Sent to an ex-workmate at The Wave, also to The Chronicle, The Mercury News, SF PD and to Live 105.
"Dear all at Live 105,
It has been brought to my attention that during this mornings show, the idea was brought up that irate commuters stuck in their cages, sorry, cars, should open their doors on motorcyclists passing them as they lane-split - quite legally - on their way to work.
Disgusted doesn't even begin to enter into how I feel about this - or how much this has angered the local motorcycling community. I'm a member of a few bay area online motorcycling forums and their 12,000+ membership is extremely, extremely annoyed. And I imagine that is just the tip of the iceberg.
What was stated on air is nothing short of incitement to commit murder - it's despicable, cowardly and even more so, amazingly short-sighted it's almost beyond belief.
The fact that the current DJ's aren't even from this state hasn't escaped everyone's attention - to say they don't really have their 'finger on the pulse' of the feelings of people in the bay area is an understatement similar to 'During Katrina it'll be a bit breezy.'
Motorcyclist who commute to work do each and every person in these United States an enormous favor each and every day.
They use less gasoline, which helps to keeps prices down for everyone, helping keep inflation at bay, less reliance on foreign oil.
They use less parking space, meaning less time for irate car drivers to spend looking for somewhere to park their 4,000lb and up, steel cages used to transport their 200lb bodies to work.
They take up less space on the road, allowing for more vehicles to use the same piece of road.
They move between lanes when traffic almost stops, meaning one less car in front of you.
Because of their light weight, they do less damage to the roads, meaning less local taxes and less road work.
But no, you had to play the childish jealousy card - if you can't get to work in time, you're going to go out of your way to stop anyone else who might have an advantage.
Even if that means potentially killing someone.
Perhaps the IT guy who runs the department at a company that employs thousands. Perhaps no-one that society views as desperately important either - except to their spouse, mother, brother, son, daughter. Maybe you'd be willing to explain to my son why his father is no-longer here - because some idiot DJ said it would be funny to open a car door on a biker, even take pictures of it. And some other idiot out there wanted their 15-minutes and did it.
Bikers take on far more risks to their longevity than car drivers, so they can enjoy more time with their kids, with their loved ones, so they damage the environment less, to enjoy life.
These are all fairly calculated risks.
But the risk of a malicious attack by a car driver pushed over the edge by the rantings of some half-wit DJ from out of state don't enter into that equation, nor should they ever.
I am utterly disgusted with your organization and I sincerely hope there will be legal repercussions for those involved,
Ian Young."
