Curious about your thoughts...

[willtill]

The cell phone in this day and age, has become the greatest threat to a motorcyclist. It wasn't like this back in the 1970's when I started riding.

[Verismo]

The cell phone in this day and age, has become the greatest threat to a motorcyclist. It wasn't like this back in the 1970's when I started riding.

That's interesting to hear, Willtill. I keep thinking that, too. And we're so far in, at this point, I think the only thing that is going to reduce the risk will be autonomous vehicles that pay way better attention to the road than drivers currently are. At that point, though, I wonder if speed limits will also increase dramatically, thus making it even more difficult for motorcyclists. It would be an interesting inversion, if all the 4+ wheelers were consistently zipping down the road at 130, while most casual riders aren't doing nearly that, except in short bursts.

Jason

[K2157]

The cell phone in this day and age, has become the greatest threat to a motorcyclist. It wasn't like this back in the 1970's when I started riding.

But mate in the early 70's I remember coming home on leave on the old 500 Yam (2000 Kays)
With a cassette Player in the pocket playing Supertramp And Springsteen and EarBuds.
Now that was Kool

[F6Dave]

But mate in the early 70's I remember coming home on leave on the old 500 Yam (2000 Kays)
With a cassette Player in the pocket playing Supertramp And Springsteen and EarBuds.
Now that was Kool

That reminds me that tape decks were emerging as the newest high tech auto accessory when I started riding in 1970. Before then you only had AM or AM/FM radios with 5 presets, but tape decks gave you the ability to choose what you listened to. There were 8 track decks at first but cassettes soon followed and ruled the market.

Looking back, these were quite a distraction. If you didn't like the current tune you couldn't just tap the 'Next' button on your steering wheel or handle bar. You had to reach for the deck mounted under the dash (a long reach on some big cars of the era) and press the fast forward button. With some decks you had to hold the button long enough to advance to the tune you wanted. Cassettes typically had to be ejected and flipped over every 20 or 30 minutes, and to change albums you had to eject the tape and replace it with another which was often stored in the console, glove compartment, or box under the seat.

I'm not trying to minimize the danger posed by inattentive drivers using their cell phones. But distracted driving has been around in many forms for a very long time.