I have a colleague who commutes via motorcycle from Mililani to our Keeaumoku Street offices at HMSA Center. When it's a Furlough Friday, Russell says the ride is pretty smooth and he can synchronize his trip to be red-light free most of the way to town.

My first boyfriend had a motorcycle, which he sold just before we started dating. My dad said he wouldn't let me get on it anyway, but it didn't mean I never had a conversation about motorcycles with boyfriend #1. He told me something that I have never forgotten. Maybe it's common knowledge to other people who have never ridden a motorcycle, but it was news to me. Have you ever noticed how a motorcyclist doesn't ride in the middle of the lane? That's because it's potentially an oil slick. Motorcyclists ride in the worn path of wheels, on either side of the darkened, oily middle of the road.

In today's Honolulu Advertiser is a story by Michael Tsai about traffic deaths in Hawaii. Tsai states that the number of traffic deaths in Hawaii rose slightly last year due to an increase in motorcycle-related fatalities.  2010 could possibily see that increasing trend continue, given yesterday there were two motorcycle-related traffic deaths on the Big Island. Let's hope not!

Honolulu Police Department's Major Thomas Nitta said that of Oahu's 17 motorcycle deaths in 2009, 14 were attributed to operator error, meaning speed, drugs, alcohol or lack of operating skills were factors.

Those of us who ride in cars, vans, SUVs and trucks need to be fully aware of who we are sharing the road with. Airbags can protect us from serious injuries most of the time, but what can a motorcyclist or bicyclist do when a dangerous situation arises? Stay alert, share the road, ease off the Type-A tendencies when behind the wheel. And if you hear a motorcycle, but don't see a motorcycle, look around a little bit more because they're probably not in the middle of the road.

Nothing inconveniences more people than a traffic accident.