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Letters To The Editor

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 18, 2008

A Special Breed

Regarding "Motorcyclists Dying For The Love Of Speed" (Metro, Jan. 13):

There is little or nothing that can be done to protect most people from themselves. Motorcyclists are a special breed, who ride for the pleasure and excitement of speed and open air.

Sport cycles are built to race to the next intersection or cross-country. They are for young daredevils. Cruising, on the other hand, is a two-wheeled social event and generally safer.

Florida removed the mandatory helmet law for adults some years ago. You would expect an increase in fatalities. Add to that the new high-powered sport bikes that emphasize speed and sleek styling and you have a recipe for disaster.

Just make sure bikers sign their organ donor cards.

ROBERT WEISMAN

Tampa

Giving Cycles Bum Rap
While I agree that there are total idiots on the road whose behavior closely resembles that of the late Craig Hales and Lawrence Kwiatkowski, such behavior is not confined to riders of sports-type motorcycles. Persons of their mind-set are extremely likely to cause serious accidents regardless of whether they are riding a bike or driving a car. The vast majority of motorcycle riders are safe and courteous road users whose lives are frequently endangered by the lack of consideration displayed by a large segment of truck and car drivers.

You have used the motorcycle fatality statistics to try to suggest that there has been a considerable increase in accidents involving motorcycles but, in view of the fact that Florida rescinded the mandatory helmet law in 1996, and disregarding that there has been a considerable increase in motorcycle registrations since 2000, it is probable that what the increased rate indicates is not that there are more accidents but that a much higher percentage of accidents are now fatal.

ARTHUR WHALLEY

Palm Harbor

Article Was Overdue

Your article on motorcycles was very good and perhaps overdue. I have been riding motorcycles for more that 50 years, have never had a ticket and have never been down on one. When I was 14, I was told by a motorcycle instructor to always remember when you get on your bike, "A bike is death on two wheels" and "If you ever get to the point that you think you are very good (on a motorcycle) you are going to kill yourself." This friend died on a motorcycle not long after that.

I have ridden long distances and ridden some pretty fast bikes in my years and every time I go to get on my bike my instructor's words echo in my inner-consciousness. I believe a lot of people could benefit from his words of wisdom.

PAUL ATKINSON

Plant City

Please Slow Down

Regarding "Things I've Learned Since Moving Here" (Other Views, Jan. 11):

I just want to say that Melissa Martin labeling her husband a "speed demon" does nothing to endear. It's self-absorbed, self-important people like him who contribute, and likely cause, many traffic problems in this area and in places like Washington state, where I also lived in for 16 years

I am constantly being tailgated, cut off and generally endangered by these aggressive, selfish "speed demons" and wish they would only abide, at least reasonably, by legal and scientifically set speed limits and other sensible road laws.

By the way, the left lane is not for "those driving the fastest." It is the passing lane for traffic to go around the slower traffic in the right lanes. Otherwise, welcome to Tampa.

PETER WALENDZIEWICZ

Tampa

Automaker Earned Status

Regarding "Cause For Alarm" (Letters, Jan. 9):

Ken Reilly is totally misinformed and incorrect in his attack on Toyota. Along with other foreign automakers, it provides employment as well as revenue for American citizens and various parts companies, not to mention a far superior vehicle when compared to their American counterparts. I have driven them for years and own one now.

The problem with U.S. automakers is too much union involvement which results in inflated prices due to union greed and overkill in pension plans and benefits for workers. American automakers have the capability to build a vehicle comparable to Toyota, but they choose to invest in union ideology and pensions instead of technology, vehicle longevity and durability.

The next time you change your headlamp on a U.S. vehicle, take notice of where it was manufactured. On my Toyota, it reads: made in America!

GARY KEELER

Plant City

A Wasteful Policy

A city of Tampa police car is regularly parked at the officer's home in Plant City. When I contacted the Tampa Police Department about this, considering the cost of fuel and the distance to Tampa from this officer's home, I was informed that that car is in the police officer's contract for another year. All officers with that particular contract have a car assigned to them - and them only. No sharing of the vehicle because they found the vehicle was better maintained, etc., by assigning it to one officer.

With the budget crunch we hear of every year from the various city departments, it seems to me that these cars could very well be shared and there would be a very large savings in the cost of the large number of cars owned by the city and the cost of fuel in daily travel to and from homes outside of Tampa. I feel that officers who live in the city should be able to take their vehicle home with them. Those who live outside of Tampa should use their own vehicles for commuting.

JUNE AMBROSE

Plant City

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