ALT-2 How to be a Safe Motorcycle Passenger
Whenever anyone thinks of riding a motorcycle, being the one in control is almost always the first thing that comes to mind. That is too bad. Being a passenger has great benefits that are overlooked.
At some point it became "uncool" to ride a motorcycle with two guys on it. In this day and age, it is almost always a man driving with a woman as the passenger. While it would be nice if this changed, until it does, women have an advantage than men know very little about. This is not to say that being a passenger is all fun and games. There is a lot of responsibility that goes along with being on the back seat of a bike. As a passenger, a person has more control over what happens with the bike than they may realize.
First, lets take a look at why it is cool to be a passenger on the back of the bike instead of the one that is actually driving. Operating a motorcycle takes A LOT of concentration if you want to be safe. You have to drive a manual transmission, deal with all kinds of other traffic that either doesn't see you or ignores you, and deal with things like dirt, dust, rocks, bugs and odd angled gusts of wind hitting you. While all of this is happening, you have to keep your balance and ride the bike. Your life depends on it, and if you have a passenger, so does theirs.
When you are a passenger, you can worry about this stuff but it won't do very much good. You are not in control. You have put your trust in the hands of the person that is driving. Of course if you see a dangerous situation, you need to tell the driver.
Since you are not driving, you get to really, really enjoy the ride. You can stare at the cows in the field for several minutes at a time without causing danger. You can watch the kids in the minivan next to you making funny faces. You can just lay your head on the back of the driver and enjoy the vibrations and wind of the open road. It is truly a win-win situation.
It is not all fun and games though. As stated earlier, you have to trust the driver to be responsible. Bikes are not like cars, you can not grab the wheel to swerve if the driver is more interested in a text message and doesn't notice Fido in the road.
