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Here in good 'ol South Carolina, our friendly politicians decided concrete barriers in the medians of our Interstate highways were just too expensive. Maybe they're right. But this past weekend, I witnessed something that scared the heck out of me: Going down I-26 towards Asheville, NC, I saw a car change lanes with a motorcycle beside him. Motorcycle was likely in his blind spot, and to his credit, the driver of the car swerved back into the right-hand lane when he finally saw the bike. Unfortunately, the bike was forced into the grass median for a distance. The biker did a good job of keeping the bike under control, slowing down quickly and getting back onto the pavement. We were all on our brakes hard to give him time to recover. What was really scary was how close he came to the cable barrier in the median! If you've never seen these cable barriers, they're attached to "H" shaped steel or iron posts, 2 or 3 feet tall and have sharp edges and sharp 90 degree angles. It looks like half inch cable, but I'm not sure. Should a biker be forced into one of these, his chances of survival would be very small. (Not to say that running into a concrete barrier would be any better, but at least a person wouldn't be torn apart by sharp steel.) Not sure what can be done about the barriers, so just take this as a friendly reminder to be very careful on the highways that have them. NEVER ride beside a car for any longer than you have to. Stay as far from these cable barriers as possible when you can. I sure would have hated to see the accident that almost happened right in front of me. It's a shame that something our taxes paid to put on our highways for safety is particularly unsafe for us on motorcycles.
