Motorcycles and the highway

Truck drivers and motorcyclists have something in common. To drive both well you must be a defensive driver. In a semi your livelihood depends on it. On a motorcycle your life depends on it.

I'm a trucker and I'm on the road 11 hours and 500 miles a day 5 days a week. I've seen a lot of stupid drivers and a lot of accidents. The most horrendous accidents usually involve a semi or a motorcycle.

Personally, you could not pay me enough to get on a motorcycle. If you wreck in a car or a truck at highway speeds you have a pretty good chance of walking away from it. If you wipe out on a motorcycle going 70 mph you can forget about it, especially if you don't have a helmet on- my state actually permits that.

Last night I was up in the Cleveland, Ohio area. It was about 3:30 am and I was on I-480 heading to my next stop. I came upon the site of a wreck. There must have been 10 police cars there as well as a fire truck and an ambulance. They had the road shut down for a minute, then they opened up the right lane to let traffic through. I saw a group of about 7 or 8 motorcycles parked in the left two lanes and they were all looking back at a figure covered in a white sheet laying in the middle of the road. There was blood soaking through the sheet. A little further beyond the dead person was a motorcycle that had been wrecked. Up a little further there was a car on the shoulder with some body damage to the left rear corner. I guess it isn't hard to tell what happened.

I'm saddened to hear of what you witnessed.

:hug:

I'm so grateful that you don't ride a motorcycle...

They are fun, but so damn dangerous...

I really believe in the helmet laws...

When I was in Ohio a couple of years ago, it startled me so much to see folks riding without them...

We call them "brain buckets" and they do make a difference.

:hi: