Most
European countries, notably France, are worried about their birthrates. Modern women
aren't generally having enough children to replace themselves, leading to aging
populations, without enough young people to support the 'wrinklies' as the Brits
call their senior citizens.
But
don't blame the women. I am no demographer, but a few days driving on French roads
will tell you where the problem lies. Young French men aren't living long
enough to reproduce because of how they ride their motorcycles.
The
notorious 'lane-splitting' technique, where they simply rocket along the lane
dividing line, missing car and truck mirrors by scant millimetres - well, it's a wonder any of them survive to child-generating age.
How can they be so confident that Jacques won’t nudge the steering
wheel on his little Citroen van, perhaps while flicking the ash off his
Gitanes, sending the hapless rider into 'mercredi prochain'?
Sad
to say, we're starting to see this behaviour on this side of the pond too.
Regular readers will know my stance on motorcycles - in a three-dimensional
world, two wheels is at least one too few.
But if these guys - and it is almost always guys
- keep riding like this, then we better be looking out for our birth rates too.
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