[blkhrt81]

So I'm sitting here 5000 miles from my bike surfing forums and notice how common rants are about drivers not paying attention. Well surprise surprise! My wife told me once that until she had gone for a ride on a bike, she never saw them. "Now I see them everywhere!" she says, now considering she drove for about 30 years before she went for a ride I think that gives us a little insight into what's going on. I'm not even going to mention cell phones , makeup, sandwiches etc :horse
So what to do? Why, make a year on a scooter mandatory before you can get a car license!! Ok, so 15 seconds reflection on that tells me I better lay off the Balzaam for a couple hours 'cause that just ain't gonna fly in the real world, but with graduated licensing for new drivers becoming more common these days maybe there could be a way to work in some incentive for young drivers to get some bike time before they leap into cages. The benefit for society is that a kid on a scoot that screws up isn't very likely to do much collateral damage and will have more experience of traffic etc. The benefit for the bike community is greater awareness and possibly even a boost in new people staying in the sport who might not otherwise.
Opinions?

 

[rudedog]

yeah, but then you get an increase in deaths on the road, cuz those same kids you are trying to give awareness to still dont truely understand the roads, they get into a crappy situation, and this time, the dont have a metal cage with airbags around them, just a nice cushy landing on ashphalt and maybe a nice neeting with a semi.

i agree in theory it would highten awareness for most drivers, but the common feeling i seem to pick up is that kids should be forced to drive for a few years before they are allowed to get on a two-wheeler, just to teach them the road without that added risk of no protection, not the other way around.

 

[Tylo604]

No offense... it's great that you're thinking about raising awareness for drivers..

But that is a horrible idea. You're seriously suggesting ALL 16 year old kids have to ride a scooter for a year before driving a car?!

- First off, they're inconvenient in cold/wet weather..
- Secondly, most are incapable of driving on a highway/freeway

I think I'd have lost quite a few of my friends from highschool if they were forced to ride scooters. A bunch have had accidents that weren't their faults (rear-enders, t-boned by drivers running red lights). They wouldn't have stood a chance.

Bad idea! :laughing

Back to the ol' drawing board!

 

[Jave]

there should be a horse power restriction for new drivers in cars... and bikes. you wouldn't see too many kids trying to street race in 100 hp kia's, lol.

 

[TrueLies]

there should be a horse power restriction for new drivers in cars... and bikes. you wouldn't see too many kids trying to street race in 100 hp kia's, lol.

Get damn serious!!!


Kids used to race shitbox Chevettes and Tercels. What exactly is different now? Now we have Cavaliers and Echos. Same shit, different pile. :coffee

 

[blkhrt81]

Ok, nobody should be forced to ride a scooter LOL. However, I just got thinking, in my high school class by grade 9 almost 50% of us rode bikes. Back then a 14 yr old could get a scooter license that allowed you to ride up to 100cc. I think there was supposed to be a speed limit too but it was pretty much ignored. Those 80- 100cc bike would do 100 or so km/hr and were just great around town. We rode 'em down the highway flat out and basically kept up with traffic. The thing was, our families and friends were more bike aware then too. When we turned 16 a scooter license automatically became a full bike license or you could go for your car. Now sure enough after 16 the numbers went way down but at least there was a bunch of people that were aware. Interestingly enough it seemed like there was about a three year blip like that, the class older and younger had a lot of bikes too but once you got outside that group they were rare. This would have been '66 to '69. By the time my brother hit highschool in the mid '70s there didn't seem to be near the numbers that rode. And now you can't ride anything but a scoot until you're 16 so there isn't an obvious advantage for a kid to get a bike.

 

[r1100s]

I've always thought that everyone should be forced to ride a motorcycle before graduating to a car. You learn a lot about vision, and about vehicle dynamics and traction and the impact of variable weather by riding a bike. Cars are so isolating, especially new ones, that you can learn to drive without really developing what I'd call a "skill". (And don't get me started again on how easy it is to get a licence...)