Motorcycle Safety Tips Blog

First off everyone knows or should know that drinking and driving is illegal in all States depending upon the amount of alcohol that you have in your system.

In California you are driving illegally if your blood alcohol content or BAC is .08%

If you drink and drive you are facing losing your drivers license, car or motorcycle, having it impounded, jail time, Court ordered school, and massive fines. It is just not worth it from a legal standpoint.

This article is about Motorcycle safety and not the legal aspects, but the legal aspects are also a consideration.

Most people do not realize that Alcohol is one of the most powerful drugs known to man. A drug is a mind altering substance. Any of you that drink alcohol know full well that alcohol will give you a buzz real quick, especially if you are drinking shooters or mixed drinks. Even one beer will alter your mental state.

I myself quit drinking about 10 years ago for my own personal reasons. I am a sober biker!! I am not writing this article to preach to others not to drink. You can drink as much as you want; it is legal.

The purpose of this article is to preach to you about not drinking and driving, and to not let your brothers and friends drink and drive.

There are statistics all over the Internet about the effects of alcohol on your ability to operate a motor vehicle. Any of you who think that you drive or ride better after a few drinks are flat our full of shit, and you know it. If you don’t know it than maybe you might have a few screws loose.

Drinking and Driving in a car is bad enough, however on a motorcycle it is 100% times more dangerous.

On a motorcycle you have to be sharp and focused. You are basically unprotected except for your clothes and helmet if you wear one, and are totally exposed if you are in an accident. You have to watch out for cagers, road conditions, road debris, and be able to maneuver your motorcycle around turns, curves, and other obstacles. If you are a biker or a motorcycle rider you already know this.

In a nutshell if you drink and ride a motorcycle, you are a fool, and an accident waiting to happen. Don’t do it.

Now what about brothers or friends that you know have been drinking or are shit faced? Would you let them ride to their potential deaths? I would hope not.

If you care about your brothers or friends who have been drinking, you will take their keys and not let them ride. It’s really as simple as that. Even backseat passengers can be a danger to themselves if they are drunk.

In my own personal experiences, I was in a pack of about 25 motorcycles where one idiot who had been drinking almost took out the whole pack. I have also had guys who had been drinking almost drift right into my bike while riding side by side coffin style. In one instance, the guy came literally came within an inch of hitting my bike at 80mph.

I had a passenger experience where I had met a new gal and took her for a ride up to the Rock Store on Mulholland Highway, in the Santa Monica Mountains. She had a couple of glasses of wine. I had no clue that she was a lightweight or that her drinking a couple of glasses of wine would be a problem, since I was the one riding the motorcycle. She almost fell off of my bike! The brothers, who were riding behind me, caught up to me and told me what was going on behind me. I promptly stopped the bike and let her sober up before we continued. My brothers were pissed but that is just the way it was.

Now I refuse to ride with anyone who has been drinking, nor will I ride in a pack where anyone has been drinking. If you want to drink; do it at the hotel after the run, or wait until after the run is over. Don’t drink during a run!

If you really care about your brothers or friends, and do not want to be attending their funerals, or visiting them in hospitals while they are recovering from grotesque injuries, you will do what you have to do so that they do not drink and drive.

I have had physical altercations with brothers while I took their keys away because they were too drunk to be riding. Drunken brothers and friends have no clue while they are drunk why you are taking their keys. They will usually thank you in the morning. If they don’t thank you, at least you know that you may have saved their life.

There are many techniques for preventing a brother or a friend from not driving or riding after they have been drinking. My favorite one is to snag their keys and call them a cab. If you have any novel techniques, you can post a comment to this article.

Keep Both Wheels on the Road!

By Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq.,© 2007