iv'e been riding over forty years now and with the invent of cell phones things have gotten bad. no one uses blinkers anymore and everyones in a hurry nowdays. more older people on the road(including me) as the baby boomers generation age. i think driving skills of the general population has gone down hill for years. people change lanes without even looking. it's to late AFTER you kill someone, can't turn the clock back. at least that's the way it is around the St.Louis area.

 

On the plus side:
Cars & bikes are much better made; drunk drivers has dropped precipitously; roads are overall in better shape.

On the negative side: too many cell phones & distracted drivers; more cars on the roads; more "clueless" lazy drivers (no turn signals, etc); and more elderly drivers.

Overall, I would say slightly more dangerous today. However, the large drop in drunk drivers is a big positive in the past 30 or so years. SJ Ron

 

In just three years I have gone from commuting daily to work from April to October (I live in MN) to not commuting on the bike at all.

In that time period the volume of vehicle has increased, and the distracted driving has gone through the roof! I miss the ride, but not the crazy danger of a metro commute in 2014.

 

Out riding Sunday I had to avoid two idiots. An old man in Johnson was in my lane as he was leaving a gas station, guess he forgot which side of the road to drive on. Then on 89 a flatlander was drifting into my lane as I was passing him. That one caught my wife's attention who screamed.

 

The thread should be titled as a statement, instead of a question. Anyone who's ridden way in the past and now days, knows it's a lot more dangerous.

 

I started riding in 1961 on a Cushman Road King while throwing my paper route. I had my close calls for several years after moving up to the bigger bikes. The cause that hurt me more than any other at that time was the left handers, I was able to make contact with two of them. I've had a bad right leg ever since. Here in Louisiana, I have to say that our biggest problems are people using modern forms of communications and then a huge increase in drivers from other countries. They did not learn to drive within the law and they show that on our roads. Our newspaper has posted notice of so many each day that are here illegally and are driving with no insurance. We have to pay for uninsured drivers to protect ourselves.

 

One of the big positives over the last 20-30 years at least here in California is that there is a LOT less drunk driving than there used to be. Nothing more dangerous to a rider than a drunk in a car or truck.

On the other hand, we have cellphones and texting which we did not used to have. But IMO this is much less common and dangerous than drunk drivers used to be.

 

At least drunk drivers are trying to drive. Texters are too busy looking at their screen to drive.

 

Is Riding More Dangerous Than Used To Be??

YES! There are a lot more ignorant deer out there nowadays than there used to be!!

 

It is a lot less dangerous than it used to be for me.
Ever since I moved from the big cities to the country.

We only have one stop sign, and I am very careful when I am near it.