This is the continuation of The ultimate IESE MBA guide to easy riding in Barcelona (Part 1)
Safety and security or how to survive your inevitable accident
Yes, riding a scooter or a moto is dangerous, especially if you do it in Barcelona. The traffic is bad, really bad! And people do not necessarily stick to the traffic rules. At times it feels like a real-life GTA experience (without shooting). So if you decide to join the easy-rider-club you should expect the unexpected and most importantly, invest into your safety gear. Your best friend will be a good helmet that suits you properly. Don’t cheap out on this item. You do not need a EUR 400.00 model, but be willing to spend more than EUR 100.00 for a good model. I am no friend of used helmets, since you never know if they were involved in an accident (which might render them useless in a second accident). Barcelona is hot, so many students go for open-face helmets, but even in small accidents your chin will not be protected. Thus, I really recommend to buy a full-face helmet and make sure that the ventilation works well. Second, you will need gloves, not the ones you buy at Zara, but real motorcycles gloves with reinforcement pads that protect your knuckles and wrist if you fall off. Finally, you should also buy a proper motorcycle vest - ideally with enclosed protective armour and fluorescent markings for increased visibility at night. You should also consider buying proper pants and wear real boots, not sandals. To be honest, I always wear a full-face helmet, gloves and a jacket, but only regular shoes and blue jeans. When I had an accident and decided to see whether my head or a BMW X5 is stronger, I received some bruises on my upper body (protected by my jacket), but deep bleeding cuts on my knee and underneath my ankles. In the end, this decision is up to you, but you should be aware of the potential consequences of wearing or not wearing the right gear. If you can read German or have a German friend with enough time on her hands, you can buy great protective wear from German two-wheels specialist Louis. Unfortunately, the online shop is only available in German. Shipping costs to Spain are EUR 14.95 and the quality and prices are excellent. Alternatively, most of the motorcycle and scooter stores as well as the major department stores offer protective clothing. If you intend to get pricey top-quality gear, you might want to wait for the SkiIESE trip to Andorra in March. The peculiarities of the local sales tax (0%) law allow for extraordinary bargains.
As you can see on the image to the left, it gets quite busy during rush hour. What most students do after a while, is to go in between cars or drive on the bus and taxi lane while traffic is moving. This increases your chance to get to IESE in time as well as the probability to get hit by a car. Most car drivers in Barcelona look in all directions at all times, but they also stop in impossible locations for no apparent reason and many people drive drunk at night (especially on the weekend nights). There were some serious accidents involving IESE students and most of those happened at night. Most of the times, it was the fault of other (drunk) drivers. It happened to very few students, but I believe that you should know about this very real risk.
The traffic signs and rules are the same worldwide. There are some local “deviations” which are not necessarily included in the official traffic rules. For instance, all motorcycle and scooter drivers use the designated cab and bus lanes. Another speciality is the time when people start driving at the red light. You do not wait until your light turns green. No, instead you stare at the pedestrian’s light. As soon as the pedestrian’s green phase switches to the red-blinking phase, the pedestrians will run like crazy to reach the safe sidewalk while cars, trucks, buses, scooters and motorcycles start the engines and drive off immediately - although the red light for cars is still on. Keep this in mind if you dare use Barcelona’s street as pedestrian.
Finally, I should also mention the issue of leaving your motorcycle outside. I have never locked my motorcycle and left it on the streets of Eixample for a year. It has not been stolen, but some drunk kids kicked off one of my mirrors once. There were some instances where scooters were scratched with keys and I know of one case where the seat was cut open with a knife. These incidences happened rarely and depend largely on your area. If you can, park your bike in a garage. If you cannot, buy at least a scary-looking lock.
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