Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article appeared in the May Day Books Blogspot on August 10, 2019. It has been updated with more current data on driving.
I ride, and I’m watching. Motorcyclists, like bicyclists, scooter riders and pedestrians, must carefully observe the driving behavior of the people behind the wheel of massive killing machines — ah, I mean cars, pickups and trucks. In spite of the large number of vehicle deaths and injuries in the U.S., no one yet wants to outlaw motor vehicles. I’ve named cars, SUVs, vans and pickups as “retirement vehicles”; given the apparent ease necessary to pilot one. Even an old person with slowed reaction time can do it!
So here’s the deal.
I call it the flow. It is a Zen concept in which all drivers adapt to the flow of traffic you are in. The steel river. It means total awareness of others, as driving is really a social experience. You can tell clueless or anti-social drivers immediately. The “flow” means you don’t drive too fast, you don’t drive too slowly, you fit into the pace; you adapt.
- That 5,700-pound pickup that thinks it is in a race? Take a chill pill, buddy.
- The person driving 10 miles under the city speed limit? Go back to a country lane and try again.
- Don’t stop in the bike lane like you are some delivery vehicle, forcing that bicyclist to swerve into traffic, because you blocked their flow.
- Awareness of others means actually using those blinkers, as we can’t want to read your mind even when we want to.
- Stop diddling with the phone at stoplights or anywhere.
- Don’t suddenly stop in the middle of a street.
- Go around cars turning left to improve flow.
- Use all the lanes on a freeway, and if you are slow on the freeway, stay on the right!
- Those people in the fast lane going exactly the speed limit like self-appointed cops? Blocking the flow again.
- If confused about location, pull over or drive around the block or take the next exit. Hey, even learn to read a map or use a GPS.
- Those who do something stupid like crossing many lanes of traffic to save a hair of time are the worst. Blocking the flow.
- Rushing to stop. You see this on interstates all the time, passing traffic at high speed only to enter an exit.
And there’s more: Knowing what lane to be in beforehand helps the flow. Weaving between lanes hurts it. Looking for stop lights and stop signs coming up — anticipation, in other words — helps the flow. (Stop signs are actually many times stupid. In Ireland they use “Yield” signs to be more accurate, which saves gas and brake wear.)
The flow means not rushing up to a stop light and jamming on the brakes. In fact brake wear is the biggest sign of a bad driver — it also means excessive gasoline use; both are costly habits. That jerky rabbit style of driving? Grow up! You’ve seen people who brake constantly while driving, like every 10 seconds, at every curve or intersection? What is up with that? Check experts who “high-mile.” They teach how to approach lights, signs or stalled traffic. It does not involve acceleration – it actually means coasting like a kid on a bike.
The flow means using all lanes available, including the infamous zipper merge. I once had to argue with an alleged “professor” that making a highway even smaller by queuing in one lane instead of the available two was against the laws of physics or plumbing. I have been run off the road several times by Minnesotans thinking they are in a line for a movie instead of on a two-lane highway becoming one lane. MnDOT finally told people to use both lanes with big signs and now it’s gotten better. Then there are the people who merge onto a freeway and assume everyone is going to move over. Legally, the ones on the freeway have the right of way, and sometimes they can’t move over.
Accidents Vary By State
Many cities have a combination of city drivers and country drivers. The latter tend to be somewhat lost, slow and uncertain. Their grasp of “the flow” is questionable. (In the Twin Cities, that means Wisconsin plates.) Yeah, you know who you are. Or recent immigrants from countries where driving is a new experience. Motorcyclists see you hesitating about everything.
Florida had 394,945 vehicle accidents in 2023 (compared with 64,711 in Minnesota), which probably means the worst drivers. Tennessee, Arizona, South Carolina and North Carolina are next worst — note, all in the southern United States. Minnesota is one of the safest driving states in the nation (No. 3), along with Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Washington, D.C., New Jersey and New York — mostly northern states.
And don’t get me started on parking lots, one of the worst places for fender benders and little accidents. That able-bodied person attempting to park closest to the doors like it’s some kind of status? Or parked in a lane? Lord…. Then there are the people who have forgotten how to pass on a two-lane highway and will follow a slow vehicle for many miles. Blocking the flow.
I’ve ridden motorcycles for 44 years without an accident with another vehicle. Motorcycles stop faster than cars, accelerate faster, maneuver better and provide better visibility for a rider’s eyes. Which all helps — but we need some Zen help, too. Don’t assume we are always watching all the erratic driving like a hawk. I know motorcyclists can be pains in the ass, especially those Harley-branded riders who think their loud, obnoxious pipes are some kind of safety procedure. After six drinks and no helmet, I’d say not. Or the jock boys in shorts and wrap around sunglasses winding up their sport bikes into the ether. We apologize.
Riding a bicycle in the so-called “Global South” — which I have done in Hanoi and Hue, Vietnam, and Phnom Penh, Cambodia — relies heavily on the flow and awareness of others. You cannot do it otherwise. It’s the same in other countries, as driving in Britain, Italy, New Zealand, Ireland and Mexico has taught me.
Public transport, electric scooters, motorcycles and any kind of bicycle are actually the future. Zombie technologies like gasoline and large, heavy vehicles are doomed except for those who need them. Someday you might have to leave your retirement vehicle and join us in the flow. So go with it!
May the lights always turn green for you.