Why I won't ride to work every day

Last night, The NJ Turnpike inbound GWB lower level came to a grinding halt, and cops were rushing to get by on the shoulder. This is never a good sign, and usually signifies an accident. After 20 minutes and about 400 yards, I came upon the scene which was a multi vehicle accident. One person was down on the ground surrounded by a crowd, and there was a motorcycle about 200 feet up the road. I didn't stick around to see what the result was, but hope the guy was OK. He was riding an old Yamaha small cruiser style bike, so I kinda doubt that extreme speed was a factor in the crash.

One of the fortunate things about my job was that I was able to get my motorcycle license. I had a great time riding out in the California desert, on winding roads, and on the back trails. It was truly a liberating experience, and cemented my love for motorcycles. But even when gas is eight bucks a gallon, I still refuse to ride one in metro NY. It's suicide.

There's a lot of guys out there with the crotch rockets popping wheelies on the parkway, and you know they have a short life expectancy at their current pace. When I sit to think about, probably 95% of the people I know who ride down here have had some sort of major accident that has significantly altered their life and / or physical abilities.

So whats the problem? Sometimes, speed and poor riding is to blame. Even though lane sharing or "splitting" is illegal in NY, riders still do it, and at speeds that are way to excessive to be safe. But I don't think NY / NJ drivers are aware enough about motorcycles. When executing a lane change at 60 MPH, we check our mirrors and take a quick glance to make sure there isn't a car next to us, but typically we aren't looking for a bike in our blind spot. I noticed another issue with NY drivers while riding, and that is that drivers assume a following distance behind a bike which is totally unsafe. Most likely due to perception with a bikes diminutive size, it's not uncommon to see a car less than 10 feet behind a bike, even at highway speeds.

Going through the MSF course to get a DM license in NY was a three day process, but a great one. We learned tht riding was more about defensive driving, and trying to stay out of the way of drivers who don't know how to share the road with bikes.

Take the time to slow down, and take a better look around before changing lanes or making turns. Give a bike a good following distance, and if you see a group riding, don't get in the middle of them. There's a few more months left in the riding season, and there are sure to be many more accidents, but just being aware can help save lives.