There are certain things that all motorists know. For example, a "Stop" sign requires the motorist to bring his vehicle to a complete stop before proceeding further. So does a red light. It is unlawful to drive a motor vehicle while under the influence of liquor or other drugs. Drivers must yield to pedestrians in marked crosswalks. Drivers must yield to emergency vehicles with emergency lights and siren in operation. Drivers must signal their intent to make a turn or slow their vehicle.

The fact that all motorists know these things does not necessarily mean that all motorists will adhere to those rules. If you are on the road an hour or more each day and pay close attention, chances are good that you will witness at least one occasion in which one of those most basic laws is violated. It happens all the time, and each time there is a potential for serious injury or death, not only to the violator, but others as well.

Frequently the violator is an experienced driver. In such situations, it may be the "experience" which helps to create the problem. A novice driver may be painfully aware of the fact that he is guiding several thousand pounds of metal at 40 miles per hour through a single lane of traffic bordered by other lanes of traffic occupied by other drivers and vehicles. The "experienced" driver takes it all for granted and may thus be less alert to his surroundings. Again, the "experienced" driver may rely on his "experience" to pull him through a tight situation and take chances, while a novice driver would be inclined to forego any added risk, knowing that his ability to handle a sudden emergency is limited and untested.

The Associated Press recently reviewed computer records of the Arizona Department of Transportation and concluded with detailed statistics, some of which may surprise you. As you read these, think "motorcycle."

The one-car crash has the highest fatality rate (60%), and the most common victims of fatal accidents are pedestrians and bicyclists. Angle and T-bone accidents were second most fatal (12.9%) and head-on accidents placed third (8.6%).

In fatal accidents, male drivers (71.1%) outnumbered women (25%) 3-to-1, and that ratio went to 5-to-1 in fatal accidents (84% male drivers) that were alcohol related (the sex of 4.2% of drivers in fatal accidents was not reported). Officials were quick to add this does not mean men are more dangerous behind the wheel, but the figure is tied to the fact that men tend to drive more miles each year than women; if a male and female are in a car, typically the male is driving; and men are more often on the road while they are working. Men tend to take more risks while driving.

Age-wise, more than 1/3 of the drivers in alcohol-related accidents were 25-34. This comes as no surprise, since census figures show that age group represents the highest percentage of Arizona's population. The age group with the second highest number of drivers involved in alcohol-related accidents was 15-24 (27.9%), followed by 35-44 (22.2%).These latter two groups represent the next largest segments of arizona's population, leading to the conclusion that age is not a tremendously significant factor in alcohol-related accidents.

Are you still thinking "motorcycle?" Are you surprised that the statistics are not over-run with motorcycle fatalities?

How do you perceive "bikers" and motorcycles? If you belong to the great majority of individuals who have never owned and ridden a motorcycle, my bet is that you have many preconceived notions of motorcycles and the people who ride them. No doubt you think of motorcycles as being inherently unsafe, and you pre-judge all "bikers" as being a bunch of low-life, whisky-swilling, grease-stained tough-guy marauders in black leather who ride in gangs to loot and pillage every town, rape all its women and leave a bunch of burning buildings behind as they ride on to the next town to inflict more damage. Bikers in numbers may intimidate you.

Brace yourself. For the most part, that image is a lot of Hollywood hype, created back in the fifties by the likes of James Dean and Marlon Brando. Those bikers are exactly what James Dean and Marlon Brando are today: dead, or fat and balding old men in their 70's.

Consider the fact that even a used American-made motorcycle in poor condition is likely to cost over $5,000; in good condition, upwards of $10,000; a new dresser around $17,000 and customized, chromed bikes start at $20,000 and rise rapidly. The price tag alone rules out "low life."

Look around at who's been seen on these bikes: famous personalities such as Cher, Elizabeth Taylor, the late Malcolm Forbes, Jay Leno, Peter Fonda, Lorenzo Lamas and U.S. Senator Sam Ironhorse Campbell. Bikes are becoming more popular among those who are employed as lawyers, physicians, accountants, pharmacists, college professors, engineers and other well-paid individuals who can afford the price of a good motor. A spinoff industry has developed for such individuals, making available temporary tattoos, fake facial hair, etc., as they attempt to mimic the real thing.

You label those of us who ride as "bikers." That's OK, because we acknowledge the label and are proud of it. You may not be aware of the fact that we have a label for you, too: We call you "cagers," denoting that you ride around in two-ton steel cages with the windows rolled up to allow the air-conditioning to control your climate. You enjoy am/fm stereo music with cassettes amd compact discs, and you have a brand new cellular phone that ties up one of your hands and half of your brain. You are fastened in by lap and chest harnesses and have the added comfort of knowing there is an air bag in front of you, waiting for an accident to happen. Your children are protected by molded seat restraints. You have a padded dash with no sharp edges anywhere; even the windows are made of safety glass. Top it off with cruise control so you don't need to watch your speed, and add an automatic dimmer switch so there will no longer be any need to pay attention to whether your lights are on high or low beam.

Despite all these features, cagers continue to run into each other and take lives. In fact, according to the figures quoted above, you don't even need another motorist to have an accident - chances are good that you'll kill yourself (and those riding with you) in a one-car accident. You guys are the ones making the statistics!

You're a major threat to your own kind, not to mention me. Put a bike and a cage together in a collison and the cage will win every time. Bikers know that. We're wary of you.

And the stories you tell when you hit one of us! If you think about it, you'll realize how silly they are. "He came out of Nowhere." "He was invisible." "No one was coming."

Why don't accident statistics show motorcycles to be dangerous instrumentalities, especially in Arizona where the law does not require adult cyclists or their adult passengers to wear helmets? Consider the plight of the average biker: he sits astride a powerful motor, two wheels and some metal, fully exposed to the elements, able to make complete use of all his senses. Almost instinctively, he regards every cager with extreme caution. Like the prey of an unseen great predator, his senses are are in full operation and he is on total alert. Unlike the cager, he must be careful to avoid any obstruction that may suddenly appear in his path. Something as small as a bottle could cause him to overturn. He is sensitive to thermoclines and can literally feel small changes in altitude or topography; his sense of smell differentiates between heavy traffic and open country; the wind on his face helps him to gauge his speed, and he must also be prepared to maintain control even when there is the sudden, unexpected pain of being struck in the head by a bee or other large insect at 70 miles per hour. because his senses are so keen, his reaction time is faster than that of the cager; because his vehicle weighs substantially less than the cage, it responds sooner. Yes, the biker can almost literally "stop on a dime." He knows the cager cannot, and he has legitimate reason for concern and anger when the cage is so close behind him that he can feel the heat of the cager's engine on his back.

In the years past, Arizona has taken what I call a "Clintonesque" position, waffling on requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets. First there was no such law; then there was such a law; then the law was repealed; then it was enacted again, then repealed. The issue is a heated one among politicians and, to some extent, among bikers themselves. I have a friend who is an obstetrician-gynecologist and an occasional rider who swears by helmets after he was involved in an accident and walked away unscathed. He credits the helmet for his good fortune. I have another friend who is a died-in-the-wool, true-blue and full-time biker who is owner of a store that sells and repairs used US-made motorcycles, and he, too, swears by helmets. He claims some 20 years' experience. And then you come across people like me. I've been a biker for nearly 40 years and I have been in some bad accidents, only to walk away from every one of them. What is more important is that I have been in an even greater number of "near accidents" and have avoided them.

The "How" and "Why" of avoidance is what is important. As indicated, when I am riding, my senses are all at peak performance. Sight is unimpaired by door posts, doors, roof, back seat, etc., thus expanding my peripheral vision far beyond anything known to a cager. Hearing is not affected by closed windows, the blower on a heater or air conditioner, or a cellular phone. Unlike a cager, I am limited to one passenger, so the likelihood of a lot of conversation is reduced. My AM/FM stereo and CB are all regulated by ambient sounds so that when I am at a complete stop in traffic, the volume is reduced. This enables me to better sense an oncoming cager approaching from the rear who somehow thinks I'm invisible and is about to drive right up my behind. This has occurred at least a dozen times in my riding career, and each time I was able to pull out of the way and escape a rear-end collision.

Now you know why I belong to the group of bikers that oppose mandatory helmet laws. When you order me to put a helmet on my head, you are ordering me to restrict my senses and substantially reduce my peripheral vision and hearing. You are trying to create the same environment for me that the cager has, and the statistics show that the cager and his passengers are the most likely to die in a one-car accident. Why do you want to do that to me? You increase my chances of being struck from the rear and shoved into another cage up front, or perhaps being knocked into an intersection presently in use by other traffic.

If that seems like far-fetched reasoning to you, let me tell you of an event that occurred April 28, 1996, in Tucson. Picture a 23-year-old male biker headed south on a six-lane highway (3 lanes southbound, 3 lanes north, divided by a concrete median of curb height and approximately 2 feet wide). He is riding on the inside lane. It's a bright, sunny afternoon about 4:30 p.m., and the pavement is dry and level. Suddenly all hell breaks loose. A 20-ton fire truck is approaching, northbound on the inside lane, emergency lights flashing, siren wailing, diesel horn trumpeting. Traffic slows and is coming to a stop. The cage in front of our biker has stopped, and biker stops immediately behind him. Now, here comes a 42-year-old male driving south in a cage with faulty brakes. BAM! The biker is struck from the rear, shoving his bike under the car in front of him and sending the biker airborn, across the median and into the path of the firetruck, which strikes and kills the biker instantly. The 42-year-old was cited for one minor misdemeanor and two civil traffic violations. even though a life was taken, and taken wrongfully, the perpetrator gets away with a slap on the wrist. Forget manslaughter. The man that died was "just a biker."

Don't misunderstand me. Every time I have actually been in an accident, after wishing I was somewhere else at that very moment, I wish I had a helmet. I am not opposed to helmets, I am opposed to laws mandating helmets for those who operate motorcycles. I have no problem with putting a helmet on my passenger.

Perhaps my training in martial arts has saved me from head injuries in accidents, because one of the first things you learn is how to fall without injury. I do not deny that a helmet affords wonderful protection against serious head injury - but it doesn't do a damned thing to protect the rest of me. Thus, my first priority is to avoid accidents altogether, and that is something I do best when I am not wearing a helmet. Being "macho" or "presenting an image" has nothing to do with it. I'm openly admitting that cagers scare me. I'm not trying to appear bold and brave. I'm trying to increase my chances of avoiding an accident and remaining injury-free.

There are many others who oppose legislation requiring helmets. If you're interested in learning more, bookmark this page, then go check out Harley Mom's Testimony; then get more info from Helmet Facts; and for a list of A.B.A.T.E. chapters, click here.

An interesting sideline: Plans are in the works to provide airbags for bikers. The problem is, the prototypes in existence at this time have a strong tendency to break the rider's neck.

Anytime I write an article for this column, I attempt to offer some sort of solution to the problem under discussion. This article is no exception. As I re-consider the fatality-accident statistics compiled by the Department of Transportation, I am inclined to say that if the legislature wants to require motorists to wear helmets, then it should be the cagers, not the bikers, who are required to comply. The statistics show the cager is in far greater need of protection. Moreover, when a biker refuses to wear a helmet and becomes involved in an accident resulting in a head injury, he only hurts himself; but when a cager becomes involved in an accident, he can wipe out several people in his vehicle as well as several more in other vehicles. The cagers are killing themselves and others at rates that far surpass any damage done by the bikers, so let's see a law requiring that all cagers and their passengers wear helmets! Yeah, that's the ticket!

Guess how the cagers would respond: "I can't hear my stereo," and "I can't use my cellular phone," and "it restricts my peripheral vision," and "it's too hot, it's uncomfortable."

Get the point? If it's good for bikers, it's good and perhaps better for cagers.

We can live without helmet laws. Help me keep the government off my bike, and I'll help you keep them out of your car.

(End.)