NYC vs. Europe: A motorcyclist's perspective

I've now had a chance to visit Rome, Dublin, Athens, Paris, and London, and in each city I've spent hours observing how traffic evolves, is similar or different across cities, and especially how motorcyclists adapt to the different styles.

Here's a quick run down of my city-by-city comparisons:

Athens - in a word, "chaos" - I'll start with the most chaotic. This is because the streets are generally well paved, but mini scooters can be seen everywhere. Riders run down the middle of the lanes, lane split, and bunch up near the stop lights in droves. Cars and taxis are frozen in place until the lights change, packed in as though surrounded by styrofoam peanuts.

Rome - in a word, "bumpy" - far less chaotic driving patterns, but here the lane splitting rules of the game are similar. However, generally wider streets, and the fact that so many are cobblestone, means that motorcyclists have a painful time navigating around. When they do, you can tell their top speed is limited by how frequently they're willing to get slapped in the rear or groin by their bike seats. Here too, scooters are the vehicle of choice.

Paris - in a word, "zippy" - a combination of cobblestones and pavement, here we really see many more motorcycles. Though there are still many scooters, there are even more "super scooters", which are the length of motorcycles, but have foot rests like scooters. Traffic is oddly mild mannered here by comparison to the first two cities, and motorcyclists really tend to have their way.

London - in a word, "speedy" - narrow streets, and lots of mass transportation double decker buses make driving cars very difficult. Here, there are scooters, but not nearly as many as the previous cities. Instead, there is a new class that the other cities don't see: racers. It's not uncommon to see full-leather racing gear (kit as they call it) on riders aboard japanese racing bikes or ducatis.


Dublin - in a word, "docile" - not as many riders as I'd expect, but almost all of them wear bright colored safety vests to ensure they stand out. Maybe because of the constantly dull weather, and rain, these riders have developed a survival instinct. Though other cities wear safety vests too, almost every Dublin rider has one on. Otherwise, the driving is mild mannered, and in general, highway drivers tend to crawl along at superhumanly slow paces, making it a heaven for motorcycles to zoom past.


Summary of Europe

The odd thing is that in each of the European cities, you see many female riders as well. This is almost unheard of in NYC. And to an outsider like me, the traffic patterns of Athens, Rome, and Paris seem quite chaotic and unpredictable. I'd never ride there if I could help it, because there seems to be an unwritten law of tolerance for spontaneous chaotic dodging left and right, entering lanes without blinking, pulling out from lanes in spite of red lights, etc. It's a nightmare. Riders are like fish, constantly weaving back and forth, avoiding narrow escapes, and drifting everywhere. Riding is a constant act of avoidance and defense.

By comparison, London is about acceleration through small, narrow roads, and so here we see the emergence of "offensive" riding. Here, there is an explicit difference between defensive moves, and all-out acceleration and aggression.

Comparison vs. NYC

By comparison, NYC is quite safe. This initially seems incomprehensible, but I have several explicit reasons:

-Traffic is always predictable in its disorganization. It is bounded chaos. You know, for instance, that cabs will always swerve to corners, so you can easily look out for them. Pedestrians generally don't cut across the roads, just as cars generally abide by traffic laws.

-Drivers follow laws at intersections, and so traffic always self-organizes into structure at stop lights. In between intersections, it's a free for all, but this means the strategy for driving is simple: at any light, get to the front and stay at the front.

-Motorcycles are unique. Cars still dominate, and so motorcycles are a curiosity when spotted, and cabs tend to notice immediately and avoid you. By comparison, European drivers and riders have developed a mutual symbiotic relationship, whereby they each assume that each is looking out for the other. In NYC, bikers are the crazy, reckless ones, and so everyone looks out for them, and you're assumed to be unpredictable. Drivers keep their distance.