A car is not a toy

Have you ever wondered why there are relatively few car accidents considering the lack of skills, attention, consideration, focus on driving, or just plain common sense of so many car drivers? Having walked, driven a car, a motorcycle, and a bicycle in a few countries, in German cities, country roads, the Autobahn, and a lot of roads, high and freeways in the US I'm more and more stunned by the fact that I haven't seen that many accidents yet. I know, there are plenty of them but still, based on what I've experienced and seen there should be a lot more!

People don't notice what's going on around them, use their phones and all kinds of other devices, read newspapers and maps, take a nap, eat, drink hot beverages, smoke and light cigarettes, or try to pick them up after they dropped them, apply make up, everything's possible.

When I was 20 I lived in a city about 30 kilometers away from my home town. One day my mother and I were driving back to my home town after I had a small surgery on my foot. Somewhere on the Autobahn we were driving in the middle lane, about to pass a huge truck. Suddenly, without warning, the truck's turn signal showed up and, at the same time, the truck moved into our lane. And hit our car. We got pushed to the left lane where another car hit us at full speed. My mother managed the impossible and kept driving because, apparently, the truck driver hadn't noticed anything and kept driving. My mother honked and yelled, despite my efforts to get her to pull over and stop the car until the truck finally noticed her and pulled over to the shoulder. All this while the poor guy in the car that hat hit our rear sat in his car wreck on the left lane, watching us driving away. 

While the police changed our tire so that my mother could drive us home (she's cooler than James Bond my Mom!), I watched a number of trucks passing us and understood why this accident had happened. The drivers read newspapers, had their feet up on the dashboard, talked on the phone, seemed to watch TV, ate, or seemed to be asleep (!). A few times I saw them moving the steering wheel to the left to pass a slower truck. They move the wheel and hit the turn signal at the same time and all of this without a prior look over their shoulder or at least into the side mirror. I am not saying that all truck drivers are like this and their work conditions do suck big time. But this complete disregard combined with not owning the car and not being in any danger of physical damage by getting hit by a car, at least not by our little VW was just shocking and incredibly scary.

Riding a bicycle through Hamburg provided a lot of eye openers as well. Granted, many bicyclists are not much better than most car drivers but a lot of them try to make it easy for car drivers but do have to fear for their lives. When it comes to bad experiences with car drivers, I remember one very vividly. I was riding back home from work on the bicycle path, on the right side. When, suddenly, a taxi pulled over from the other side of the road, across a continuous middle line (as in DON'T CROSS THIS LINE EVER!) and directly onto the bicycle path, a few meters in front of me. I barely managed to stop my bike without hitting the car. And I got angry! I looked up and started yelling at the driver. No four letter words but words that seem appropriate when someone almost kills you in a place that should be considered half way safe for a bicyclist. And what did he do? He got out of his car and started yelling at me. Lots of words I'd rather not repeat here. In retrospect, I should have, at least fake hit his car. I had a witness who was almost as speechless as I faced with this guy's 

reaction to the incident. But I didn't. Because I prefer myself and others to be safe and uninjured to teaching someone a lesson. However, sometimes I just can't resist. Too many times I saw people who let their children walk on the street side of the sidewalk without paying any attention to them or, who pushed their strollers on a bicycle path while talking to a friend, in person or on the phone, or just looking into the sky. So one time I stopped my bicycle a few inches in front of a stroller, pushed on a bicycle path by a blonde posh woman who was busy exchanging the latest gossip with her friend. To her credit, she immediately began yelling at me for endangering her child (or maybe just the expensive McLaren stroller, who knows). I just looked at her and said that if I had been a car or a less attentive bicyclist her child would have been dead or severely injured now. She didn't seem to get it. And honestly, I don't know what will make her get it. Maybe a car that hits her little girl at 35 miles an hour and sends her flying through the air would do the trick...

Now that I live in California, with a daily commute on one of the busiest freeways in the state (fortunately, I don't have to drive myself), riding my motorcycle on busy and not so busy streets and roads, I have plenty of more opportunities to see the scariness of car driving in California! In order to get a drivers license you need to pass a written exam and a behind the wheel driving test. No minimum classroom and behind the wheel lessons with a certified (and more often than not seriously crazy) driving instructor. Just a few hours with mom or dad or friends with licenses who are old and bold enough to let you drive why dying a slow death in the passenger's seat. This explains a lot. There's not a lot of common sense, no skills that come with driving experience, and being taught what to do in unexpected situations by an expert. Such as how to drive backwards uphill on a steep icy street. I've seen more than enough helpless, stunned faces and behavior upon the sight or the occurrence of something unexpected. Such as a jogger on a sidewalk that someone almost ran over because the driver did not look left or right before driving on the Safeway parking lot. Yelling at them didn't help either. Well, in situations like these I usually revert back to German. Because it's just more satisfying to use four letter words in your native language. However, those two old Asian ladies couldn't have looked more terrified, being yelled at by this sweaty, tall, red faced, angry German. Though I don't think they understood why I was so angry. And, worst of all, they didn't even stop the car. They just looked at me and kept driving. It's the LEFT pedal! It's not so difficult, there are only TWO in almost all US cars!

I really try to be more Zen about this. After all, being angry and yelling at people never helps and is bad for my health and well being. But I have to say that this is the one thing that still makes me angry. People drive cars as if they're operating a toy. Not one of the toys that could actually kill you when operated negligently. A car is a damn killing machine! How can people be so afraid of becoming a victim of a terrorist attack or a plane crash and still get in their car every day and drive on a Freeway? Or, worse, walk through the city, cross streets, ride their bicycles or motorcycles? I'm grateful for every day that I do not get killed or severely injured by a vehicle whose driver just checked his texts or lighted a cigarette. Just a little more common sense, attention, and the realization that it takes practice to become a good driver. Until then, the brake pedal, rearview mirrors, frequent head turns, and undivided attention while driving are you best friends. And all other road users will be, too.

Drive safely :-)

Towing home

Last Tuesday I had my first experience with AAA. My motorcycle got towed. I still hadn't gotten around to bring my bike to the shop for a check up after the long ride. She ran just fine without any issues so I didn't feel an urgency to pay a few hundred dollars to get the confirmation that everything is just fine. Well, guess I should have.

Anyway, I decided to ride to work because I had physiotherapy in the morning and a social event at work in the afternoon, somewhere in Mountain View. Everything worked out well. I rode down 101 and thanks to my neon yellow jacket all the cars made space for me to pass and ignore the bad traffic. I know, lane splitting is incredibly dangerous and it scares the hell out of me. Just the thought that at any moment a car could just change the lane and pull out right in front of you, causing you to fly across cars and break whatever bone is available in you body. I could not commute on a motorcycle. Having to go through this stress every day would cause my hair to be grey within months. That said, while the driving skills in this country could be improved a lot of car drivers are very courteous towards motorcycle riders and let enough space for us to lane split. Also, while bad traffic in a car is annoying and tiring on a motorcycle it's extremely exhausting and, if it's hot outside, you're getting cooked in your gear.

While I was riding I noticed that my gear shift wasn't very compliant. I had trouble with it before. Often, when I was riding faster on the Freeway and had to switch into a lower gear it would go into a fake neutral and I had to kick the lever really hard to get into the desired or just any gear. That morning, however, it actually got stuck and stopped moving altogether. Not something you want to happen while riding on the left lane on 101 in heavy traffic. I managed to roll over to the shoulder without causing any delay in traffic. And again I was incredibly grateful to be wearing this lovely bright and shiny jacket!

I tried to fix it somehow and, indeed, I was able to move the lever and thought I could continue. But as soon as I turned the engine back on and tried to switch into first gear it got stuck again. So I took out my phone and called AAA. It was a little scary to find my way through their phone system and finally talk to a person about my situation, while standing only a few meters away from cars passing. And they asked for an awful lot of information. Later I learned that they often have issues locating vehicles so I guess it was a good thing to spend a few more minutes providing information. It certainly helped that I was standing right across from the SFO International Airport.

Right after I ended the call I saw a truck pulling up behind me and thought: "Wow, that was quick!". But it was a California Highway Patrol Service truck. Those guys provide free, well, tax paid, road side assistance on Californian Highways. Makes sense. Car issues are the most frequent cause for traffic jams, I suppose. He asked if I was okay and if there was anything he could do for me. Even just stay with me until the AAA car arrived. I declined but told him that this was an awesome idea and I really appreciated his offer.

I had barely sat down and sent an email to my colleagues that I would be working from home that day, if I ever got there, when the AAA truck showed up. Less than 10 minutes after the call. My bike got fastened on the truck within the next 5 minutes and Don, the driver and I were on our way to the Ducati shop. It turned out, that Don was from Malta and really happy that I had been there once. So we talked about the European Union and the quality of life in the US vs. Europe until we pulled up in front of the motorcycle shop. Those guys must think that I'm too lazy to drive to the shop as this was the second time in a row that I got towed there.

Meanwhile, the bike is fixed, I'm happy with AAA's roadside assistance and assistants. Someone else was happy, too. My roommate's and our neighbors' cats. They always enjoy having someone at home during the day who can open doors for them and refill their half full bowl to prevent them from starving.