News and notes from around the interweb:
- Here’s the letter of apology from Lufthansa’s CEO to the Jewish passengers denied boarding because they were Jewish.
This letter seems better than the airline’s first three statements on the incident after an agent explained that everyone identifiably Jewish off of a New York JFK – Frankfurt flight would be banned from flying the airline for 24 hours “Because it’s Jews coming from JFK. …If you want to do it like this, Jewish people who were the mess, who made the problems.”
- For a long time the Mayflower in DC had a long list of people who wanted to book the Eliot Spitzer room… Indiana motel reports growing waitlist for room used by fugitives Casey White and Vicky White
- Bad weather happens. How you manage it is what matters.
Things did indeed get heated at @Reagan_Airport last night/this morning.
Flight was delayed more than three hours, and then two hours after boarding with no co-pilot aboard, we deplaned because the crew had timed out.
Many others had similar experiences.pic.twitter.com/I386iZEtLY
— Jonathan Battaglia (@jrbattaglia) May 23, 2022
I mean honestly how is this “customer service” when you have an @AmericanAir employee fake slapping a customer like this?? pic.twitter.com/51oia9sNaF
— Adam Rizzieri 🇺🇸 (@TheAdamRizz) May 24, 2022
- New Amtrak Acela seats just bear in mind when reading anything at The Points GUy that they tend to push PR hard for Amtrak.
- Air France planning new first class seat to replace their 2014-era hard product, explaining that first class demand is greater than it was in 2019.
- But look at that data on planes…
Really shocking to see how much more dangerous motorcycles are than every other mode of transportation pic.twitter.com/q6R0fE3gNp
— Alec Stapp (@AlecStapp) May 23, 2022
Is that plane data with or without masks?
I don’t know that many people, but in my life, I’ve known three people killed on motorcycles or ATVs. And still I’m shocked by that number, but it reinforces why I’ve never ridden a motorcycle and refused to let my kids near one. All solo vehicle accidents.
I’d be curious what the numbers are for bicycles. (A quick search turned up a wide variety of numbers, but it appears that bicycles are 8-10 times as deadly as cars and the pedestrian rate is twice that. Mainly because car or pedestrian vs. car is usually bad for the non-car. Also true for motorcycles, but motorcycles have their own speed factor added to the equation.)
I am not surprised with the statistics, looking at how fast and the attire of the motorcyclist in the US I am surprised that it’s allowed. With zero protective gear (except for the helmet) and the speed that they ride, with a just a small knock or imbalance situation, you can imagine where you as the rider (and fellow pax) will end up when going at high speed.
@C_M — “the numbers” are meaningless. You need to overlay your personal situation.
Some states, California being the prime example, allow motorcyclists to straddle lanes between cars. This is a tremendous time saver and all but eliminates the concept of rush hour. If someone rides a motorcycle for expressly this purpose, then the risk of injury or death would be low. Any collision that may occur with a car would be minor, by virtue of the car moving at a slow speed.
Recreational motorcycling is where the injury and death rates skyrocket. We have all seen complete dumbasses flying at 200mph on the interstate. However, it is unclear that the motorcycle is the defining factor. The people with proclivities to engage in this kind of behavior are risky in other avenues in life. Put another way, if they don’t die on their motorcycle, they would die from some other stupid activity.
@Yin Jing – That sounds like you’re justifying your own behavior. I agree that speed is a factor in almost all cases, but motorcycles provide almost no protection at any speed vs. a car. Weave between the lanes at even 20 mph and you’re still at risk. Half of all pedestrian deaths from car strikes occur at under 30 mph, I would imagine that motorcycles have the same stats – and when I drive in CA, I see motorcycles going way above 30 mph in stalled traffic all the time. How many motorcyclists are killed when they hit cars changing lanes each year? And 88% of California motorcycle accidents that are reported result in injury or death. Death is rare, but if you’re in an accident with a motorcycle, you likely will be injured. That doesn’t happen in a car.
Yes, it’s your choice to engage in motorcycle riding – I know it seems pretty fun. But like I said, the people I know who were killed were all single vehicle accidents – tree strike (ATV), road dip, slick road. Speed was undoubtedly a factor, but so was the motorcycle – riding in a car wouldn’t have killed any of those people under those circumstances. To me, not worth the risk. But YMMV.