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| Photo credit: NY Daily News |
It is a herd of little gangsters in full-face helmets on sport bikes. I don't know that the cager did not do something to provoke the riders, but drivers of cars and trucks do that all the time. If you are going to ride, you have to recognize and accept the risks.
There is nothing wrong with riding in a group if done with etiquette and a touch of good sense. As a motorcycle rider and the driver of a relatively tall F-150, it is sometimes difficult to keep track of smaller vehicles, especially ones just off the passenger-side rear tires. If they are able to accelerate and change positions as quickly as a sport bike, they can be in the danger zone before the driver knows it.
Personally, I enjoy seeing even swarms of sport bikes. Most of these guys are not going to harm anyone with their foolishness except themselves, and it is a generally innocuous exercise of testosterone-induced bravado. I used to do stuff like that on dirt bikes, and the crashes were part of the fun. Bragging rights come along with the bruises and scars. It is sad that sometimes these mistakes prove permanently damaging or even fatal, but danger is spice.
I know that stretch of highway well. I drive it a couple of times a year to visit my Mom and sisters in uptown. Everyone drives that highway very aggressively and the SUVs are the worst offenders in my experience. That said, if I were the SUV driver riding with my family, I would have probably done the same thing and tried to get the hell away from those guys. Interesting example of how things can get out of hand very quickly.
ReplyDeleteThat's true. I have empathy for the riders, but that's a scary situation for the driver. If I had been in his place and it came to it, I would have taken advantage of the SUV's size and weight.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, John, did you catch the SUV driver's name: Alexian Lien?
ReplyDeleteI didn't see it until they posted the story on ultimatemotorcycling.com
I did see that. I was just reading some follow-up articles. He appears to be one of my distant eastern cousins. (Every now and then we get a credit card application printed in Chinese or Vietnamese.)
ReplyDeleteAlso read that one of the bikers he ran over is probably paralyzed. The whole thing is just ugly.