Going on a 120km an hour highway speeds up travel, especially when distance is in the equation. The Bandeirantes highway caters for approximately half a million users daily.
Clearly if you want to ride your motorcycle it provides good quality tarmac to avoid accidents while leading off to several destinations worthy of a visit. One might anticipate transit delays at certain points along the highway which might be expected, however, who would foresee having to diminish the speed the whole journey?
It happened to me Saturday when a last-minute decision was made to go out on my Yamaha motorcycle. As I entered onto the highway, there were two police SUVs blocking the route because of a single lane group of motorcycles heading to the country village of Vinhedo some seventy-six kilometers away from São Paulo. Apparently, a charity event was taking place.
In the USA many drivers who have seen the phenomenon of a large group of motorcycle riders using blockers to stop oncoming traffic at intersections may assume the practice is being done just to inconvenience other motorists. On occasion local police facilitate large motorcades, such as former Brazilian president Bolsonaro style biker rallies.
The idea behind blockers is to move a group of motorcyclists, who are often on a charity ride, through an intersection without getting split up by other traffic. Some states have passed “road guard” legislation that specifically authorizes this practice. However, it remains illegal in a majority of states, to include Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and West Virginia.
Caught behind the police cars, I thought the road speed limit was 120km per hour, and not 60km per hour which I had to ride my motorcyle from the beginning of the highway because of this motorcycle group. How can such a privelage be given to a motorcycle club when they only used one of the five lanes available is beyond my reasoning.
The bottom line is there has to be equality for all drivers. If one does something wrong, others follow and therefore rules and regulations need to be adhered to which is justice.
Have a great day!
Prof. Carl Boniface
Vocabulary builder:
Tarmac (n) = tar, asphalt, runway, landing strip, pitch
Foresee (v) = predict, expect, anticipate, foreknow, foretell
Motorcades (n) = parades, groups, processions, columns, lines, marches