The Importance of Motorcycle Safety

I got a scooter when I first moved to San Diego in February 2014. I live blocks from the beach and it cuts through traffic, gets nearly 100 miles per gallon of gas and I can park it anywhere. I can run all my errands in a short amount of time, fit a few bags of Trader Joe's groceries and use as little resources as possible. It's 149cc so not freeway legal but actually goes 70mph+. I prefer 30mph.


I haven't owned a car in over 6 years in the belief that not everyone in the world needs to have one. Thanks to Uber, Lyft, family, friends and cheap rental prices, I can travel by car at any time if needed. I enjoy the scenic train ride to Los Angeles and take easy $60 commuter flights to San Francisco via Southwest. To keep my footprint as small as possible while traveling so often, it doesn't make sense to own a car. If more people owned scooters or motorcycles, we'd cut down on gas consumption and traffic congestion, among other benefits. 


Growing up in York, Pennsylvania, the home of Harley-Davidson Motorcycles, we were taught motorcycle safety at a young age. Give them space, look for signals and especially don't be road rage-y around bikes. Think of them as the pace cars of the open road, pass if necessary and legal but in general, relax and share the road. We might be taking in the sights but are also super careful and hyper-aware of all our surroundings. The speed limit is the safe speed for a motorcycle to travel.


I often make the drive over Mt. Soledad, in San Diego from PB to La Jolla, which takes about 15 minutes. The ride through PB is 25mph, it's 35mph on the hill up and 25mph at the top and on the hill back down where the road goes directly to the 5 freeway. There are many neighborhood-sponsored flashing speed signs and I see cops every once in a while. What I notice the most are the "DRIVE LIKE YOUR KIDS LIVE HERE" signs, reminding you that this is a community and kids should feel safe on the sidewalks.


I constantly experience road rage from drivers coming down this hill, an area that has obviously had problems with speeding and wants to stay safe. I drive 25mph but am often being pushed down the hill by a huge block of steel that angrily revs up at the end of the road, headed to the highway. This isn't a long stretch of road, a bit over a mile, but the persistence of drivers to not only go faster than the speed limit but also make me feel threatened for my safety is hard to accept. If I find this unsafe, how do the kids in the neighborhood feel? 


Driving a car is a privilege, not a right, and we all need to chill out while behind the wheel. You won't get there any faster in the long run and it's possible you'll scare some people in the process. Motorcycles aren't out there to annoy you or flare up some deep seeded envy. They're super fun and actually helping out our environment, traffic and parking. Be aware and don't drive like an asshole. I mean that in the nicest way possible.