Afterthoughts on Irene

Afterthoughts on Irene
Years from now, we will be telling our kids about that one week in August when we survived the great earthquake of oh-eleven and a hurricane in the same week.
But we really dodged a bullet this week, and a lot of people take this fact for granted. I was lucky. The storm hit us dead center on the south shore of Long Island. There were some downed trees and power outages, but nothing serious. I wish I could say the same for everyone. A lot of people had massive tree and auto damage, and some people even got hurt. People will be without power for days, and for some people it’s going to take weeks for them to drain their basements.
I hear a lot of people saying that it was all hype. They are angry at the media for making such a big deal out of it, a storm that wound up being not as serious as they made it out to be. That’s like being mad at someone because they suggested you move off of the railroad tracks, because a train would probably be coming soon. This storm could have been, and was supposed to be a lot worse. The extra time spent preparing is a gamble, but its one where the odds of winning are much better, and the stakes are so much higher.
NY’ers are an easily jaded people, and I’m afraid that’s what is going to happen now. The next time a hurricane warning comes along, people are going to take it with a grain of salt, and probably not take proper precautions.
For now, mass transit is slowly coming back on line. Many, many roads are still closed, and of course jumped the normal 25 cents a gallon. Westchester’s traffic report is a sea of exclamation points for incidents and closed roads, and New Jersey is still going to have to deal with massive flooding.

Also, a thanks to the readers. The article on “how to prepare your car for a hurricane was the most viewed article ever on the site. Hopefully I don’t have to write a similar article anytime soon.

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.