The Huffington Post is a widely read online blog. Millions of people read news post on this site every day. So when we read a post titled "Motorcycle Riders: Stop Looking Cool, Focus on Keeping Safety" we got a little pissed. First at the grammar, then at the content.
Written by Jonha Revesencio, (a person we seriously doubt rides motorcycles) the article places the responsibility and blame for motorcycle accidents on YOU, the rider and operator.
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Revesencio uses questionable stats and obvious bias to frame her argument that it's solely OUR responsibility to practice safety on the highway.
Nowhere in her "article" does she ever mention to auto drivers, (arguably most of the audience who will / has read this article) they should look twice and watch for motorcycles.
After giving us 5 "tips" for staying safe, such as "motorcycles are less visible," "it's harder to see us at night" and pointing out facts I'm sure have escaped the dim witted motorcycle community such as "be aware of our surroundings and don't try to look cool."
Her final words of wisdom, "Practicing good safety is the only way you can prevent this fun way of travel from becoming a sad tragedy" is especially infuriating to the thousands of innocent accident victims every years who are struck by car drivers who fail to pay attention when turning left or ram us from behind, or put on make up, and check their phones while driving.
This is the type of "Mainstream" faux news reporting that people point to when someone hits and kills a motorcyclist.
"See, it's the biker's fault. They're hard to see at night, or they were wearing black leather and I couldn't see them."
On that, Ms, Revesencio, I call bullshit. Sure, there are a small percentage of motorcycle riders who pull stunts and weave in and out of traffic. But, the majority, close to 99% of riders are wives, husbands, mothers and fathers. Responsible members of society who do everything they can to enjoy this lifestyle and still get home safe.
We don't need you telling us to "don't try to look cool." We need you to tell car drivers to Put Down the Coffee, Hang Up the Cell Phone and WATCH FOR MOTORCYCLES. That is the best way to prevent more motorcycle trips from ending, as you call it, in a "sad tragedy."
Oh, and if you'd like to send Ms. Revesencio a note, her twitter handle is https://twitter.com/jonharules And, if you're interested in telling the Huffington Post what you think of Ms. Revesencio, their Facebook page is HERE
25 comments
I’ve seen many people driving like we are abusing Our driving privileges I tend to shake my head but am never surprised by it all .
You know besides the motorcycle I ride I drive a semi truck and you know I could say the same thing about cars but the reality of it is you can’t blame anyone else for your lack of attention !!!
Get off your high horse, my friend. I have been riding for nearly 50 years and have had a national certification as a RiderCoach through the Motorcycle Safety Foundation for eight. The writer of the article is correct. Riding a motorcycle safely is the rider’s responsibility, not anyone else’s. The majority of motorcycle fatalities in this country are due to alcohol or drug impaired riders. Wearing high viz clothing or at least a high viz vest and either a white or brightly colored helmet has been shown to reduce motorcycle crashes by 25%. No matter how you want to twist and turn, motorcycles ARE hard to see compared to cars, especially at night. Do distracted drivers cause motorcycle crashes, sure, but that just means that all of us who love riding have to ride many more times defensively than when we are driving our cars. Doing so is what has kept me alive over the hundreds of thousands of miles I have ridden over the years. If you haven’t ever taken an MSF Basic Rider course, I would strongly urge you to do so. It just may keep you seated firmly on your bike rather than lying in a pool of blood on the asphalt.
I have been riding for 50 years and it is a crying shame that this kind of stupid article still gets published every day. There are carelesd riders out there I agree but there are a whe lot more careless drivers by sheer numbers alone. EVERYBODY needs to be more aware!
I’ve been riding bike since I was 13 yrs old, I’ve been in 2 collisions, 1 was my fault, I rear-ended someone, which is tha one that does tha rear-endings fault regardless, but tha other 1 was tha other guys fault, had not a dam thing to do with lookin any kinda cool, they ran a stop sign and t-boned me… I look it like this, I don’t need a bike to be cool!! I’m cool as a fan anyway!