> educate them. Don't use safety devices to replace a person's > responsibility to learn.
While it may be a person's responsibility to learn, the fact of the matter is few drivers out there take their driving as seriously as some of us on 2 wheels--particularly on this list. Here in the good ole US of A, if you read the reports, most people classify themselves as excellent drivers. But IMHO, excellent drivers pay attention to the driving task. They are not reading, putting on make-up, talking on the phone, etc. They are keeping their eyes moving, checking their mirrors AND turning their heads, yielding at yield signs and stopping for red lights (instead of running them). Therein lies the problem: it certainly appears that too many people think they're so good they don't have to pay full time and attention to the driving task. If my running a modulator attracts their attention to my presence, which if they were all as excellent as they claim, I wouldn't have to do in the first place, then I'm gonna run a modulator. After all, it's my ass if they don't see me and do something stupid because of it. OTOH, I do not ride DEFENSIVELY. I ride PRO-ACTIVELY, as all riders should. What's the difference you might ask? IMHO, a rider who rides defensively; which as you'll remember, is probably the way we were all taught to drive CARS, leaves you (the rider) waiting for someone to make a move that you'll then react to. The trouble with this way of thinking is suppose what the other driver does doesn't leave you with an out? You're up sh*t's creek. I prefer to make decisions for myself and let the other, defensive drivers, react to me. That way, I'm in more control for myself, riding as I choose, not as someone else, who probably doesn't have my best interest in mind, might dictate by their actions for me. That's my story, and I'm sticken' to it. Regards, Henry S. Winokur 94 GTS1000, AMA, MRF, Nationally Certified Riding Instructor Columbia, MD Ride for Kids Task Force West Bethesda, MD USA
