It’s a two-way street
So pull your head out...
by R. Bruce Thomas
It's often too easy to blame other drivers for not seeing motorcycles and sharing the road, but it is incumbent on riders to also see other vehicles and share the road.
My wife and I recently headed down south and had lunch at a restaurant a friend had been telling us about for quite some time. While enjoying our meal, a very distinctive group of three motorcycles pulled in to the parking lot and the riders came in for lunch.
After our meal we headed off to Waterton to admire the scenery and then continued on to an overnight in Lethbridge. Along the way we encountered these same three motorcycles that had been at the restaurant.
When the three bikes caught up to a car, the leader safely went around, and then the other two pulled out to pass at the same time. The problem was the time between when the first rider made the pass and the other two made their move. Now there was oncoming traffic.
With no apparent rush to pass the car, the two bikes took their time which forced the oncoming traffic onto the shoulder of the highway to avoid a head-on collision. Hmmm, wow. There was no "I'm sorry for being an idiot" wave from either rider and, amazingly, I also didn't see the driver flip them the bird. Two riders displaying very poor situational awareness. Maybe they didn't know where they were going and wanted to stay close to the leader.
About 5 minutes later this exact same scenario played out again. Leader safely made a pass, delay, next two bikes pulled out to pass forcing oncoming traffic onto the shoulder. OMG! Eejits. What does it smell like in their helmets with their heads buried where the sun doesn't shine?
What made this even worse was they all appeared to live in Lethbridge or close enough that when the leader disappeared the other two seemed fine to carry on. Why they would have chosen to make such dangerous passing maneuvers when in familiar territory, or anywhere for that matter, is baffling.
So, especially if riding in a group, make sure all riders know the destination to avoid followers feeling forced to hurry up and pass. If you are following someone, make sure you pay attention to traffic conditions when it is your turn to pass another vehicle as the situation may be different from when the person ahead made their move.
I firmly believe that four-lane divided highways have made drivers worse because there is no oncoming traffic so there is no imminent threat when passing another vehicle. If you aren't sure how to pass on a two-lane highway I suggest you go back and read about Norm's Five Second Rule (https://ab-amss.org/norms-five-second-rule/).
Ride responsibly, and often.