Some interesting and disturbing figures

[the Ferret]

a lot to absorb

http://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/t/motorc...Helmet-use

[Rocky_imp]

That was too long to read word for word, but scanning over the facts and figures is quite sobering.
Except for the actual figures, there's not all that much that we didn't know about the risks we take each time we go for a ride.
This sport is too much fun to give it up or not do it in the first place.
The best we can do is gear up for the possible crash and manage the risks the best that we can through experience, alertness and training.

[Ulvetanna_imp]

Three main points here:

-Don't ride drunk or buzzed.

-Get home from your weekend ride before the evening hours, back in the garage before 6 p.m.

-Don't buy a large-displacement bike for your first machine, even if you are middle-aged guy and can afford it. So what if someone says you're on a girl's bike because you wisely got a CB500?

[redbirds_imp]

Interesting read ferret. Have to agree with Rocky and Ulvetanna, riding is too much fun to give up and always try to minimize your risks when you ride. Despite our best efforts, government safety standards, traffic laws and ATGATT, the death rate will remain at 100%. The choice we actually have is whether to die while living or to live while dead.

[Ulvetanna_imp]

Interesting read ferret. Have to agree with Rocky and Ulvetanna, riding is too much fun to give up and always try to minimize your risks when you ride. Despite our best efforts, government safety standards, traffic laws and ATGATT, the death rate will remain at 100%. The choice we actually have is whether to die while living or to live while dead.

"I would rather be ashes than dust. I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than that it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet."

-Jack London

[aschem_imp]

Wish they would have included stats for accidents involving other vehicles with driver of other vehicle using a mobile phone.

[emptysea]

Thanks for the post, Ferret.

[LongRanger_imp]

Hers what I get out of it:

Of the total fatalities:

28% not licensed
42% single-vehicle accident
38% no helmet
32% over 1400cc
43% on interstate or freeway
30% DUI (43% of single-vehicle were DUI)
55% nighttime fatalities were DUI

Simple message here. Get your endorsement, wear a helmet, don't drink and ride.

[Ulvetanna_imp]

Hers what I get out of it:

Of the total fatalities:

28% not licensed
42% single-vehicle accident
38% no helmet
32% over 1400cc
43% on interstate or freeway
30% DUI (43% of single-vehicle were DUI)
55% nighttime fatalities were DUI

Simple message here. Get your endorsement, wear a helmet, don't drink and ride.

That's the simple. Those numbers are complex.

Distilling this to a fatalistic philosophy makes good copy but bad advice. Jack London's words are nonetheless true, but Mr. London was anything but fatalistic; his credo, as expressed in "The Sea Wolf" and elsewhere, was "Will it work? Would I trust my life to it?"* He prefaced this with the statement, "The fact, man, the irrefragable fact!"

So here are some facts as gleaned by Longranger; what to be done about them is the question.

28% not licensed

Yes, get your license. But don't stop there. Continue training. Yes, the track is scary, but how can it be more frightening than the freeway? As Anthony Robbins puts it, strive for "Constant Never-Ending Improvement" (CANI).

42% single-vehicle accident

Nearly half of all motorcycle accidents seem to be loss of control with no other vehicle involved. That's a result of poor training, inattention, lack of focus, perhaps alcohol or other impairment. Removing impaired riding from the calculus, we are left with training. Train, train, and train some more. Don't just ride the same piece of road over and over again.

38% no helmet

Self-explanatory.

32% over 1400cc

Nearly all of those bikes are cruisers. This correlates with the alcohol consumption. The largest supersport I know of is the ZX-14, not included here. But over 40% are still in the sub-1000cc range, and many of those are going to be high-performance bikes. The lesson herre is not to go out and get more motorcycle than you can handle. The problem is human nature presses many of us to believe we CAN handle it. Been there, done that.

43% on interstate or freeway

High-traffic conditions, usually on the way to, or way home from, a destination. Situational awareness and a proper ability to keep the motorcycle out of harm's way - meaning excellent control of hard braking, maneuvering, and acceleration, often combined - are critical. Not many riders have those skills.

30% DUI (43% of single-vehicle were DUI)

Riding impaired is illegal and stupid.

55% nighttime fatalities were DUI

More impaired drivers and riders are out in the nighttime and early morning hours. Stay off the road during those times. In fact any kind of night riding is more dangerous because of poor visibility, disorientation, and fatigue. Pick another time to travel.

Also make darn sure your bike is well-maintained; tire pressure and condition, chain adjustment, suspension, brakes and so on need to be in good shape.

And don't buy a large, heavy bike over 1000cc as a first bike. You will probably not be "fine."

*David Starr Jordan, Founding President of Stanford University, and friend of Jack London

[curlyjoe_imp]

Interesting. Thanks for posting ferret.