Vehicle drivers need to put down their phones and pay attention to what is going on around them. I ride my bike in fair weather and constantly worry about getting mowed down by a distracted driver. I am always trying to make eye contact with vehicle drivers.

There is no excuse to be killing pedestrians and bicycle riders. They are never going to win in a collision with a vehicle.

That’s why they’re called murdercyles or donorcycles.

Too many drivers are heedless of Idaho crosswalk law, which gives pedestrians the right of way to cross at non-signalized intersections whether marked as crossings or not.

There is little or no enforcement of this law in Boise, even cops disregard it. ACHD will not paint all lawful crosswalks—say, on Vista or Chinden—because people would think it safe to cross there.

There are Idaho towns—Moscow comes to mind—where pedestrians are accorded courtesy. Driver education/training and enforcement are key.

In the meantime, know that trying to cross some streets in Boise can be fatal.

Riding a motorcycle – particularly in traffic – is a calculated risk (like pretty much everything else!). They try to make that VERY clear in the STAR introductory course, and some prospective riders decide the reward isn’t worth the risk.

There are things that motorcycle riders do, to to exacerbate (increase) the risk:
– riding while impaired
– speeding, crazy lane-changing, etc.
– riding beyond skill level (EASY, on a 150hp motorcycle that will go 150mph!)
– no protective gear

There are also things that motorcycle riders can do, to mitigate (decrease) the risk:
– riding sober
– riding legally
– riding visibly (bright colors instead of black, f’r example)
– riding predictably
– situational awareness (CRITICAL, IMO. I try to be aware of anything else that’s moving, and prepare as though it will become a threat. I try to watch my intended path, 1/2 mile up the road, and the road surface 50 feet in front of me, etc.)
– safety gear (helmet instead of do-rag, armored jacket, boots, etc. If everything goes well, you won’t need any of this stuff. If it goes south on you, the gear might prevent death, or reduce injury. Or not.)

It’s amazing, the high percentage of motorcycle fatalities and injuries that are single-vehicle crashes. In most cases, pretty easy to determine who was at fault.

I’ve been motorcycling for 50+ years, well over 100,000 miles, here in Boise and within riding distance. Miraculously I survived the immortality of Reckless Youth. Now I try to ride mitigate-style, instead of exacerbate-style. So far, ZERO collisions, and I intend to keep it that way.

(Sorry to wax verbose.)

Motorcycle riders have super strength and superpowers so they cannot possibly be resulting in half the deaths. (The missing statistic is the gigantic numbers of not dead but might as well be motorcycle crashes.)

Go to YouTube and search/view motorcycle crashes. You will see the vast majority of motorbikes that wreck are being driven outside the law and outside of commonsense. We all know this because we see it every time we drive.

I’m truly disgusted by all the jackass motorcycle riders who blame ‘cagers’ for their own stupidity and recklessness.

Frank there may be 10 officers to enforce traffic laws but those 10 I’d bet are never all on duty at the same time. I’d venture to say it’s probably closer to 5 at a time for the entire city. This gross understaffing is due to Chief Bones continuously eliminating traffic positions and making new, “more community oriented” positions. For example paying a police officer $70k a year to walk a mascot dog around town.

We might never get to understand the cause of these crashes or what can be done to improve safety when fatal crashes occur because the Chief decided crash reconstruction was not a priority and got rid of the reconstruction team all together.