open your eyes, jackass

Lots of drivers hate motorcycles. Some people get aggressive whenever they see a bike, maybe feeling the standard testosterone urge to race or dealing with whatever latent resentment they have for that biker goon that cut them off 12 years ago.

The aggro response is completely stupid (and mostly futile), but it's preferable to those who just FREAK OUT for no apparent reason. My favorite are the cagers who suddenly hit their brakes when a motorcycle comes up behind them; from their body language, it's apparent that they haven't looked in their rearview mirror since they left the house, and panic when they finally observe a single headlight closing in on them.

The main problem is that too many people are flat out lazy behind the wheel. How many commuters do you see concentrating on make-up application, dial (or iPod) scanning, cell phone manipulation, child appeasement, and pretty much anything else that doesn't involve the road?

Some civilized cultures actually take pride in their ability to maneuver and manipulate motorized vehicles with some semblance of performance. Not us ... the crowning achievement of American transportation is to disconnect yourself from the driving experience as much as possible. In Europe, your driving skills speak for themself. In the US, even the most incapable driver can represent with 20" spinners and a road-numbed SUV while stupidly floating across lanes and generally ignoring their traffic environment.

That's why you'll never see this ad [.mpg] in the US. Pity, because it's a good one. (Note: video may take awhile to load)

[link originally found at Bikes in the Fast Lane]