The Zen of Motorcycling & Politics
Analogies Abound!
I had both a fascination and fear with motorcycles. Fear won out until I was 28. Then I bought my first motorcycle. I did not ride it until I passed motorcycle school. Fear said, “If you are going to do this, listen to the experts.” Here are three sets of lessons I learned in motorcycle school that can be applied to politics.
Motorcycle Fatality Stats
Half of all motorcycle deaths involve alcohol consumption by the rider.
Half of all motorcycle deaths involve the rider exceeding the speed limit.
Half of all motorcycle deaths involve riders with less than two years experience.
“Hey” I thought, “I could reduce my fatality rate by 75% by not drinking alcohol and following speed limits.” So that’s what I did. I was still a social drinker back then, but I never took a drink if I was going to be on the bike within the next four hours.
As for the inexperienced part, I cut my odds by following SIPDE protocols, something taught at motorcycle school. We’ll talk about that later.
Before I analogize these motorcycle stats into politics, I need to bring up the lifestyle of an average politician. Politicians are always on the go: legislative floor duties, meetings, office duties, party functions, media, staying well dressed, meals to make connections, ribbon-cutting ceremonies, other public functions, and more meetings. A good politician is probably on the go 80 to 100 hours a week.
Alcohol leads to motorcycle deaths. While alcohol probably doesn’t kill politicians, those politicians who have more than a couple of drinks are losing focus and judgement to do their job as well as they are able. Alcohol works with neither motorcycling nor politics.
Speed leads to motorcycle deaths. Political speed can end a political career. Politicians need to set speed limits for themselves. They cannot give into all requests for their time. They have to set priorities — even if some citizens get offended.
SIPDE
SIPDE is an acronym for Scan/Interpret/Predict/Decide/Engage
