They finally said the quiet part out loud. Lagos just banned motorcycles from operating in most of the city, but let’s call it what it really is – keeping bikers out of areas where the rich don’t want to see us. And before you say “that’s Nigeria, not here,” wake up. This is exactly what wealthy neighborhoods in America have been trying to do for years. Now they have a blueprint.
The Lagos governor claimed it’s about “safety” and “traffic laws.” Right. The same excuse every gated community uses when they mysteriously have “noise ordinances” that only apply to motorcycles. The same reason country clubs ban bikes from their parking lots while allowing sports cars that are twice as loud. It’s not about safety – it’s about keeping out the “wrong type” of people.
Here’s what should terrify every American biker: they banned an entire mode of transportation from a city of 20 million people. Not just certain routes. Not just specific hours. Complete ban. And delivery bikes? Those are fine. Because apparently, it’s only dangerous when regular people are riding, not when they’re serving the wealthy.
The enforcement part is what gets me. “We will not tolerate any weakness in enforcement,” the governor said. Translation: police now have carte blanche to stop any biker, anywhere, anytime. Sound familiar? How many of us have been pulled over for “random safety checks” that never seem to happen to luxury cars?
This isn’t just about Lagos. Last month, Scottsdale tried to ban motorcycles from certain downtown areas during “peak hours.” Miami Beach has been floating similar restrictions. Gated communities from California to Florida are updating their HOA rules to prohibit motorcycle parking “for aesthetic reasons.”
The pattern is clear: criminalize our existence, make it legally impossible for us to be in certain spaces, then act shocked when we point out the discrimination. They’ll wrap it in safety concerns, noise complaints, property values – anything except admitting they don’t want working-class people on bikes mixing with their Tesla-driving neighbors.
What happens when your doctor’s office is in a “no motorcycle zone”? When your kid’s school bans bikes from pickup lanes? When entire highways become “automobile only” for “safety reasons”? Think it can’t happen here? Neither did riders in Lagos.
This is how it starts. Not with an outright ban on motorcycles, but with “reasonable restrictions” that slowly choke out our ability to exist in public spaces. Today it’s Lagos. Tomorrow it could be your town. The question is: what are we going to do about it before it’s too late?
Time to wake up, brothers and sisters. They’re coming for our way of life, one “safety concern” at a time.
