The scooter season is just starting to spring and it seems I can’t go a day without hearing a horrendous tale of a scooterist getting into an accident with another vehicle and the owner of the car / truck / taxi just zooms off. That junk pisses me off!
Sorry for the rant, but for more riders to feel comfortable on the roads they need better protection. Perhaps some stiffer penalties for hit and run incidents or something. Any suggestions?
26. February 2009 at 4:48 pm
Ever seen the “Kill a biker go to jail” bumper stickers? We need a “Kill a biker/scooterist, go to jail” sticker.
26. February 2009 at 5:38 pm
Did you hear about the old lady in Florida that ran over a scooterist and continued on into the strip mall to get her hair done? Unbelievable!
26. February 2009 at 5:43 pm
The taxi driver should get the chair for that.
I think we need better laws, stiffer penalties, lower speed limits and special routes with scooter/bike only lanes.
26. February 2009 at 6:49 pm
@ Enviro
Same deal happened with that Billy Lane “Choppers Inc.” douche a while back. He ran over a scooterist drunk as heck.
26. February 2009 at 6:58 pm
Billy Lane seems to be doing just fine these days too, No penalties, just a few nights in jail for bein’ a drunk jerk in a truck.
26. February 2009 at 7:57 pm
A gun in every scooter glove box/milk crate.
26. February 2009 at 9:07 pm
Rig scooters with 100 pounds of explosives rigged to detonate on impact.
That should do it.
26. February 2009 at 9:52 pm
A good old fashion Mod beating. Grab your boots boys!
They put one of yours in the hospital, you put one of theirs in the morgue. That’s the Chicago Way!
26. February 2009 at 10:49 pm
I think, as unfair as it sounds, we scooterists just have to do all we can to remain vigilant at all times, and to be as visible and noisy (when needed) as possible.
When I ride my Vino, I sometimes pick up a tailgater. I smack the rear body panel with my hand a few times, like whipping a horse (or a sexually-suggestive dance move… take your pick), and amazingly, most people pick up on what’s going on (and sometimes get quite a laugh out of it).
I generally try to never be in a hurry when I ride, and to pump the brakes a couple of times whenever I see anything ahead (car edging out of a side street or a lot) that looks like potential trouble, just to let those behind me know I may need to stop, and to please pay attention.
Anytime someone comes up behind me too quickly, I shoot them a head-turn — it’s a little more aggressive, but it gets the point across: BACK OFF!
.
27. February 2009 at 3:19 am
Not that this is a hit and run story but when i was in college three 15 year old boys from the ghetto tried to disable the column lock on my Stella, when that did not work they attempted to pick it up and move it 5 feet at a time, As i got out of the shower i heard some nosie. I looked outside the the boys where already down the street with it, I flew out the door in a bath towel and a baseball bat. the boys dropped the stella onto the side of a car and ran. When i caught them i beat the tar out of them and drug them to the apt office, the cops where able to locate the parents. but you know it feels so good just pounding heads when you know your on the right side.
27. February 2009 at 4:19 pm
@clayton: hearing that is kinda like pouring cool water over my brain.
27. February 2009 at 7:17 pm
I hate to say it, but this is why I could never own a 50. Obviously what the taxi driver did was pemeditated, but on the smaller bikes, you’re just so much more vulnerable. I feel so much safer on the R6 because of stories like this. It may be a 400lb. death machine, but it has a 0-60 time in the 2′s!