Do motorcyclists “need to smarten up”? Are they “too obtuse to actually read a paper”?
We’re pretty sure motorcyclists aren’t dumb or illiterate, because someone’s been reading CMG for the past 20 years — but back on topic. Those words ran in the Letters to the Editor section of the Windsor Star this week, penned by a local who was unhappy after observing a “crotch rocket” pass a minivan. In the writer’s words:
“I was astonished to witness a motorcycle rider pass a minivan (which, by the way, was travelling the speed limit) on Richmond. You can imagine how fast that bike had to accelerate to achieve this.”
You can read the rest of the letter here, and should you feel the need to reply, send a note off to letters@windsorstar.com. Remember, they won’t print it unless you play nice … As their site puts it, “The Windsor Star letters to the editor serve as a public forum for opinion, debate and comments on topics of public interest. They are published online.
E-mailed letters must include your street address and telephone number, and must indicate they are for publication. All letters are verified by telephone, so please provide your home and/or office number and indicate when you can most easily be reached during the day and evening.
UHHH? I don’t get it? Why is this considered as “news” on CMG? I’m sure there are better articles other than a random letter lacking any scope written to an editor to be considered as newsworthy. The fact it simply involves a motorcyclist…. is not enough. Contrary to the letter, we are not simpletons either CMG. Substance would be nice.
There is a basic problem with people and this subject and that is everyone has an opinion and few are informed. Next add into the mix that Ontario drivers are very conservative so things that don’t get a second thought in a lot of the rest of the world makes heads explode here.
I always love the ” if’s and but’s” , “if “a car had pulled out or “if” a child had done this or “if” a lighting bolt happen to hit that very spot…. But none of that happened and if it had the driver probably would have done something different.
It’s interesting how people see 1 sliver of an event and are able to detail blame. Without know events that led to the pass how can one allocate blame. It could be the minivan driver was texting, or eradicate in their driving, or the car was leaking fluid… We don’t know because she didn’t take the time to get the whole truth.
Good point. We don’t even know if she was hallucinating or just telling a lie to get attention. And we don’t even know if the letter was real: It could just have been a fake planted by an editor with a hate on for motorcycles.
With the quality of the “media” in Canada these days, the probability of BS versus facts is close to 100% so who knows what really happened, if anything!!
🙂
It sounds like the motorcycle rider was a squid, going faster then the speed limit and swerving around a minivan on a fairly busy street. We’ve all seen squids ride like this and the small shrines dotted around Toronto on squid hangout roads (Explorer Drive, Rosedale Valley Road…) attest to the idiocy of the squids who died there. So, the writer’s observations are not unlikely.
If anyone wants to ride like a squid, they should get a track day and stay off the roads. The public bad behavior of the squid clan is as bad for motorcycling image and protecting our rights as the “loud pipes save lives” clowns.
Apart from the gratuitous insult at the end of the letter ascribing illiteracy to the rider, the letter appeared factual, to the point and did NOT accuse “all” motorcycle riders of being the same as that squid. So, I don’t see the value in challenging the writer: They have a legitimate point, as humiliating as that may be.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Squid
Unfortunately seems like another case of observation bias… Still, the government should into building better campaigns to address this kind of driver behavior, whether they come from motorcycle or automobile drivers.
It doesn`t say much unless i missed something, at what speed the bike was traveling, did he just pass the van or stormed by it ? He might be right as i have seen my share of dumb and illiterate motorcyclists but then it`s not because someone doesn`t read the same paper as him or any other papers that this someone is dumb or illiterate.