Quote:
Originally Posted by Finesse
I have a buddy who I don't know very well who also rides a Ninja 250 and I am concerned about his riding... He is riding high, drunk, doing stupid s*** with his bike on the highway and he is not an experienced rider. He's doing other high-risk stuff and exhibiting a lot of manic behavior but again, I don't know him well and I don't know what to do about this, if anything. People are gonna do what they are gonna do... And I don't know where he lives and obviously don't have physical access to his keys... I'd take em though... I did mention that his risky bike behavior involves people other than himself and if he were to crash with a car because of reckless riding and get killed, the car driver's life would probably be f***ed up forever. He seemed to think about that for a sec but I don't think he'll change.
Anyway, it sparked this question in my mind.
Have any of you ever taken someone's bike keys because you thought they were going to ride in an unsafe way? Drunk, high, angry, upset, acting weird? If you suspected that someone was going to ride this way, would you take their keys from them? How well would you have to know them? How would you deal with their reaction? What would it take for you to do this, would you try rationalizing first?
When I know people are riding unsafely it really bothers me... Clearly this particular person has an underlying issue that has nothing to do with bikes and manifests itself in his riding but I'm also talking about just someone who is drunk at a party or something. Anyway, what are your thoughts??
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My personal feeling on the matter is that motorcycling is an inherently dangerous activity, and it's not my place to decide how much danger someone else is allowed to expose himself (or herself) to. So, I would not simply confiscate someone's keys to keep them from riding at any point in the future.
Now, if they were immediately about to get on their bike drunk or high, or in a fit of rage or something, I'd probably be willing to step in if it was a close friend or family member. I don't know anyone this irresponsible, though, so I've never actually had to do it.
In your situation, I think I'd try to find someone this person would listen to, and tell them how worried you are. Chances are, you're not the only person who's concerned about this guy, and while he may not listen to you, being merely an acquaintance, he might listen to someone closer to him, say, his mother or girlfriend.