EDITORIAL - Motorcycle dividers, are they serious?!

Following calls for motorcycle drivers to be allowed to take on passengers, someone unfortunately floated the idea of installing a protective divider between the driver and the passenger to protect one from the other against possible COVID-19 infection.

Even more unfortunately, some government agencies took the idea seriously.

You should not modify a motorcycle in that way.

For one reason, adding this item will make the motorcycle very unstable and unwieldy. This vehicle was not designed to accommodate such a device. You can expect that extra weight of such a device to influence the balance of a motorcycle making a tight and sudden turn.

The placement of such a device alone will block access to the compartment under the seat where the tools and papers are usually kept. This device will also make riding more uncomfortable for the passenger who is robbed of space.

It should also be mentioned that not all motorcycles are of the same size or make. You cannot expect a universal design that “fits all sizes”. People will be forced to come up with their own designs to fit their own vehicles.

And who do we expect to provide these protective dividers? In all likelihood work will be done by different mechanics and body repair shops. People who cannot afford to have one made will fabricate their own dividers.

This means there will be no means to enforce whatever rules or standards are set, and we can expect some workmanship to be shoddy. What if it becomes unfastened or comes apart while the vehicle is running at high speed?

Besides, can this device really protect the driver from the passenger, or vice-versa, against COVID-19 particles? Unlikely. Driver-passenger interaction doesn’t just happen when the passenger is on board. There is interaction before and after the ride, where no protective divider is in place.

Aside from being impractical, this device also makes the motorcycle unwieldy, unsafe, and inconvenient for both the driver and passenger. Let’s hope the government officials realize this before they make it mandatory.