Shoot Your Own Video - Another Danger Added to the Already Risk-Laden Motorcycling
Motorcycling has long been acknowledged as a dangerous sport. Unlike driving a car, riding a motorcycle does not come with seatbelts and airbags. Your body is exposed to all sorts of danger since motorcycles don’t come with roofs and doors like cars do. If you don’t know how to balance yourself properly, there’s a very good chance that you’ll drive to your death. Motorcycling is dangerous, but it’s become even more dangerous in recent times as young motorcyclists find the lure of fame too irresistible to ignore.
According to the Royal Automobile Club Foundation in Britain, an illegal street racing culture is being promoted by various websites and its popularity is growing at an alarming rate. The latest trend in motorcycling challenges motorcyclists to film themselves when riding a bike in public roads.
Royal Automobile Club Foundation provides a number of examples to underline the perils of this newfound practice. They report having seen videos that featured young motorcyclists performing driving stunts on public roads and surfing on top of a car. Another video showed a motorcyclist shooting a video of himself driving at 282kmh. UK’s authorities are still on the hunt for the unknown driver. Nevertheless, a number of individuals identified of following this trend have already been apprehended. The first of them was Naythan Campbell. He was sent to prison for having a video of himself driving at 225kmh on a British motorway.
Videos of such stunts are commonly posted on popular video-sharing websites like YouTube and Current. This is in spite of the clear guidelines provided by YouTube, one of which explicitly prohibits members from posting videos showing dangerous or illegal acts. Although these websites will certainly do its best to take down videos guilty of violating their rules, the sheer number of their members and the frequency of their posts make it quite difficult to take down a video before other people would be able to see it.
Although the Royal Automobile Club Foundation acknowledges the fact that it’s not illegal for websites to upload such videos, they also believe that these websites have moral obligations not to push through with it as younger viewers may be inclined to copy what they’ve seen.
Advice to Parents of Young Motorcyclists
Parents who have freely permitted their children to enjoy and develop their passion for motorcycling must be aware of this increasingly popular practice and take the necessary steps to prevent their kids from following the footsteps of undesirable role models. The following tips may be used to keep motorcycling a safe experience for their kids.
Tip #1 If your kids want to perform motorcycling stunts, make it clear that they must also do so at appropriate plates like racing tracks. Remind them to wear complete safety gear to minimize chances of obtaining injury.
Tip #2 Set some ground rules. If they want to perform driving stunts, you won’t stand in their way but if and only if they take proper precautions. Let them know that there are dire consequences to suffer from if you’ve caught them disobeying your rules
Tip #3 If they want to be famous, let them know that there are proper and safer ways to do so. Express your willingness to help them attain glory in the race track as well.
Tags: cycling news, motorcycle risk, video