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Anreill
812,800,000nm Satisfies Me!
Joined: 19 Mar 2003
Posts: 1376
Location: OKC
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Interesting.
I actually did a fair bit of looking into this stuff before I bought mine. Everything I found basically came out to ~5 times more likely to be involved in a fatal accident, with ~75% of those caused by the other driver.
That's what I base slight off of. If you read fully through that page, you'll see that the majority of fatalities involve.
Alcohol (29% of fatalities vs. 21% in cars)
Speeding (35% of fatalities vs. 23% in cars)
Unlicensed Drivers (25% vs. 12%)
Supersports (double the fatality rate of a standard sportbike)
Lack of Helmet (823 people would likely be alive if they'd been wearing one)
My basic point here being that in many cases simply being a responsible rider drastically reduces your chances of ending up as a smear on a nearby road/truck/telephone pole. Yes, if you get in a wreck you're more likely to die, but this can be applied to anything that can be considered a dangerous hobby (Skydiving, SCUBA, etc.)
I've been riding for ~3 years. I spent the first 6 months I had my bike in my apartment complex parking lot. I've never had an accident or injury. I drive the speed limit for the most part and always wear full gear. I know (knew) several people that died on bikes, every instance has been because of their own stupidity (drunk, no gear, excessive speed + pothole.) On the other hand, I know a ton of people that ride responsibly and have for years (several of them riding for 20+) that have never even had an accident.
I'm not trying to outright argue with you, but as always with statistics, they're generalized. Numbers can't account for how people drive, how careful someone is, etc. Most riders are FAR more observant and careful than people in cars. We know that we're in a riskier situation and don't have a steel cage to save us from a wreck. Unfortunately not everyone is the same way and most accidents that I've ever known of that resulted in a death are perfect examples of that. I'm not saying that the statistics are wrong, merely that the statistics only take simple numbers into account. How many of those extra numbers are because somebody on a motorcycle was being a dumbass?
The whole thing is unfortunate, but the simple fact that he was on a motorcycle doesn't excuse any of the other contributing factors. For all we know he could have been rear-ended in the same manner while driving his car and drifted sideways into the other lane to be struck and still died.
And Dan, I completely agree with you, riding has made me thoroughly more of aware of the road when driving in an automobile.
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Thu Oct 14, 2010 12:34 pm
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LightningCrash
Smile like Bob, order your free LC today
Joined: 03 Apr 2003
Posts: 5020
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Anreill wrote: I'm not trying to outright argue with you, but as always with statistics, they're generalized. Numbers can't account for how people drive, how careful someone is, etc. Most riders are FAR more observant and careful than people in cars. We know that we're in a riskier situation and don't have a steel cage to save us from a wreck. Unfortunately not everyone is the same way and most accidents that I've ever known of that resulted in a death are perfect examples of that. I'm not saying that the statistics are wrong, merely that the statistics only take simple numbers into account. How many of those extra numbers are because somebody on a motorcycle was being a dumbass?
Even if half of them were completely the rider's fault... that takes it from 37 times to 18.5 times more likely.
My problem with a bike isn't the inherent safety of the bike, it's everyone else on the road. It's hard to account for every cager in the middle of 5PM traffic.
People scare the bejesus out of me on a daily basis and I'm in a land yacht. Can't imagine sitting on a bike and being in the same position... I would be homicidal.
I can't tell you how many times I've seen a guy merge onto I-35N at SE 15th, hauling a long trailer, and decide to cut across directly to the fast lane so he can take the I-40W exit. It's two or three times a week.
The point on helmets is a valid one. A friend of a friend was leaving Home Depot on a bike, waited at the stop light's left turn lane, and then hit a small patch of sand/gravel in the middle of his turn through the intersection. No helmet, popped his noggin on the pavement, died in ICU. Never got over 5mph! A helmet would have almost certainly have saved his life. His wife survived.
Now to Ctrl+C this before I submit it...
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Fri Oct 15, 2010 8:01 am
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