Having driven motorcycles for 48 years now, I’d be the first one to say that motorcycles are inherently unsafe.
It doesn’t matter what size of motorcycle we’re talking about (I’ve ridden almost all)–they’re all unsafe. A rider’s accident-free history is not proof enough that they are not.
It’s always just a matter of time, and that time is when a rider blinks at the wrong time; when a wayward dog crosses his path; when a car or truck driver fails to see him; when he fails to see the sand on the pavement at the next curve; when children have carelessly left a rock on the street that they used as a marker for their game; when a passenger, not used to riding in back, moves enough to influence the driver’s line in heavy traffic; or even when a motorcycle is not powerful enough to get the driver out of trouble quick.
All this talk about legalizing motorcycle-taxis seem very irresponsible.
But I guess it had to be expected from people who do not have extensive experience with motorcycles–those who only know how to make one go, turn, and stop.
As such, their experience could be limited to riding without time and distance constraints, or having to make the most distance out of every liter of fuel, and then carry and deliver a passenger, any passenger, safely, through all traffic conditions.
Taxis consider all those things because they are a business, and their passengers would want to be conveyed in the fastest possible time, something even you would expect when you are a paying passenger.
If we associate the word taxi to a car, all these factors may sound routinely-safe, but when we are talking about a motorcycle as a taxi, the effort to keep safe becomes enormous and difficult to maintain, involuntarily affected by so many things outside the control of the driver, especially an inexperienced one.
This has everything to do with what a motorcycle is, compared to a four-wheeled vehicle, a car.
A car turns when the steering wheel is turned in the direction that the driver wants to go. Without turning the steering wheel, the car won’t turn. In fact, even if the driver were to let go of the wheel, the car would stay its course.
Not so with a motorcycle. It has only two wheels. A motorcycle rider would have to always guide his motorcycle while it is in motion, and even with that, a motorcycle could still turn with the slightest lean, left or right, a dangerous characteristic when you are in heavy traffic.
A motorcycle is also greatly affected by the load it is carrying. A static load, one that does not move or shift around in the saddle, is ideal because it allows a driver to control only the basic forces acting on the motorcycle (including the driver) alone.
You’ve probably seen a motorcycle loaded with one or even two sacks of rice. You might think it would be harder to drive the motorcycle with such a load but, on the contrary, it wouldn’t require any more skill than the rider already has. The only difference such a heavy load would make is that it would make the motorcycle accelerate slower, and would greatly add to its stopping distance.
On the other hand, with a dynamic load or live load, such as a human passenger (especially one not used to riding a motorcycle), directional control of the motorcycle could be greatly affected by the passenger’s movement in the saddle, especially movements that are opposite the direction of the centrifugal force being exerted on the motorcycle at any given moment.
Have you ever told a friend who rode the back of your bicycle to just go along with the bike when you turned? Well, you told your friend that because it was harder for you to counter the movement while maintaining complete control.
There’s currently a study conducted by the technical working group of the Department of Transportation, at the end of which it would determine whether it would legalize motorcycle taxis in the country or not.
The Land Transportation Franchising & Regulatory Board had originally expressed concern about the safety of motorcycles used as taxis, and they could not be more correct.
No matter who argues the case to legalize motorcycle taxis, motorcycles will remain inherently-unsafe because they are.
Its design flirts with the laws of physics. Even if it didn’t, man cannot design a motorcycle to protect a person like a car because it would no longer be a motorcycle at that point–it would be a car.
To remain a motorcycle by design and intent, riding it must be inherently-unsafe. So why ride them? Well, it is because of a yearning for a little excitement in life, to spice it up a bit.
For me, the exhilaration a little danger adds to any experience is worth the risk. This reasoning may not be shared by too many people. Most people have motorcycles because they are the only mode of transportation left that is convenient and easy enough to ply our heavily-congested streets. And, they are also more affordable than cars, with an abundance of parking spaces to boot. For those reasons, that group of riders take the risks.
It doesn’t matter what kind of rider you are, and for what reason you ride, the motorcycle can never be your friend–you cannot trust it with your life.
It is a machine that needs to be respected even if it doesn’t reciprocate that respect. It requires skill to ride it. A rider must accept the dangers he faces while in the saddle, otherwise, he won’t ride.
But should a paying rider accept the same risks? Should a paying rider accept the injuries that are inevitable in case of an accident? Maybe these are things they just never think about as they look around and see how common motorcycles are.
They may have only heard of deaths in motorcycle accidents but have never seen a dead rider in real life. They may not have been in a motorcycle accident themselves. The motorcycle-taxi drivers may not have enough experience to instinctively react in case of an accident, worsening the effects of the accident. All of them may not know that it is much easier to get maimed or killed in a motorcycle accident than in a car accident.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
Safety manuals are written in blood.
What has not been discussed at all is the need to strictly regulate what owners can do to their motorcycles, and still maintain their safety specifications.
I see so many motorcycles with accessories that could, in fact, diminish what ample safety features were built into the motorcycle. I see motorcycles with green, blue, even red headlights; signal lights that are purple; stop lights that blink different colors, or worse, always on.
Still, some riders never bother to replace blown light bulbs, and are dumb enough to ride at night. How come they are not caught and ticketed?
There are so many other things I see wrong that I will not mention here. Instead, I will leave them up to you to spot the next time you’re out there. I’m sure you’d see more than I could ever remember to add here.
Traffic all over the country is terrible, and has been used by some as a reason to favor the legalization of motorcycle-taxis.
However, should they win and have it their way, it would be very likely that efforts toward finding permanent solutions to ease traffic congestion would wane.
The public conveyance that the motorcycle-taxi would provide will likely cause the government to be complacent, and that could get itself caught in another dilemma in the future.
I wonder what, after the motorcycle, would solve the traffic problem in that still distant time. Easy solutions cannot be the answer to ease the traffic problem. The people cannot be shortchanged by adding to the number of moving vehicles already in our streets, and telling them that it’s the best solution, or worse, the only solution. Dig deep. Is it?
As always, the way it is, or the way they want it to be, cannot be the best for all.
_____________________________
Author’s email: [email protected]