Intolerant Editorial--Motorcycle Hatred

[Sven]

Here's an example of why I say that motorcyclists need to remember they are part of a community of people using the roads:  Idiots who wish you illl for doing something they can't do (whether it's legal or not).  

Contact the The Lake Cities (Texas) Sun to comment at
The Lake Cities Sun . PO Box 879, Lake Dallas, Texas 75065
PH  (940) 497-4141 -- Fax  (940) 497-2273
Mark Henry - Publisher. editor@sunnewspapers.com
Tina Moore - Business Manager. tina@sunnewspapers.com

Airing of grievances

Douglas Simpson, Managing Editor

To quote Seinfeld's Frank Costanza at Festivus dinner, now is the time for the airing of grievances.

Usually there's one hot topic to prompt me to write a column, as my fingers angrily dance across the keyboard. But there are a few things that are, well, bugging me that I need to address.

Here they are, in no particular order:

1. Motorcycles. Why are these things street legal? I challenge anyone out there to remember a time they saw a motorcycle that was driving the speed limit and adhering to all traffic laws.

When I see them, they are usually going about 120 mph down I-35E, weaving in and out of lanes like those white lines are just there for show.

Nothing irks me more than sitting in dense 5 p.m. or Friday traffic, only to see a motorcycle driving between the rows of cars, going about 40 mph. I want so badly to open my car door just before they reach me.

I'll never forget the time I was driving down the George Bush around 10 p.m., when all of a sudden scorching down the road were not only about five motorcycles driving erratically, but they were all riding on their back tires. Popping a wheelie while doing 80 mph down a public roadway: stupid.

I remember a few years back, I think after Gary Busey had his bad motorcycle wreck, there was a public service announcement asking motorists to "keep an eye open for motorcyclists," like they are being abused by us car and truck drivers.

I remember telling the TV, "I'll look out for them as soon as they start obeying traffic laws." I'm still waiting, so in my eyes, they are fair game.

Our police officers do a good job, I just hope they pay a little extra attention to the wheelie-popping idiots that are making the roadways dangerous for all of us....

[ATC'er]

Nice guy!  Makes you wonder how he treats his wife and kids...

[PitterB4]

Screw complaining to the paper, call the police!  That's a threat if I've ever seen one.  I hate d-bag editorialist like that who have no accountability for the crap they write.

[vadim]

I re-posted this on New York's craigslist.  Let's spread the word. An apology from the newspaper would be nice.

[Red01]

Was there anything after item #1?

I don't know about where he lives, but where I live, I see more cars darting in and out of lanes and driving at well over the speed limit than motorcycles wheelieing at 80, or salaloming thru traffic. Not that there's no bikes here doing that, just there's more squids in cages than bikes. And 99% of the time, the offender is a young male - regardless of vehicle choice.

And to be honest, when I was in that age group, I did stupid stuff on the public roadways, too... and paid the prices for such stupidity in fines and high insurance.

[ttewejnodnarb]

Here is my response (sorry for the lenght but it really pissed me off):

Dear Sir and Madame,

I take personal offense to the article written by Mr. Simpson and yes, in addition to driving a car I also ride a motorcycle.  He is doing all motorcyclists a disservice by singling out a small segment of the motorcycle riding population to label all motorcyclists as dangerous.  He is also doing car and truck drivers a disservice by preaching the wrong behavior.  Even worse, however, is his comments of opening car doors to foil lane splitting and declaring motorcyclists "fair game".  Are we living in the wild west?  Is it now Mr. Simpson's job to become judge, jury and most literally executioner when he sees a motorcyclist doing something he deems dangerous to the driving public?  His comments are irresponsible.  Let's not teach drivers to pay more attention to those of us that are more vulnerable on the road (I.E. motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians) and teach them instead that it is there duty to teach people who drive poorly a lesson.  Run them down!  T-bone there auto!  Knock them of their bike!  Nonsense.  If that is the case, though, I have a suggestion for Mr. Simpson's next piece:

Let's all hope that every last SUV rolls over, killing all it's occupants.  Every SUV I see on the roads is tailgating and changing lanes erratically while going 80 - 90mph.   (I think it a 4000 - 6000lb vehicle with a high C of G is more dangerous to the driving public than a 400 - 500lb motorcycle.)  It would be wrong to suggest that all SUV drivers drive like this even though it is true I see allot of them do it.

It would be easy for me to give examples of every type of driver of every type of vehicle and use them to categorize an entire group.  Just as Mr. Simpson has done, that action would prove me to be close minded, judgmental, irresponsible and just plain wrong.

You give the impression you do not believe motorcyclists are being abused by car and truck drivers, yet you have never seen one obey traffic laws.  Maybe, Mr. Simpson, you should pay a little more attention when you drive.  If you did, you would see motorcyclists being ignored by car and truck drivers routinely.  You would also see just as many motorcyclists obeying traffic laws as drivers of cars and trucks.  Maybe even more, because if you take notice you would see many car and truck drivers speeding, weaving, talking on cell phones and TAILGATING.  No police officer was paying attention to the driver of that 5000lb SUV that was 3 feet from the back tire of my 500lb motorcycle on I-495 the other day while I was trying to do 60mph in the middle lane but was getting passed by everyone on the road.

Mr. Simpson is a disgrace to journalism and the human race.  No, that is not taking it too far because his viewpoint embodies why there are so many people who jump to conclusion about a person because of what they drive or wear, the color of their skin and the religion they choose to practice.  Good job Mr. Simpson, good job.

Sincerely,
Brandon Jewett

[jfudo]

That's a very nice letter, but please take out the disgrace to the human race line.  That simple comment cheapened the whole letter by lowering to the level of pointless insults.

Also, you talk about the writer in the third person at the beginning and end of the letter, but say "you" (second person?) in the middle.

Other than that I like it.  Although you shouldn't waste your time with this idiot.

[jfudo]

That's a very nice letter, but please take out the disgrace to the human race line.  That simple comment cheapened the whole letter by lowering to the level of pointless insults.  Also, the racism comparison doesn't hold up in my opinion.

Also, you talk about the writer in the third person at the beginning and end of the letter, but say "you" (second person?) in the middle.

Other than that I like it.  Although you shouldn't waste your time with this idiot.  If you want the paper to publish it, there is probably a word count limit.

[Farre]

Wow,...Amen...

Ehh, +1!!!

[Sven]

Prior to posting this editorial to Bandit Alley, I had already written the editors, inquiring whom else the "Managing Editor" wished injury to, perhaps if we knew who was on his hate list (I-pod owners?  Gays?  Women?) we could be ready for the onslaught.  I also forwarded it to the AMA, MSF and MCN, so they could make others aware of the journalistic integrity of this rag.

I haven't received a response, but the paper has apparently removed the editorial due to the amount of crap they've received.

[tacoman]

This guy has gotten ruffled by a few 1%ers.  He doesn't notice the 99%ers because they don't stand out.  Let him vent, for the most part it will fall on deaf ears.  He's the type that says:  motorcycles kill people, guns kill people, cigarettes kill people, etc.  All this guys doing is publicly displaying his ignorance.  BTW, forward articles like this to the AMA, they have a watch dog group (they went nuts over the Janklow deal) and go after these idiots.

[ttewejnodnarb]

yeah, jfudo...I always go a little too far and would benefit from taking ENG 102.  I'll keep trying, though.

[PitterB4]

 Let him vent, for the most part it will fall on deaf ears.  He's the type that says:  motorcycles kill people, guns kill people, cigarettes kill people, etc.  

Sorry but I totally disagree.  You even make my point - aren't there groups out there trying to ban guns and cigarettes?  There's a whole (unfortunate) part of our society that simply believes anything dickheads like this write just because of its simple appearance in an official publication like the Dallas Lakes Sun.  If people don't call them out every time, what they say can become a self-fullfilling prophecy.  IMHO - this guy should be embarassed in a forum at least as public as the one in which he used to make his assinine statements.

[BrianM]

... - aren't there groups out there trying to ban guns and cigarettes?...

Since I'm a gun nut, there's a quote that pops to mind that fits this guy perfectly:

Gun control is not about guns.

Read between the lines (sorry for making this so obvious, but some people Truely don't get it) and you see that it's about Control.  That's what this guy is about too...  HE wants the control.  And it's typically the control freaks that are also extremists and are blind to all but that which would further their cause.  Epotime of ignorance IMHO.

Anyway, carry on...

[txbanditrydr]

The editorial has been taken down according to sources on various Texas motorcycle boards however there has not been any apologies or retractions as of yet.  It is apparent that their server was slammed with presumably anti-editorial comments from across the nation.  In addition there is a campaign to contact advertisers on the site and alert them to this ridiculous diatribe.  Perhaps the loss of some revenue will get their attention similar to the San Francisco fiasco of last month.