This Is Why I Always Ride With A Camera - DMV Harassment

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• published: 05 Sep 2013
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I don't care if you read the long description. Just please read before leaving a critical comment. I filmed this using my Drift GHOST camera and not with a GoPro, since so many keep asking. Before critiquing me, just try to think about this incident from a motorcyclist's perspective before calling me "impatient" or "in a hurry." If you listen to my voice when I speak to her, I am clearly calm and not angry or overly-irritated. However, the erratic and unpredictable driving by that van is highly serious to us motorcyclists, as it puts us at great risk. When she stopped me in the middle of a green light, my first thought is "Quick! Get over to safety before I'm rear-ended by a distracted driver." This is why I made that move to the right both times. I wasn't trying to pass or be aggressive; I was trying to get to safety because the moron driver kept stopping when they shouldn't have. It's a common move you will see many motorcyclists make. I honked the horn to make all drivers around me know where I was, and it is legally warranted when in dangerous situations like these. I don't have the same protection in a steel cage that cars do and I have to take my safety extra seriously. Please think on that before judging my actions from a non-biker perspective. I want to raise awareness about the level of alertness and vigilance motorcyclists have to maintain on a constant basis. More consistent video uploads will be posted when my channel goes live next summer. Second, I will concede that my following distance in the first turn could have been slightly larger. While I maintain that I kept a safe distance, I would have allowed for an extra half second or so, had I been able to do it over again. Thirdly, please know that this video is not about me being perfect. I am a human and I make mistakes all the time and admit them. Even if you believe that I rode like a complete idiot, this video is mainly about the DMV worker overstepping her bounds and threatening me when her position warrants no such action. It was harassment, no matter how you look at it. Fourth, if it wasn't clear in the video, I stopped in the parking lot because I had DMV matters to take care of. A lot of commenters seem to think I pulled over to have a discussion. Trust me, the last thing I was looking for was a confrontation. Finally, I am open to your opinions in the comments. If you read through them, you will see many debates and disagreements. I only ask that you be respectful. I have left up a few battered trolls to make a fun example, but seriously, keep it professional or I'll just ban you. I don't need filth on my page. Last note: for those of you who will say that I should have given the drivers license applicant more grace because they are new, I have this response: if you are supposed to be taking a test that authorizes you to operate a motor vehicle on public streets, you should already be competent enough to drive that vehicle smoothly and correctly. If you can't do that, then you shouldn't be on the roads with the potential to get a lot of people hurt or killed, including us motorcyclists who are the most common victims of driver unawareness. If you can't handle it, then it's back to parking lots, driving school, and coached driving until you're ready. Getting and keeping a license is an earned privilege, not a given right. ::UPDATE:: I'm adding the California Vehicle Codes related to this video. The driver easily violated these four codes, and probably many more. What's worse, the DMV worker admits in the video that she took the wheel and caused this herself. She should know better. (For those saying I turned too far to the right in the first turn) "CVC 21717. Whenever it is necessary for the driver of a motor vehicle to cross a bicycle lane that is adjacent to his lane of travel to make a turn, the driver shall drive the motor vehicle into the bicycle lane prior to making the turn and shall make the turn pursuant to Section 22100 [general turning regulations]." "CVC 22100. Except as provided in Section 22100.5 or 22101, the driver of any vehicle intending to turn upon a highway shall do so as follows: (a) Right Turns. Both the approach for a right-hand turn and a right-hand turn shall be made as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway." "CVC 22108. Any signal of intention to turn right or left shall be given continuously during the last 100 feet traveled by the vehicle before turning." (at 0:21 you can clearly see the van driver doesn't even signal to turn right until after they came to a complete stop) "CVC 22400. (a) No person shall drive upon a highway at such a slow speed as to impede or block the normal and reasonable movement of traffic... No person shall bring a vehicle to a complete stop upon a highway so as to impede or block the normal and reasonable movement of traffic unless the stop is necessary for safe operation or in compliance with law."