Time to Ban Motorcycles?
#41
06-30-2011, 05:08 PM
Road Master
Why would the left mention that???? It could cost them the votes they bussed in from Mexico.
#42
06-30-2011, 05:22 PM
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While we're at it, lets not forget the problem in the USA that causes an average of 74 deaths per year!... Lightning strikes!! We should ban thunderstorms altogether!
#43
06-30-2011, 06:14 PM
So after my last post I hop on my bike to head home from work. While doing 70 on the highway the driver in front if me to the right flicks a cigarette out the window that would have hit me square in the head had I not ducked.
Last edited by tcatnat; 06-30-2011 at 06:17 PM.
#44
06-30-2011, 06:50 PM
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what the author of the columns fails to realize is that he can quote statistics all day and it shouldn't matter. even if 100 out of 100 motorcyclists died in horrific, avoidable, single-vehicle accidents, it doesn't matter. why? because it isn't the job of our government to be our nanny.
his entire argument is based on the assumption that if something is unsafe or dangerous, the government should BAN it. this is the same logic people have tried to use again and again in this country, and it never works: prohibition. book burnings. banning violent video games-- none of these movements had any staying power. "Won't someone think of the children!?" and "We must protect you from yourself!" are not legitimate reasons to restrict or outlaw an activity that *can* be enjoyed safely and without repercussion.
granted, motorcycling is an inherently dangerous activity (as compared to driving a 4wheeled vehicle) because it takes more skill, requires a higher awareness of ones surroundings, and offers less protection in the event of an accident. but those risks are mitigatable, just as the risks of driving a 4wheeled vehicle are. instead of advocating a ban, the author's energy would be much better spent educating people on how to mitigate those risks. i daresay a licensed, MSF-taught, sober, non-speeding, circumspect rider is perfectly capable of avoiding causing harm to himself and others. so what's the problem?
another issue i take with the author's opinion is that it's built on the edge of a VERY slippery slope. ok, motorcycling is "more dangerous" than driving, sure. but driving a low-riding, fiberglass body, compact car is also "more dangerous" than driving a steel-body sedan with a rollcage. should we make everyone drive steel cars with rollcages? how about tanks? where do we draw the line? exactly what is the definition of an adequately safe vehicle? and who gets to decide what that definition is?
bottom line: education will always be a better solution than government-imposed restriction, and providing people with information to make informed choices is better than assuming they are too stupid to make them for themselves. by advocating bans on "unsafe" activities, you are effectively giving your government carte blanche to not only assume you are stupid, but to make your decisions for you.
perhaps the author of the column *is* that stupid, but i would hope most other folks are not.
his entire argument is based on the assumption that if something is unsafe or dangerous, the government should BAN it. this is the same logic people have tried to use again and again in this country, and it never works: prohibition. book burnings. banning violent video games-- none of these movements had any staying power. "Won't someone think of the children!?" and "We must protect you from yourself!" are not legitimate reasons to restrict or outlaw an activity that *can* be enjoyed safely and without repercussion.
granted, motorcycling is an inherently dangerous activity (as compared to driving a 4wheeled vehicle) because it takes more skill, requires a higher awareness of ones surroundings, and offers less protection in the event of an accident. but those risks are mitigatable, just as the risks of driving a 4wheeled vehicle are. instead of advocating a ban, the author's energy would be much better spent educating people on how to mitigate those risks. i daresay a licensed, MSF-taught, sober, non-speeding, circumspect rider is perfectly capable of avoiding causing harm to himself and others. so what's the problem?
another issue i take with the author's opinion is that it's built on the edge of a VERY slippery slope. ok, motorcycling is "more dangerous" than driving, sure. but driving a low-riding, fiberglass body, compact car is also "more dangerous" than driving a steel-body sedan with a rollcage. should we make everyone drive steel cars with rollcages? how about tanks? where do we draw the line? exactly what is the definition of an adequately safe vehicle? and who gets to decide what that definition is?
bottom line: education will always be a better solution than government-imposed restriction, and providing people with information to make informed choices is better than assuming they are too stupid to make them for themselves. by advocating bans on "unsafe" activities, you are effectively giving your government carte blanche to not only assume you are stupid, but to make your decisions for you.
perhaps the author of the column *is* that stupid, but i would hope most other folks are not.
#46
06-30-2011, 10:25 PM
If you google "Hugh Curran Auto Erotica," you can read some of this writer's other articles. In his first column he predicts the end of single-owner transportation, in another, he counts the GM J-Car as one of the 10 best cars ever made.
I owned a Chevrolet Cavalier for 10 years/142,000 miles, and while it was okay basic transportation, one of the 10 best cars ever made?! Really?
I don't think he'll be asked to write for "Car and Driver" anytime soon...
I owned a Chevrolet Cavalier for 10 years/142,000 miles, and while it was okay basic transportation, one of the 10 best cars ever made?! Really?
I don't think he'll be asked to write for "Car and Driver" anytime soon...
#47
07-01-2011, 03:23 AM
**** I'll get a Strok,Cancer,Heart Attack,High BP and Blood suger, Hit the number every day before *** forbid I wreck get hit by a guy like that driving a cage. Reads like the Guy wrote the story. Has notting better to do then sit on the couch Left Hand finger up his azz right hand finger in his mouth. Watching some bull **** news show on TV.
