTHPPP pipe in the rear and the kid who thinks he can fit the car into a box of corn flakes at 70 mph.
Link
This is part 2. I did not find the link to part 1, but I saw it last night when it aired. Same video footage over & over again. Not As well put together as the Atlanta footage IMHO. More sensationalism than anything.
Did not mention the car street racing either. It goes on in many of the same places.
Part 1 also had a poor mother of a deceased twenty-something trying to bend the ear of legislators on how easy it is for a young/ inexperienced rider to get a speed rocket with no training.
Her son, with 3 months riding experience was killed, during his first race. IIRC he jumped a curb at 90 +.
WTF!!! RACING with 3 months experince!!! I'm sorry he is dead, but that was a dumb-ass decision on his part. It took me 6 months before I would even drive on the freeway, and I still don't care for that.
Edit
And as a thought to the License thing. Whats the difference in Daddy giving the 16YO a Camaro, Mustang, Corvette, Lexus, etc to a kid and then the kid drops a few grand into a suspension and engine and makes the car a drifter. We've ALL seen this. Maybe not the drifter but the TOO FAST/ TOO STUPID Mitsubishi et. al. with the PPTTHPPP pipe in the rear and the kid who thinks he can fit the car into a box of corn flakes at 70 mph.
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L8RG8R
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"SPEED BIKE RACING"
What kind of dumb title is that? LOL
L8RG8R said:
Oh wait, that my be the opposite of the SLOW BIKE RACING. bawhahahahaha!
jwilly
Administrator of Drama
Interesting to see the repsonses to these stories here. I'm also a member of a Georgia Sport Bike forum and the responses there were more about "how can we protest against Fox?'
There was a fireman from one of the North Georgia fire departments that posted over there and really put things into perspective. He stated that they have been in route to an accident scene of a down sport bike and have a group of squids pass the ambulance over a doulble yellow doing wheelies and speeding ahead of them. He also stated that for each cruiser/touring bike accident in his area there is 12-15 sport bike accidents.
I think Fox did a good job of reporting and did mention that it's a small number of people (idiots) that are causing the issues.
Just my $.02
-jwilly
There was a fireman from one of the North Georgia fire departments that posted over there and really put things into perspective. He stated that they have been in route to an accident scene of a down sport bike and have a group of squids pass the ambulance over a doulble yellow doing wheelies and speeding ahead of them. He also stated that for each cruiser/touring bike accident in his area there is 12-15 sport bike accidents.
I think Fox did a good job of reporting and did mention that it's a small number of people (idiots) that are causing the issues.
Just my $.02
-jwilly
L8RG8R
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I think it also good to mention that this "line" is difference for everyone and their experience level. I consider myself to be a fast rider. My 60% will probably seem crazy, stupid, and wreckless to some. To others, like a friend of mine who is a recently retired FormulaXtreme AMA racer, my 90% is a snail's pace. :blink:
Like the reporter said, many of these statistics are from people riding over their heads and on race replica bikes they don't have the experience to ride. Of course, being able to handle the bike doesn't make it right to break the law. It's just something that happens from time to time? right? riiight? Oh wait, I NEVER break the law....NEVER. B)
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exskibum
~<>~<>~<>~<>~
It's pretty hard for me to argue with most of what they said and showed. I've been guilty of some of that from time to time (mostly passing a slow car on a double yellow, but only where I have a clear and open opportunity). I've seen others do far worse than I'm willing to do. I do try to limit my brisker corner riding to times and places and traffic conditions where the risk (especially to others) is limited. Still, that was a sobering pair of pieces and gives much to think about as a part of a community of enthusiasts that has members that do terrorize slower drivers and riders obeying the posted limits.
bramfrank
BramFrank
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Fencer
Why yes, I am a Smart ASS
Hey Bramfrank, Did you pose your avitar for the B'ham piece? 
afterburn
Modding Mechanic
Because people do not think of driving a car as dangerous. 95% of people that don't ride a bike do consider motorcycles dangerous.
UweRoss
Well-known member
Huh? I don't do much bicycling any more, but a bicycle has just as much right to use a public road as a car, a motorcycle, or a horse-drawn carriage. The only exception in most states is limited-access highways where the entrances are often posted "Motor Vehicles Only". Furthermore, the motorcycle and the bicycle collided head on. I'll wager long odds which one of them was in their own lane and which one wasn't. There's no excuse for that kind of accident.
"There are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are no old bold pilots".
-Uwe-
bramfrank
BramFrank
I don't agree with that statement. I pay use taxes as part of my registration and the bicyclist does not - depending on where you are, the horse drawn carriage might, or might not.
People driving on public highways have a right to expect traffic in their lane to be moving at a reasonable rate - cyclists often are barely in motion and in an environment where there is no shoulder, that makes them fodder for an accident.
In this case it is on a very winding road and on right hand turns (assuming she was riding on the right) she'd be invisible to overtaking traffic and would be fully in it's lane.
Unfortunately, a driver's recourse would only be to swerve OUT of his lane to avoid a collision with her, significantly increasing the odds of running into oncoming traffic.
Ban the cyclist.
I remember being taught that I should walk facing traffic - cyclists don't, all we see is their fannies sticking up as they work to get up to 15 mph.
The cyclist wasn't clear on which of the vehicles was in the wrong lane, and I'm in no way defending the biker, but she was extremely lucky to have been hit by a biker and not by a car or 18 wheeler, 'cause she'd have fared a lot worse than to have the frame on her bike and her arm broken.
People driving on public highways have a right to expect traffic in their lane to be moving at a reasonable rate - cyclists often are barely in motion and in an environment where there is no shoulder, that makes them fodder for an accident.
In this case it is on a very winding road and on right hand turns (assuming she was riding on the right) she'd be invisible to overtaking traffic and would be fully in it's lane.
Unfortunately, a driver's recourse would only be to swerve OUT of his lane to avoid a collision with her, significantly increasing the odds of running into oncoming traffic.
Ban the cyclist.
I remember being taught that I should walk facing traffic - cyclists don't, all we see is their fannies sticking up as they work to get up to 15 mph.
The cyclist wasn't clear on which of the vehicles was in the wrong lane, and I'm in no way defending the biker, but she was extremely lucky to have been hit by a biker and not by a car or 18 wheeler, 'cause she'd have fared a lot worse than to have the frame on her bike and her arm broken.
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chornbe
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