Sunday, April 30, 2006

Motorcycles Save Gas.

Motorcycles do save on gas you know. Even though they can be more dangerous to get around on is a nasty fact. One problem with them being dangerous is that people in cars and large SUVs' just do not pay attention. One way to get around some of that danger would be to leave just a little earlier for work before all the mad dashers get on the road. Perhaps the company you work for would allow some who ride to come in earlier by thirty minutes to an hour. Then leave that same thirty to an hour earlier from work.
Also, if more motorcycles would become primary get to work vehicles instead of staying in the garage waiting for the weekend, there would be more of them on the road and that would make people more aware of them. The more motorcycles on the road would most likely reduce city congestion and idle time in traffic. Parking garages would actually generate more income by making certain parking decks exclusive to two and three wheelers. A parking spot that once had revenue for just one car would now have those same spots for two motorcycles. Same space but twice the money. Actually you could get far more motorcycles on just one deck than cars but you get the idea. Asian and European countries have been using two wheelers with a much better means of getting around then we Americans running around cars.
Scooters and Mopeds could be used by people who work and live in cities and help reduce parking problems. If I still worked where I was working, the trip was four miles from work each way. A Moped or Scooter getting 120 mpg would have only cost me only .03 cents a mile or $1.20 to go to and from for close to three weeks on a gallon of gas. On a motorcycle getting 50 mpg I could have done the same trip on just three dollars a week. Don't go out everyday for lunch either but rather bring in your lunch.

Alright, now you say what about bad weather such as rain. Well, on the rainy days you drive your car to work. I mean, how many days a year does it rain during the week? How many weeks do we go without rain in the forecast? Even if it rained one day a week you'd still be saving a bundle. I'd just bet that most of us spend more on fuel just for getting to and from the work place then anything else. More motorcycles, mopeds and scooters being used by more and more people would make travel on them safer. Three wheelers can haul three people around and though it might look strange now if you made a closed passenger area on them for bad weather, the style and comfort level would come around. A reduction of cars on the road who have switched to these and motorcycles would just make things safer for the masses.

The highway system with it's four lane plus of lanes could designate the far left lane for motorcycle travel only. Anything over three wheels in this lane would be subject to a thousand dollar fine. North Carolina already has a $250 amount on speeders on the interstate, which some ignore, but a thousand dollar fine would be a pretty good deterrent to anyone using the far left lane. If, instead of local and state governments not doing less for people on two wheels, the local and state D.O.T would do more to make it safer on a motorcycle, it would be a much safer form of transportation. A ton of retirement villages use golf carts for getting around and it works.

It looks like two wheeled transportation could be the thing of the future with some slight adjustments. You would get used to the change in most cases. Why do we need a 3 ton vehicle with five or six passenger seating when mostly only one person inside is driving to work?

2 comments:

Kathleen Jennette said...

Wooley, on the way back from Laughlin it cost me 13.40 to fill my 5 gallon tank!! Shocking... but still good compared to my van at $70.00. When I bought the bike it only cost 9.00 to fill her!!

Bar L. said...

Now I know how you found me! From my favorite biker of all time!!!!