Start Seeing (Parked) Motorcycles

 

 

We see the bumper stickers, the road signs, even the LED signs on the highways:

Start Seeing Motorcycles

How Many Motorcycles Have You Seen Today? Look Again.

 

Look Twice, Save A Life – Motorcycles Are Everywhere

 

And of course, as a motorcyclist, I’m all for them. I’d even go so far as to say that if a car driver hits a motorcycle, then uses the excuse “I didn’t see him/her”, they should immediately have their driver’s license suspended until they undergo an extensive vision checkup. After all, if you can’t see an adult human operating a street legal vehicle, then how do you expect to see things like stop signs, or school zone warning signs? Those are smaller than my bike, especially with me on it.


But I also think we need to educate some people on the topic of seeing parked motorcycles. I’ve learned the hard way not to park on the passenger side of large trucks and SUVs. I’ve had to replace more than one mirror (my mirrors extend off the end of my handlebars) due to what I can only assume is a half witted, half blind, inattentive driver who is so far elevated in his/her driver’s seat that they can’t see my bike to their right. Then, instead of actually pulling out of the parking space, they angle their way across what they wrongly believe to be an empty spot. I know, because I saw it happen once, while I was inside eating and watching through the window.

 

 

 

Last week, it happened to an extreme point. My son and I came out of the Korn/Rob Zombie concert to find my beloved Suzi on her side. As I was loudly expressing my opinions on those responsible, a young girl (late teens/early twenties) came up and sheepishly asked if it was my bike. She didn’t see the actual impact, so she didn’t know exactly how it happened, but she did see the truck pulling away and got a quick photo. Unfortunately, the license plate wasn’t quite recoverable from the photo. What kind of asshole does that and just drives off? At least leave a damn note with contact info if you’re not going to stick around.

 

 

 

 

Luckily, the damage was minor - broken right mirror and bent handlebars. A very minor crack in a rear tailpiece that I won't even bother pricing. Honestly, even the helmet was barely scuffed - I don't know how that managed to be so slight.

People have said, and I know some reading this will agree, that it was most likely “just a mistake”, and that he was in a big truck, and probably didn’t even notice that he’d bumped my bike. My question is how in the everloving fuck does that make it okay? What if it had been a dog? Or a child? “Oh, he just didn’t see it because the truck is so big”…. “He probably just bumped it and didn’t even notice”. How is that okay? People, start actually pulling all the way out of the parking space.


Even better: be aware of your surroundings while driving, even in a parking lot. In this case, there were crowds of pedestrians. The idiot could just as easily have hit a person.