[33809]

Viewed in macro, those statistics look pretty damning. The problem is that statistics of this sort are pointless unless ALL motorcycle wrecks and fatalities are looked at.



All I can say for myself is that if I eat it on a bike, then my guess is it will be caused by someone in a car not paying attention. My two wrecks were caused by car drivers and every casualty in my peer group of riders was caused by a car except one.



Training for riders, education for drivers. It is the only way we're going stop this carnage.



In other news I'm going to the Schwantz Track school this weekend.........I'm effing pumped!

 

[seruzawa]

Hundreds of thousands of leather clad overweight middle aged drunks show up in one place for a week and anyone is surprised that the main cause of their wrecks is themselves? LOL!



Paging Captain Obvious.



This is like being surprised at smelling a lot of B.O. at an Earth Day rally.

 

[dmorga1]

I thought it was a decently nuanced article if you read the whole thing. The Hurt study is very old now, and the demographics are wildly shifting. While the statistics they are using hardly represent a nationally representative sample, they do suggest a trend which I think many of us know is happening--more older riders equals more deaths among older riders. Combine lots of older folks with zero riding skills (or very old riding skills) on a new oversized bike and you've often got trouble. However, young turks on sportbikes are still a problem, too. I think it made a good point that it's more than just "them Ninja sportbikes!" Perhaps the automobile drivers got off a little light, but as others have said here a million times before, if we as motorcyclists don't own this problem, it will be owned for us, and we won't like it. Now, the one issue I have with most stats reporting is that they sometimes report absolute number of occurrences without any sense of relative rate or proportion. For example, 15 fatalities in a county with 10,000 registered riders maybe isn't that bad (especially if it's popular with riders not registered there, too). If it's more like 15 out of 1000, maybe it's more concerning. However, like it or not, these motorcycle accidents make the news. Behave badly on a motorcycle, and you may end up getting written up in the newspaper. Greater responsibility? Sure. Unfair? Perhaps. But what else can we do besides attempt to conduct ourselves as we should, and encourage other riders to do the same?

 

[30874]

Legaly ride without insurance??

Legaly ride without insurance??

What's up with that?

I wonder at the indifference show motorcycles when it comes to things like licenses and insurance.

A friend here in Arizona went to try for his motorcycle license and they didn't even make him take the driving test.

 

[33129]

Re: Old ''Riders at fault''

Riding through the mountains Sunday, I noticed a turkey vulture land on a post on the left side of the road. As I neared it, it took off, sort of like a Doolittle B-25 leaving a carrier deck, low and slow. Just before we met, it veered to the left, missing me by a foot or so. Being struck by a giant bird indeed.

 

[sarnali2]

Hey them little antiperspirant crystals work just fine you Earth Waster





Right on the button with the leather clad drunks bit, toss in no helmets or those stupid f*ckin' beanies and the problem is pretty obvious.

 

[sarnali2]

Re: Legaly ride without insurance??

As the article stated, insurance is not required here in Washigton State. If you finance the bike your bank or credit union will require it before you get the loan but for some reason the state don't. M/C licenses are required though, still I'm sure there's a lot of people that don't have one.

The obvious solution is to require a copy of a valid M/C license before you take delivery, MSF courses supply their own bkes so there's no excuse why it won't work.

@ $3.49.9 a gallon for gas there's probably going to be a pretty fair number of new or reentry riders coming along, they need at least some type of training, gas sure isn't going to get any cheaper.

 

[TheFox]

Schwantz School

You taking the big ZX or renting?

Tell me how it goes. I really want to go but can't afford it.

--The Fox

 

[TheFox]

Re: Legaly ride without insurance??

I'm interested about how you mentioned it's a DR-Z. I have heard (anecdotally) that the police do not often ticket for no plates on "dirtbikes" because they (the police) think they are small enough displacement wise to not need a plate. Anyone else with that experience out there?

--The Fox

 

[TheFox]

Suzuki Volusia

This answers the question as to where Suzuki got the name for that cruiser.

--The Fox

 

[37826]

shh. Ur makin me want to hang up the leathers.

 

[nolaandy]

The statistics are nothing new. Except for "age creep" the basics are the same. A majority of accidents that kill motorcyclists are one-vehicle accidents. A surprising number of them are the two-wheeled equivalent of "controlled flight into terrain" aircraft accidents. That is, riders apparently taking no evasive maneuvers while smacking into something or other.



"Older riders" are often cited by "younger riders" as inordinately dangerous to themselves. Actually, for the latest data available (June 2006) the 20 to 30 year-old group (roughly 18% of the riding population) had 1,041 fatalities. Riders in the 50 and up group (about 25% of the riding population) had 876 fatalities. So the younger group is still over represented in fatalities.



You don't need the 'gummint to tell you any of this. The best information is scrupulously maintained by the insurance industry. They can tell you that younger riders are also over represented in property damage and non-fatal injuries.



This is a dangerous sport. Inexperience (including not riding for a long time and starting to ride again), riding under the influence, riding beyond skill level all contribute to the dangers. Bad drivers are good for the other 27% of wrecks (where inexperienced riders are also over represented).



I've been riding for 45 years, and I guess I'm lucky that I had my youthful wildness tempered at an early age by a wreck that was pretty benign. The only other "incident" I had was avoiding a truck that ran a stop sign. My experience no doubt saved me injury or worse. I could see the truck approaching from the left and I could see he wasn't slowing. My best path was behind him onto wet grass, so that's where I went, already slowing.



Be careful out there. It doesn't matter whose fault it was or how it happened. The consequences are exactly the same.

 

[sarnali2]

Re: Suzuki Volusia

I was wondering about that myself, I figured it meant "Happy Cherry Blossum" or something

 

[schizuki]

F***ing smelly commie hippie.

 

[Kenneth_Moore]

Yesterday when I referenced this article in another context, I mentioned that I don't know how valid the Orlando "Slantinel's" statistics are. I will tell you without doubt that the paper is infamous for it's skewing of the facts, bias, and wholesale errors of fact. The Chief Editor years ago was quotes as saying "Never let the truth stand in the way of a good story!" Also, whatever they say should be tempered with the perspective that slamming motorcycling seems to be a hot topic for media everywhere.



Having said that, yeah, sure, a bunch of old guys buying big bikes and riding around for the first time ever, or the first time in years, is bound to result in deaths. And yeah, sportbikes probably do have a higher percentage of fatalities than other bike types, but so what? The simple truth these articles never touch on that I've derived from their own statistics is that: AS A PERCENTAGE OF THE NUMBER OF RIDERS, THE ACTUAL DEATHS ARE GOING DOWN, NOT UP!!! Our magazines, advocacy groups, manufacturers ought to be producing the statistics to back this up and screaming it in their magazines, at press releases, news conferences, at legislative sessions, and anywhere else. Instead, our industry leaders have not taken an agressive, pro-active stance in defending motorcycling. It's like they're trying to sneak under the "radar," when the enemy is standing in front of them with flamethrowers. The brilliant comment from the industry spokesperson about "Hyper Bikes?" "Gee, it's a problem, but those darn buyers just want them go-fast machines." What a dumbass.

 

[longride]

Re: Legaly ride without insurance??

Are you talking about the Chicago area? You will get a ticket in about 5 seconds if you ride a bike on the street without a plate. Don't do it. They may even impound the bike until you can prove you are the owner if it has no registration.

 

[BrowningBAR]

Pinko!

 

[longride]

Re: Suzuki Volusia

It means 'copy Harley lots' in Japanese.

 

[BrowningBAR]

Re: Suzuki Volusia

No, it realley was named after that Central Florida pit-hole.

 

[sarnali2]

******* goat-roping ******, why don't you go burn some babies for McNamara