Hey Kids,

Not all cars and drivers are the same.

Riding a motorcycle gives you more options of deciding on what lane of traffic to get into when pulling up to a light. A quick scan is necessary as you approach the intersection and your decisions have to be quick to enable the needed extra time to safely change lanes. In these cases, profiling is very helpful.

Choosing the best lane isn’t always determined by the number of cars already in the lane, but the make of the car and the person driving is very important. Let me give you a few examples from what I have learned.

Hondas. Never get behind a Honda. The drivers of Hondas are very conservative and very light on the throttle. They are also usually very courteous drivers so they will always yield to merging lanes and traffic even if they don’t have to. If you see the “H” on the back, keep to the side, do not get behind.

Toyotas. Corolla drivers usually feel they need to compensate so they push the cars to the limits. They don’t have a lot of horses, but they will use them all. Camry’s go half and half. Half are super proud of a Camry and drive it like a race car, the other half are wannabe Honda drivers.

Newer Fords and Chevys. If there are imports around, they’ll drive like crazy to prove themselves better. Trust me. If not, 50/50.

Dodge and Chrysler- Pull behind them every time. They always seem to suffer from the self-conscious syndrome and will step on it every time.

Trucks in general are a good bets.

German imports- Macho syndrome. Possible exception, the Beetle. If a girl driving, yes. If a boy driving, no. Boys driving beetles is just not right. It has something to do with having a flower vase built into the dash board.

As a general rule, the older the car, the slower it is. Likewise for the driver. Exception: Men between 35 and 50 seem to have that mid-life thingee going and will try to outrun a bike behind them every time.

Women drive slower than men. Exception young girls. They are hell on wheels and best to stay behind anyway. Young boys driving simply are dangerous but they are never slow, unless they think that’s what you don’t want.

Another motorcycle is always a great bet. Although, I notice that Honda Motorcycle riders still seem to have that conservative thing. A part from the occasional part falling off and coming at you, Harley’s are always a good bet to follow. It’s that “something to prove” thing again. Sport bikes are awesome. Just rev your motor once and they think you want to race and at the turn of the light, they are gone and it’s like having the road to yourself.

I know this is all based on profiles and stereotypes, but when picking a lane- it’s what you do. I hate or judge no one, but when at a stop light it’s all about Lord of the Flies survival.

Day 224