If you're a street rider, you don't need me to tell you that car drivers frequently don't pay attention. In fact, that's probably a best-case scenario; at worst, some drivers seem like they're actively out for blood. Maybe even yours.
For now, though, we're not here to talk about vengeful drivers, or the fact that some riders are also not always on their best behavior.
Instead, what we're here to talk about is this Porsche Macan driver, and this dashcam footage of the two (yes, TWO) crashes the guy caused in quick succession. Why? Because the driver clearly wasn't paying attention.
At the start of the video, the Macan is parked on the right side of the road. It then starts to pull left, into a busy roadway where traffic is flowing by at a brisk clip. The driver's actions are slow and smooth, and in no way jerky.
I've watched this video a few times now, and they don't even seem to pause once as they pull away from the curb. At least, not until the first scooter hits the front left corner of the Macan, because it's just too busy pulling out and it's not stopping for anything or anyone. It is seemingly on a mission, and it can't stop until it's completed the task at hand.
After the first scooter goes down, the Macan then trundles out, taking its sweet time before coming to a stop just behind the downed scooter.
This dashcam video is from Singapore, which is a right-hand drive country. The driver then proceeds to open their door without looking, and manages to take out ANOTHER scooterist. In fact, this scooterist not only has nowhere to go and crashes into the Macan's door, but they're also flung into the Hyundai that's parked at the curb just ahead of where the Macan has stopped.
That's two scooters, both taken out seemingly by a driver who just wasn't paying any attention at all. We have no idea why they weren't paying attention, of course. It might not even matter all that much, because any reason they might give won't do anything about whatever injuries those scooterists might have.
So, dear reader, what's the worst oblivious driver incident that you've witnessed? I was once riding as a passenger in a car when we got T-boned by a driver who later said that they just didn't see us at a T-intersection with a very clear "Cross Traffic Does Not Stop" sign.
Luckily, both I and the driver were OK, but the car (dark red; not sure how you could miss it) was totaled. If we'd been on bikes, the story would be much different. Maybe I wouldn't be telling you about it today.
Please. I am begging all of us, because even a lot of riders drive some of the time. Please, please pay attention. 'Look twice, save a life' is a real concept. Let's do our best to keep all of our neighbors safe when we're out.
