Mopeds are dangerous to ALL

[scubavaquera]

Dave, I have to agree with you on the part you mention about being 'terrified' when you dive around town now because of the prolifity of motos. While I would not necessasarily say I am terrified, it certainly makes me nervous and on constant alert. I am sure I look like an owl swiveling my head around to double check beside and behind me after I check mirrors first. (Those blind spots are a bitch.) I can only surmise that the local moto drivers are either completely oblivious to cars or simply feel 'lucky'. I liken it to the rural midwest where I grew up and squirrels would shoot across the road out of nowhere. Some were lucky, some not so much. These are just squirrels on motos.
I do not know what the solution is. I just know that since I live and work here, it is not a matter of 'if' it happens to me but rather 'when' it will happen to me.
Had a near miss yesterday making a right turn off of my street onto 11. My signal was on, I was looking to the left for traffic to clear so I could pull out. My bad. I forgot to look to my right and a moto had squeezed up on the right side of my car and tried to beat me onto the road as I pulled out into the turn. That was a very near miss. I might have peed a little. Why they would do that is beyond me.
It sure does keep my adrenalin flowing, as well as a steady stream of profanities flying out of my mouth that would make a pirate blush. I always try to be defensive and assume they are going to do something stupid and it is exhausting.

 

[Dave Dillehay]

Others may like the health care here but I have seen enough to have standing orders that if I am "really" sick, get me out-- even if it has to look like "Weekend at Bernies" in a wheelchair on United!!

Indeed, one of my Villa Aldora Managers is currently undergoing extensive reconstructive surgeries at UTMB Galveston (University of Texas Medical Branch). I am sure he would have died if I let him stay in Cozumel.


Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

PS I just love being politically incorrect

 

[Gdog]

Been going to Coz for many years, in my point of view after all the collisions and hurt people I've seen from scooters there, you would have to knock me out and drag my ass on the back to get me on one, and I grew up on dirtbikes. Just my 2 PSI.

 

[Schwob]

... i am putting the energy into this thread because i feel its such an important topic.

THANKS.
All The Best Christi.

 

[mstevens]

As a doctor and long term DAN member, I can't think of any situation where a Diver on a vacation would truly need to rent a moped for transportation.

As a doctor and long-term DAN member, I'm not sure how either of those things would bolster my opinion about scooter rentals.

Most Dive Shops have shuttles.

Uh-huh. Name a few dive shops in Cozumel that have shuttles.

Nobody comes on this board and says you shouldn't drink while on Cozumel because it will lead you to using poor judgement and could get you killed or thrown in jail.

I have done just that, and not that long ago.

That blanket statement wouldn't be tolerated because that would be a general statement of judgement about an activity that is enjoyed by many here and people would rightly speak up and say that it can be done safely.

Nope. That is not what the response was.

Well, since the set of tourists on Cozumel and the set of inexperienced, intoxicated, or untrained people who shouldn't be driving motos is largely congruent, I'd say that the distinction isn't that relevant.

I have a Cozumel moto license. I was not required to demonstrate proficiency or show anyone the motorcycle endorsement on my NH license. That and personal observation lead me to believe that growing up on a scooter on the island does not mean one is proficient. Or sober.

Indeed, one of my Villa Aldora Managers is currently undergoing extensive reconstructive surgeries at UTMB Galveston (University of Texas Medical Branch). I am sure he would have died if I let him stay in Cozumel.

Maybe. Honest - nothing against UTMB. I was there 11 years for medical school, residency, fellowship, and some time as a full-time faculty member. It's a pretty good medical school with pretty good hospitals. If you have some weird or extremely severe thing, then you go to the big academic medical center (which is why I go to Dana-Farber for my leukemia. I'll note that we drove my daughter to M. D. Anderson for her cancer treatment rather than getting it at UTMB which was literally across the street from our house). Otherwise, you're often better off in a smaller facility where you're directly treated by the specialist. I was in Costamed about a week ago and was very impressed.

I don't know the solution to the vehicle issue in Cozumel, but Dave and Christi are right. It's getting considerably worse. My wife and I have scooters on the island (and Cozumel moto licenses and insurance) but haven't ridden in well over a year. It's just too congested and too risky. I ended up in some pretty unnerving situations in the Nissan last week, and I used to drive competitively on the track (and in downtown Boston). It takes a fair amount to scare me in a car. Nearly every single time I'm in the centro I see some tourist barreling down a one-way street the wrong way, not stopping at intersections, in an overloaded Jeep Wrangler. I get passed on the left with my left turn signal on, passed on the right by scooters that then swing in front of me and turn left. A few days ago a scooter passed me on the right when I was turning and tried to turn in front of me. That ended up putting him on my sidewalk because I was turning into my driveway, so I'm pretty sure that's an example of Dave's lottery hypothesis

There are significantly more people on the island each year and as MMM notes they commute farther to their jobs. The number of cars is skyrocketing and I think the motos are truly uncountable. For fun sometime go to the impound lot out on Av. Claudio Canto and see if your mind doesn't boggle at the number of scooters in that one lot and the thought that it's a fairly small percentage of the overall number on the island.

 

[RayfromTX]

Thank you for your post. When you are looking over the impound lot, imagine if they were cars. As the island gets more prosperous and the cruise ships keep coming and perhaps their number continues to rise, more people will be able to trade in their scooters for cars and people will be able to afford bigger and faster motorcycles. Is anyone saying they wish there were fewer customers and that we could go back to the day when people couldn't afford their own personal transportation?

The problems of the island really aren't the poor scooters. This is a multifaceted problem that roots back to the popularity and the capitalization of the island. The people that move to the island from the states and those that build up businesses that promote and benefit from tourism are hardly in a position to complain about the traffic or the form it takes.

I live in the Texas Hill Country. I moved out here 27 years ago. I no doubt follow the same pattern of those before and after me. I found it so beautiful and peaceful here I just had to find a way to move here and eventually I did. As soon as I had mine, I wanted to shut the gate on the next wave of starry eyed folks with the same idea in order to avoid the problems that they would create. It's not the fine people and business owners of Cozumel that are the problem either. It's the year, it's the level of prosperity which is it's own double edged sword and it's the place we are viewing it from. I hope to someday be able to live on Cozumel so I can join those that complain about how nice it used to be, seriously I do.

To the person or people that find motos more dangerous than scuba diving, now is an inconvenient time to make such a claim. I count 4 scuba fatalities on the island since February. That isn't typical but it's a weird argument to be making. Scuba diving is a dangerous activity for many reasons and like riding a scooter or any other activity, it can be made safer or more deadly by the judgement we use and then sometimes it's just a matter of timing. In a month or two when the next thread about the insanity of scooters pops up that makes the operators sound like little terrorists or that compares them to swarms of cockroaches, I'll try to sit it out but I can't guaranty I'll be able to.

 

[Gdog]

I found it so beautiful and peaceful here I just had to find a way to move here and eventually I did. As soon as I had mine, I wanted to shut the gate on the next wave of starry eyed folks with the same idea in order to avoid the problems that they would create. It's not the fine people and business owners of Cozumel that are the problem either. It's the year, it's the level of prosperity which is it's own double edged sword and it's the place we are viewing it from. I hope to someday be able to live on Cozumel so I can join those that complain about how nice it used to be, seriously I do.

I haven't agreed with you at all on this topic, but you are spot on here. Well stated. Reminds me of that song by the Eagles, on the Hell Freezes Over Album, called The Last Resort. Speaks specifically to this point. Read the Lyrics, or listen to the song, well worth it. The last line, "You call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye".

 

[Christi]

Thank you for your post. When you are looking over the impound lot, imagine if they were cars. As the island gets more prosperous and the cruise ships keep coming and perhaps their number continues to rise, more people will be able to trade in their scooters for cars and people will be able to afford bigger and faster motorcycles. Is anyone saying they wish there were fewer customers and that we could go back to the day when people couldn't afford their own personal transportation?

The problems of the island really aren't the poor scooters. This is a multifaceted problem that roots back to the popularity and the capitalization of the island. The people that move to the island from the states and those that build up businesses that promote and benefit from tourism are hardly in a position to complain about the traffic or the form it takes.

I live in the Texas Hill Country. I moved out here 27 years ago. I no doubt follow the same pattern of those before and after me. I found it so beautiful and peaceful here I just had to find a way to move here and eventually I did. As soon as I had mine, I wanted to shut the gate on the next wave of starry eyed folks with the same idea in order to avoid the problems that they would create. It's not the fine people and business owners of Cozumel that are the problem either. It's the year, it's the level of prosperity which is it's own double edged sword and it's the place we are viewing it from. I hope to someday be able to live on Cozumel so I can join those that complain about how nice it used to be, seriously I do.

To the person or people that find motos more dangerous than scuba diving, now is an inconvenient time to make such a claim. I count 4 scuba fatalities on the island since February. That isn't typical but it's a weird argument to be making. Scuba diving is a dangerous activity for many reasons and like riding a scooter or any other activity, it can be made safer or more deadly by the judgement we use and then sometimes it's just a matter of timing. In a month or two when the next thread about the insanity of scooters pops up that makes the operators sound like little terrorists or that compares them to swarms of cockroaches, I'll try to sit it out but I can't guaranty I'll be able to.

Just a reminder, not every diving fatality is a diving fatality - very often they are undisclosed or unknown health issues.

I cannot quote a precise factual number, but I do not think it would be far off to say there are AT LEAST 4 moto fatalities a month here - just because you didn't see it on SB, Facebook or por esto doesn't mean there aren't more.

With this said, please keep my boat Captain Edwin in your prayers, he was involved in a very serious motorcycle accident on Thursday afternoon leaving the marina. He is still hospitalized with broken bones and other injuries. Prayers for the other guy too - he is in bad shape too. He was on a real motorcycle traveling at high speed coming from the south - however, I think his defensive maneuvering saved both of their lives, although he still suffered extensive injuries. They are both lucky to be alive. Thank you God!!!

 

[Brules]

Oh no! Hope he is ok Christi!

If anyone thinks diving is more dangerous than riding a moped in Coz, you are on crack lol.......they have SERIOUS accidents daily, deaths regularly. Much more so than diving lol. Stay off of them if possible!

 

[Gdog]

With this said, please keep my boat Captain Edwin in your prayers, he was involved in a very serious motorcycle accident on Thursday afternoon leaving the marina. He is still hospitalized with broken bones and other injuries. Prayers for the other guy too - he is in bad shape too. He was on a real motorcycle traveling at high speed coming from the south - however, I think his defensive maneuvering saved both of their lives, although he still suffered extensive injuries. They are both lucky to be alive. Thank you God!!!

Sorry to hear, will keep them in my prayers