Modern Vespa

Warning: animal lovers may find some of this post disturbing or upsetting.

An incident the other day got me to thinking about differences in awareness when two wheeling as opposed to caging (driving a car/truck).

Being on two wheels leaves you exposed, unprotected and vulnerable, making a heightened sense of awareness essential for self-preservation. Fortunately, it comes naturally from being outside with the wind in your face and all of your senses engaged.

Being in a cage is pretty much the opposite. You're protected and inside with plenty of distractions, such as phones, dogs, passengers, drinks, food, make-up and the radio. Which makes it that much more imperative for two wheelers to be extra vigilant.

Sunday I was riding on a two lane, mostly rural road (gradually turning suburban) with a 40 mph speed limit. Traffic was moderate.

About the equivalent of 2-3 car lengths ahead--off to the right--I noticed two birds dancing/fluttering around each other at close distance, in a way I've often seen butterflies do, but never birds. I got the feeling they were loving life and each other.

They were low, maybe 6 ft above the ground, and slowly moving towards the road. I slowed and felt a sense of panic, as though watching a slow motion crash.

A big pickup truck was coming in the other lane. You can probably guess the rest of the incident. There was an audible thump and I saw at least one bird drop. Guessing both were hit as they were so close together, plus I didn't see one flying off.

I was simultaneously furious and sick to my stomach. How could he/she not see those birds? But then, maybe they did and couldn't be bothered to slow down for literally 2 seconds.

Either way, I ended up mad at myself for not honking, pointing to the birds and waving for the pickup to slow down. Then again, they might have given me the bird and hit the gas.

THE biggest downside to two wheeling, for me anyway, is seeing all the roadkill (witnessing it live is especially stressful). How many are the result of tunnel vision or distracted driving we'll never know. But if the average motorist were half as engaged and aware as two wheelers are, there would no doubt be less carnage (human and animal) on the roadways.

I have long been an advocate of requiring holding a motorcycle licence for a year before a car licence can be obtained. I doubt this would work in the US, but in some ways it already does in some countries - in France for instance, it used to be that everyone between 14 and 18 years old had experience with at least a 50cc. Now whether that made them better car drivers I don't know, but I suspect it made them more aware of their surroundings. "Don't hit anything in front, don't worry about anything behind".

My experience with around a million miles and 46 years riding 2 wheelers is that by far the most likely accident that is likely to happen to you if you are riding on two wheels is being hit from behind. I have been rear ended while driving a car 3 times during the past 10 years. All three times they were way over the speed limit and distracted. Had I been on a bike I would almost certainly have been killed in all 3 accidents. I probably spend more time looking in the mirrors while riding a bike than looking forward and to the side. I've had to swerve onto the shoulder several times while riding the Vespa on the freeway at 65-70 MPH GPS in the right lane to avoid getting hit. I finally pretty much just gave up riding on freeways with it any more. Typical freeway speeds are close to 100 mph in my state, with very little following distance. And the cops just sit beside the road and watch the race, till they get called to an accident.

The driver did you a favor you could have hit the birds or ran the birds over and wiped you out.

te="jimc"]
I have long been an advocate of requiring holding a motorcycle licence for a year before a car licence can be obtained. I doubt this would work in the US, but in some ways it already does in some countries - in France for instance, it used to be that everyone between 14 and 18 years old had experience with at least a 50cc. Now whether that made them better car drivers I don't know, but I suspect it made them more aware of their surroundings. "Don't hit anything in front, don't worry about anything behind".
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This is how it used to be here too.

At 15, you were allowed to ride a max.50cc bike. No license whatsoever required (until recently). Many used the opportunity.

At 16, you could get a license for a max 125cc bike. This step reduced the number of folks doing this. Still, some got the license as this was 'deducted', both in price and number of required lessons if you continued for a car license at 18. It still does today, but is becoming quite rare...as the 50cc step is often missed because young people don't want to spend money/time/effort to get the license.

Of course, there is also a growing number of people who don't even get a car driver license anymore, for environmental and/or economical reasons and such. Depending on where you live, we do have good enough public infra for this in many places.

I lived in countryside, so started to ride a 50cc at the age of 13

Not at all.

The whole point of the post was how the heightened awareness of being on two wheels allowed me to see the situation unfold before it happened, making it possible to avoid the birds while a less aware motorist didn't.

Besides, they had already crossed my lane before being hit. But it would be easy to miss that detail in such a long winded post.

Indeed, you are more aware on a bike because you have to be. Being a bike rider sharpens your senses which can be carried over to driving a car as Jimc mentioned. But in the case you mentioned about truck vs birds, it is sad, but could have been worse. they could have swerved and hit you. Don't get me wrong, I am an animal lover. When I was 16 years old, I was doing delivery service and a dog ran out in front of me. I swerved to the curb right into a light pole. Tore up the company car, and busted me up. The dog ran off, unscathed, and a few neighbors came to my aid. One fella told me the owner just lets the dog run wild even tough there are leash/fence laws to protect them. I learned my lesson.

Of course I agree that riding a motorbike increases your sense of perception of what's going on around you.

To me though I seem to emulate maybe through osmosis or something this increased sense of perception and apply it to my caging. I have become a much better driver since I began riding a scooter.

In some places they are actively going in the opposite direction.

I wrote a post on YouMotorcycle years ago called Saskatchewan sucks. They were (or had, can't remember) changing the license rules so that you would need to hold a car license for a period of time before being allowed to get a motorcycle license.

I don't think I need to explain all of my arguments to any active motorcyclist, so I'll wrap this up by repeating, Saskatchewan sucks.

Was doing an advanced driving course (lots of company miles = free training).

Within minutes of setting off, the instructor said "you ride a bike don't you".

He could tell purely due to my awareness of everything (pedestrians, bikes, cars and road surface).

Of course we're all human - I won't claim to be infallible. Still, it's a good start (better than most road users).

There's certainly argument for all license holders to spend time on a bike (with instructor). I think HGVs are another one (most people don't realise how much space they need to make manoeuvres, as well as how invisible they can be to those drivers in some situations).

Petition? 😜