FolsomBrad
Member
Reged: 03/31/08
Posts: 53
Loc: El Dorado Hills, CA
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My point isn't that drunk driving isn't dangerous but that cell phone use is likely just as dangerous. I don't think cell phone use is just another distraction. Motorcycle death rates per mile have like doubled in the past 10 - 15 years. What's changed? I don't think people have started drinking more -- on the contrary, drunk driving laws are more stringent and enforced more strictly. The variable that has changed is the increased use of cell phones and motorcyclists are being killed as a result. Just as drinking and driving don't mix, neither do talking on a phone and driving. Before cell phones we seemed to manage just fine without having to talk on a phone while we drive.
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Hate workin' for the man...
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roadworthy
Old Hand
Reged: 08/29/07
Posts: 8887
Loc: St Louis MO
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When I see people talking on the phone when I'm on the bike, and they have the window down, I make sure I ride right next to them. I have Scepters. Am I an a-hole or what?  
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I stopped fighting my inner demons. We're on the same side now.
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arstaren
Loquacious
Reged: 07/23/07
Posts: 3481
Loc: Southeast ,Iowa, USA
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Quote:
When I see people talking on the phone when I'm on the bike, and they have the window down, I make sure I ride right next to them. I have Scepters. Am I an a-hole or what?
Yeah, but you're OUR A-hole! I did hear a ten second blurb/commercial that was running on NPR. Somebody did a study which showed that driving while talking on the cell had the same level of impairment as drunk driving! 
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Fidelis et Fortis
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roadworthy
Old Hand
Reged: 08/29/07
Posts: 8887
Loc: St Louis MO
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Quote:
Yeah, but you're OUR A-hole!
woo hoo! 
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I stopped fighting my inner demons. We're on the same side now.
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RamSound
Loquacious
Reged: 08/09/05
Posts: 2706
Loc: Mary Esther, FL
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Every day I ride I play this game, "kill Bob". So far, I've never lost. Not to be sexist, but I feel my most formidable opponents are young girls on cell phones.
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Bob
2005 America, 904cc BB, SS long slash cuts, UNI with NH bellmouth, jet kit with needles in top position, drilled slides, 128/45 jets, 1.5 turns out, 18/42 sprockets.
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arstaren
Loquacious
Reged: 07/23/07
Posts: 3481
Loc: Southeast ,Iowa, USA
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Quote:
Every day I ride I play this game, "kill Bob". So far, I've never lost. Not to be sexist, but I feel my most formidable opponents are young girls on cell phones.
Ditto on the sexist, cause I'm not....but if you add new car to your observation, you have the perfect killing machine. They will not only nearly run you over, they will glare at you on the way by! 
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Fidelis et Fortis
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FolsomBrad
Member
Reged: 03/31/08
Posts: 53
Loc: El Dorado Hills, CA
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Young girls are the worst...besides their heavy cell phone use, for some reason they are the most likely to be the ones that will try and beat you off the line at a stoplight or not let you in when merging.
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Hate workin' for the man...
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RamSound
Loquacious
Reged: 08/09/05
Posts: 2706
Loc: Mary Esther, FL
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In the late 60s I had a friend killed in Birmingham, AL. He was riding his motorcycle down a 2 lane road that passed by a triangle intersection of another 2 lane road. A 16 year old girl went through the stop sign where you turn right onto the road he was riding on and ran right into him.
That was almost 40 years ago when no cell phones existed. It's hard enough keeping aware of what's on the road without distractions. I fear it's getting much worse with a larger number of drivers both young and old.
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Bob
2005 America, 904cc BB, SS long slash cuts, UNI with NH bellmouth, jet kit with needles in top position, drilled slides, 128/45 jets, 1.5 turns out, 18/42 sprockets.
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bennybmn
Should be Riding
Reged: 01/11/05
Posts: 12689
Loc: Long Island, NY
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As for what has changed, there are other things, but distractions in general have definitely gone up (Sat radio, GPS, cell phones, MP3, etc).
As for the young girls.... call me sexist. When I was in HS, the big thing was teenage boy drivers were "worse", and hence cost more to insure, etc. My assertion was that we were BETTER drivers, BUT we let our ego drive us too much, and hance caused more catastrophic crashes. HOWEVER, girls had more FREQUENT accidents, just way lower cost. Backing into the mail man, other parked cars, curbs, shopping carts, etc. My theory was, and 15 years later remains, males have much better spacial relations and just plain understand the physics better (end gross generalization...).
Running yourself off the road at 100 mph is just stupid. Not being able to paralell park is bad driving  Looks like things haven't changed much!
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Benny
Black & Silver '02
Too many mods to list
Not enough miles ridden
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Matt
Learned Hand
Reged: 01/11/05
Posts: 1453
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Were there parellel parking opportunities in VT, Benny?
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