"It's all about me! That's what's really important! The priority is I need to get where I'm going, and that supercedes all others who might be on the road with me. I'm not worried about the cost they may incur, what is important is I come first!"
Is this really what I heard? No, of course not, for those who believe this and live this only think it. It's got to be the primary mantra they mentally repeat each day while in their cars. And because they believe this, their driving reflects this. How? Glad you asked, let me give you an example, maybe even two. Or, maybe I should call this "How I was in one accident and a near miss in less than one week."
Went out to Middleton one Thursday evening. Returning home on Highway 20/26 approaching an intersection with a traffic signal which was red I began slowing. I down shifted my bike, and applied light braking. About 100 to 150 feet from the intersection the light turned green. I began to accelerate, but because of the considerable number of drivers described in paragraph one, I checked both right and left for traffic. To the left was a dark, older sedan approaching, and accelerating. It was clear this was another Boise driver intent on not having to sit idly through a red light and lose 45 or 60 seconds. I immediately applied both front and rear brakes, but it appeared even with this I was likely going to T-Bone the car. Options: run into the side of the car, likely fly up over the top and land on the other side in who knows what kind of impact; or lay the bike down, and hope because I'm lighter I will slide to a stop prior to hitting the car. Option two, instinctively won out.
Some drivers coming from the other direction jumped out of their cars and helped right the bike and get it to the side of the road. I stood up, the leathers a little scraped, the visor torn from the helmet, and all scratched, but able to walk to the side of the road. Figured I'd just call my HOG Rider's Insurance and get the bike towed in. Well, that didn't work since the number is business hours only. They gave an alternate number, but didn't have anything to write it down, and to be honest, my mind was not memorizing what it heard very well at that moment.
So, checked the front fork, it seemed okay, not bent, free to turn. Sat on the bike, put it in neutral, and checked to see if it would start -- wahlah, cranked right up. RH rear turn signal was dangling, RH front turn signal was askew, but functional, the brake light and head light worked fine. So, put my banged up helmet back on, pulled on my gloves, waited for traffic and then pulled across the street and down the road for home.
Parked in the garage, and told Deb I was cold and getting a shower (left the helmet in the garage). Then got in bed since there was a swelling and bruise on my left thigh. She came up later and just told her I was tired. Next morning stood up, felt a little woozy, and sat back on the bed then leaned back on the pillow. About then she came out from getting her bathrobe and saw my hip. Won't delve on this part, but we went to ER for concussion check and X-Rays. All turned out fine other then the large contusion on my left thigh and to my ribs on the left chest wall.
So a few days later I'd driven Deb to work and was returning home. As I approached an intersection with a green light several cars were making left turns across in front of me. As I neared the intersection the next to last one had gone and so I continued. Suddenly the last one accelerated, closing the gap between itself and the one in front and swerved across in front of me at the last minute. I had but one choice since the on coming straight through traffic was still going the opposite direction. STOP. The driver cleared in front of me by less than a foot as I came to a halt in the middle of the intersection.
Interesting, I was the last car going my direction, and then the left turn would have had time to make the flashing amber in his direction. But, it was more important for him to go first, to save 3-5 seconds at the risk of a crash, and likely considerable injury to him since I was in the Tahoe and he was in a little two-door sports like coupe.
What did these two drivers have in common: Ego-centric focus; no consideration for the other driver; lack of concern for their own lives or others; stupidity; and failure to stop after failure to yields.
One thing about riding motorcycles is you become very focused on looking down the road not just a couple of car lengths but 12-15 seconds in front of you, and you learn to drive very defensively. Fortunately a lot of that blends over even when I'm in a big SUV. I might win in the Tahoe, but it would still be crunched.
I'd love to see much greater enforcement of red lights in this town. IDOT went to the trouble of installing the little blue side lights that show when the signal is red. Police only need sit down the road and watch that. Left turn traffic is one of the major offenders. Several states use cameras to capture photos of those running red lights. The asinine comments from locals was, "Well people would be jamming on their brakes to stop and get rear-ended." Hmmmm. That is so much worse than a T-bone accident. Maybe slowing down and planning ahead might help.
Okay, thanks for listening to me vent. It didn't make my hip better, it didn't reduce the $6500 worth of damage to my bike, and unfortunately it won't fix what's wrong with the ego-centric drivers in Boise. But if only one person reads it and says I'll change how I drive -- that's progress.
No comments:
Post a Comment