The unfair treatment we receive for riding a motorcycle

2023 Author: Nicholas Abramson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-09-01 00:15

Maybe they are my imaginations, but I feel that every time there is a greater lack of respect for the motorcycle and bikers. Many times one feels discriminated against or mistreated or belittled for the fact of riding a motorcycle in front of other users of public roads. It is true that the majority of those who use the car and that we are a minority who ride motorcycles, but I think that does not give the right to unfair treatment that we receive frequently.

At the same time, sometimes I have the feeling that motorcycle users are resigned to this second-rate treatment. As if it were something unavoidable. Granted, we can't get angry everywhere, but I do believe that sometimes we sin as conformists and we help perpetuate that discriminatory treatment. Here are some examples concrete.

Tolls. In much of Spain something happens that I have hardly seen anywhere else: motorcycles pay the same toll as cars. Is it logical that a vehicle with 2 wheels and 250 kgs. of weight pay the same as another 4 wheels and a ton (or more)? Of course, the wear and tear on the highway is quite different. And that is why motorcycles pay less on practically all highways in the world (or they don't pay directly as is usual in many Latin American countries). On the other hand, the concessionaire of the AP-2 and the AP-7 (that is, the most common on the Mediterranean coast) applies a single rate to cars and motorcycles. Clearly unfair treatment.

The prepayment of gas stations. In this case, much of the problem seems shared with the car. But it is not exactly like that: in cars it is very common to put an exact amount while motorcycles usually fill the deposit. And that's where most of the problems lie. There are more and more sites that charge you a "guarantee" amount higher than what fits in the deposit and then make the payment of the difference. In other words, double queue and double time. And above all, having to feel the distrustful treatment of the gas station: "Since I don't trust that you are not a thief, I make you pay beforehand". We are customers, not thieves. The solution to gas station problems does not lie in treating all your customers like thieves. For now, I have already identified a few that I do not go to. But the prepaid is becoming general and it is closing in on us.

The price of the car parks (per hour or one night). When one is traveling and has the motorcycle loaded, many times, one does not dare to leave it on the street to avoid the visit of friends of others about the load, which is usually vulnerable. That's where the problem begins: finding a car park where motorcycles can be parked, which is not as frequent as it may seem. Once you find it, n Normally you will end up paying the same as a car for parking the motorcycle in an unusable corner or next to a wall. But hey, you are on a trip and you swallow everything: the important thing is to leave the motorcycle stored.

The boarding in the car parks (for months). Have you calculated the proportion of the price of the monthly payment of motorcycles with respect to that of cars? Of course, the proportion is not related to the reality of the space occupied by both vehicles. For example, where I park, motorcycles pay about 40% of the price of a car (although I have found some cases where they reach 60%) when the average number of motorcycles that can fit in a car seat is between 4 and 5. Not to mention that normally for motorcycles they reserve those uncomfortable spaces in which cars do not fit or cannot maneuver comfortably. They give us a second-rate service with a first-rate price, yes.

Those are just a few experiences, but without trying too hard others can be mentioned: prohibition to enter with helmets on hand in many supermarkets and hypermarkets (I forgot that all bikers are potential thieves …), few motorcycle parking on the road (in front of the spaces destined to the automobile), the deal in tire shops (They are much more lazy to remove a motorcycle wheel), dirt roads closed to the passage of motorcycles (On the other hand, the 4 × 4 can enter without problems), etcetera, …

Well, maybe I got a post a bit complaining, but it is that I've been very angry for a long time every time I see it. I believe that we must be able to demand fair treatment. I'm not asking for benefits, but just a fair deal.