beware the vehiclists

There are people who consider the other sex inferior. We call such people sexists.

There are people who consider those from other ethnic backgrounds inferior. We call such people racists.

People who discriminate people based on age are called ageists (I just discovered this, while I was down with dengue).

I'd like to introduce a new term; vehiclists.

So what's a vehiclist, really? What are they like? Well, if you've never been on a bike and you think all motorcyclists are idiots, you are it; people who discriminate people based on vehicles (that they use). But do these people exist, for real? Newsflash: of course they do (end of Newsflash). Some of them are even relatives to yours truly.

For people who are constantly on a bike (a moving one, that is), they must've encountered this situation at least once; (Case 1:) you're on the main road (on a moving bike) and there's a vehicle on a junction in front of you wanting to enter the main road (which is your route) from where they were and they just do that, without letting you pass first. The vehicle entered your route just like that. Question: if you were driving something else (other than a bike), would they do that?

..we motorcyclists are expendable aren't we? It's just not worth anybody's time to wait for a bike to pass is it?

Case 2: you go to a mall, the parking area for motorcyles are like, a light year away, the entrance fee of which are half of what other people are paying to park their cars. I mean, for the parking space of one car, you can accomodate at least four bikes can't you? furthermore the alleys between bikes' parking spaces are smaller. So for the same amount of space, loads more bikes than cars can be accomodated. In short; motorcyclists are ripped off everytime they park their bikes properly. And to think that most, if not all, happen to be in a much lower income bracket than their car-driving counterparts. And nothing has been said about this before. Ever.

Vehiclists say: never mind those motorcyclists. They won't complain. They are idiots.

These are just some of the scenarios that came across my mind at the time of writing. I doubt that I've presented a very strong case here. But I bet that if you think hard enough, whether or not you drive a bike, you'll be able to think of examples of vehiclists in action. But that is besides the point.

Lets just not forget that when road accidents happen, the likelihood of the casualty being a motorcyclist is much bigger than any other drivers. And there were lots of time that it was not our fault. Motorcyclists aren't idiots. They have a life. They have families. Some of them have blogs. Some of them even know a little bit of English. So the next time you're on the road, no matter what vehicle you're driving, DRIVE SAFE. And learn to respect other people. In short; stop being an asshole.