Motorcycle safety awareness is vital. But why does the burden of the bumper sticker—"Look Twice, Save a Life"—seem to fall entirely on me, the automobile driver? Where is the public awareness program targeted at motorcycle riders, reminding them that lanes are not to be shared, that being small does not entitle them to make fancy highway maneuvers, and that feats of motorway derring-do endanger more even than their own lives—that by taking their lives so cavalierly into their hands, they're also gambling with the lives of the motorists who may swerve to avoid them?
All I'm saying is that I am very careful on the road, especially around motorcycles. But at least half the motorcyclists I encounter in Atlanta ride dangerously, zipping in and out of lanes and up the shoulder, and that makes me very, very nervous for all of us, especially them. Believe me, being nervous does not make me a better driver. So shouldn't we focus on teaching bikers to follow traffic rules and ride properly, instead of (or at least whilst we're) reminding me to allow them to make me so nervous? Looking twice is good advice, but there's more to it than that.
True, if a motorcycle rider makes an ill-advised move on the highway and causes me to collide with him at 60 mph, I'm probably not the one whose life is at risk. And a lifetime of nerve-wracking omg-what-is-that-guy-doing-two-lanes-over-is-he-coming-over-here skittish driving is, though unfortunate, a small price to pay in comparison. So by all means, let's focus on the cost to motorcyclists and not on the danger to me. Let's be aggressive about educating them. Where are my bumper stickers? I never see any that say, "Think twice, you're ON A DAMN MOTORCYCLE." Don't key my car, but I'd buy it.