It was a sunny, warm, & beautiful spring day – a great day for a motorcycle ride. It was also a day that left me slightly puzzled and wondering if a pickup truck driver was being reckless or just polite.

Here’s what happened: On the way home, I had just finished coming up to speed off an entrance ramp to the highway and I had no sooner settled in with the other traffic when suddenly I found myself dodging debris which was bouncing off of the road in front of me. I quickly figured out the stuff was blowing out of the bed of a pickup truck just ahead.

Traffic was light and I was able remove myself from the situation by changing lanes quickly and safely. As I approached the driver’s side of the offending pickup truck, I noticed his window was down. Good, I thought, now I’ll be able to inform this driver of the hazards he is creating. I jockeyed up along side of him and as loud and clear as I could I slowly said: DO–YOU–KNOW-THAT-STUFF-IS–BLOWING–OUT-OF-THE-TRUCK?

He looked me square in the eyes and with an ear-to-ear smile on his face he said YES!

That was it. He made no attempt to pull over to investigate; he expressed no concern, just a big ole’ smile and a simple YES!

I was stunned and had no idea what to make of this. I spent the remainder of my ride pondering the possibilities. Did he not hear me correctly and was he just being polite? Did he hear me correctly and if so, was driving down the highway at speed, and letting the air currents blow stuff out of the bed of his truck, his way of disposing of refuse?

While I may never know what the real story was, there is a message here: Hazards are everywhere and in addition to always finding a way to sneak up on you when you least expect it, they usually present themselves in creative and unusual ways.

Have fun and be safe.

Updated: 8/22/08

AUSTIN –  With gas prices topping $4.00 per gallon, more and more Texans are trading their gas-guzzling SUVs and pickup trucks for more fuel-efficient motorcycles to save at the pump. More motorcycles on the road means more motorcyclists may crash and ultimately die on Texas roadways. That’s why the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is launching a motorcycle safety campaign encouraging drivers to take extra caution watching for motorcyclists on roadways.

Because they have less physical protection than passenger vehicle occupants, riders are particularly vulnerable in a crash. Federal officials report that per vehicle mile traveled, motorcyclists are about 35 times more likely to die in a crash than passenger vehicle occupants.

“Registered motorcycles are at an all-time high in Texas,” said Carlos Lopez, TxDOT’s traffic operations director. “We’re reminding drivers to be on the lookout for the nearly 400,000 motorcyclists on Texas roadways, especially at intersections where many crashes happen.”

Starting July 14, television and radio commercials and billboards along interstate highways will urge drivers to look twice for motorcyclists. The public education initiative will run for two weeks, coinciding with National Ride to Work Day on July 16.

Co-sponsoring the effort is the Texas Motorcycle Roadriders Association, which educates riders and promotes motorcycle safety in Texas.

TxDOT and the Texas Motorcycle Roadriders Association have these safety tips for sharing the road with motorcyclists:

* Look twice for motorcyclists—at intersections, entering highways and whenever turning or changing lanes. The small size of motorcycles often makes them hard to see, and motorcyclists can get lost in blind spots.
* Always maintain a safe following distance. Motorcycles can stop more quickly than passenger vehicles.
* When passing a motorcyclist, move to the other lane and allow a full lane for the motorcycle. After doing so, avoid re-entering the lane too quickly.

In 2006, 346 motorcyclists were killed on Texas roads, which is nearly ten percent of all fatalities.

Source: Texas Department of Transportation

For more information contact: Mark Cross
Telephone: (512) 463-8588

For decades, I’ve felt that local, state, and federal agencies have not only been wasting your time, but also have been causing you to waste gas in the process and I think a recent example proves it!

The east and west parts of the city I live in are divided by a river and there are two bridges crossing this river. The west side of town is mostly residential and nearly all of the commercial businesses including grocery stores and shopping centers are located on the east side.

Crossing over to the east side has always been a dreaded task because it takes so long to go only a mile or two. Often, I choose to shop in the next town 10 miles away so I don’t have to cross the river and because it takes less time to get there.

Recently, it was decided that the main bridge needed to be replaced and all traffic was routed to the only other bridge.

Anticipating extreme traffic backups the local and state agencies did something unheard of: they changed the traffic light sequencing and let the traffic actually flow!

Currently the upper bridge is seeing over three times the traffic it normally does however, I don’t mind a bit crossing it now. In fact, I can now go across town in a fraction of the time it used to take, all because they let the traffic flow – amazing!

Actually, I somewhat dread the day when the new bridge is opened because that will also mean the traffic lights will be put back to their normal sequencing and the roads will once again become a big slug of vehicles crawling from traffic light to traffic light.

So as I enjoy our short-lived ability to actually ride down the streets unimpaired by red lights every block, I find myself wondering just how much gas we, as a nation, could save if only they would let the traffic flow – I’d bet the numbers would be staggering.