Motorcycle deaths rise sharply

[blues2cruise]

Well, your article was from the states as were the posters. Here on the west coast of Canada the majority of motorcycle accidents/crashes/fatalities have been solo riders...no car involved.

Most of them were young and inexperienced riding roads and bikes above their ability. Even though the law states a learner may not ride at night....they still do. Even though the law states a learner may not take a passenger, they still do.
Just a couple of weeks ago, another young guy had a collision nearby. He was travelling 100kmh (60mph) in a 50kmh (30mph) zone, weaving in and out and "blam", he crashed into a car....he was riding on an expired learner's permit.
My sister-in-law's nephew crashed on the Port Mann Bridge...he was going 210kmh in a 80kmh zone....during rush hour on a Friday...most traffic is slower because of the volume and here he was weaving in and out like a maniac.
His bike was a write off and his leathers were cut from him by the ambulance crew....his boots were left behind on the freeway...
Seriously at that speed nobody can figure out why he survived. All he got was a couple of broken ribs.
It's not always car drivers who are to blame. The salespeople who sell overpowered bikes to these young inexperienced kids play a part. The rich parents who buy those bikes play a part. The government's lack of enforcement on beginners breaking the rules plays a part.

I also agree that a safety course should be mandatory and no it should not be free. So often if a course is free, the participants don't take it seriously. They only go through the motions for attendance purposes. Given how congested the roads are and how many angry, frustrated drivers are out there, it would help matters a lot if a person has actual road experience before they get licensed.

Do you know that here in BC, you can go from being a learner to licensed for a motorcycle in just over a month (if you have the skills to pass the road test), but it takes a year to get a car license?
From zero to sport bike to Sea 2 Sky in just over a month....

For those of you who are not familiar with Sea 2 sky....it is the Squamish hwy which goes from Horseshoe Bay to Whistler. It has also been called the killer highway. The highway itself is actually quite good and is very popular with bikers....lots of tight twisties....It has a speed limit. The speed limit is there for a reason....as are the suggested posted speeds for the blind curves....
The guys on their sport bikes regularly pass in the no passing zones and blow by other traffic like it was standing still. There are frequent crashes.....self inflicted.
Recently there was a group of sport bike riders that went up the Sunshine Coast. 4 crashes. Self inflicted.

The crash rate will not drop unless the attitudes of some of the riders change.
I agree that some incidents happen because of car drivers, but around here, the majority are self inflicted.

[kar_the_terrible]

Cell Phone idiocy and all aside. what about the riders that wear bandannas and wife-beater vests as protective gear. First of all, i'm terrified enough to be riding at 65 with all my gear. Then I see a rider whiz past me doing 80 practically naked.

cars becoming safer and safer has led to idiots that should have been removed from the gene pool long ago muddying up the waters. But I think gear definitely helps save a life to some extent.

I witnessed an accident at a traffic intersection about two weeks ago. Rider on a suzuki got clipped by a P.O.S, S.O.B. making an illegal u-turn, at an intersection with 3 cars ahead of him blocking his view. He had no choice but to slide sideways and lay the bike down. Hit his head *hard* on the pavement. Thanks to his helmet and his jacket all that followed was a little shock, a badly damaged bike, and a moron in a cage who was worried about the dent on his friggin' fender. I shudder to think what the outcome would've been if NY didnt have a helmet law. The right thing to do is to push for cell phone laws, helmet laws not to mention and the right for bikers to carry active cellphone jamming devices that send jolts of electricity through cager's ears. Oh, and while your at it, air horns help too.

please direct hate-mail, brickbats and flames to kar_the_terrible@yahoo heh

[kar_the_terrible]

On a more serious note, what are the details of those stats? night time accidents? city, highway? state breakdown etc? Is there someplace that this can be accessed??

[Scott58]

Ok, not free, but include it in the huge issurance policy you have. The insurance companies are the ones who will benefit anyway (from an economic stand point anyway). Mandatory? Sorry, I don't care for to many things that are mandatory.

[Ham Hock]

I think we are long overdue for an updated "Hurt Report."

It could only be helpful for motorcyclists and many variables have changed since the original study.

[oldnslo]

One school of thought, at least regarding soaring accident rates among older riders, is that baby-boomers are taking up riding, sans training and gear. I think they may have something there, but obviously it isn't the only cause. Motorcycles are available to anybody with a checkbook, car drivers seem to be ever more self-absorbed and unaware of their surroundings, and it can be downright dangerous out there. After being away from the big city for about 5 years now, I cringe at the thought of riding on downtown freeways. Even in the cage, most of the time I wish my Toyota was a Mack truck. Generally speaking, people's driving skills are very poor and getting worse, and a motorcyclist is in a very dangerous position at all times. Cell phone usage on the highways should be banned, but there is absolutely no chance that will ever take place, much less be enforcable. Good luck to us all. We have to have ALL the awareness and accident avoidance skills. Just assume that every cage is occupied by a sociopathic killer, and he/she is out to get YOU.

[cb360]

Ditto oldnslo. It's a combination of things. More riders with less experience on bigger bikes on more crowded highways. More and better helmet use would help. More training would help. Better and more attentive cage-driving would help. If I could stress one safety tip that I think would help everyone, cage and biker alike, it would be to allow more distance between you and the vehicle in front of you.

[oldnslo]

I'm not disagreeing, but I think training is the major issue. With training, the proper use of gear theoretically will follow. Paying attention and taking to heart the information provided by training can often be the difference between habits that separate life from death, too. From what I see and hear about baby-boomers in general, they take up riding with an attittude that they can easily master it, as they have mastered what many would consider challenging and technical working careers, and feel they are somehow endowed with special qualities that exclude them from the need for training to ride a motorcycle. After all, how difficult can it be? It's little more than a motorized bicycle.......

[sapaul]

This taken from thr BMW Motorad web site SA

Have you ever had formal (on-road) motorcycle training?


I am completely self-taught 47 55%
Intermediate level training 14 16%
Advanced rider training 14 16%
I learn from friends 7 8%
Only the basics 3 4%

Say's absolutely everthing does'nt it

I am one of the 16% advanced rider training in case you wanted to ask

[cb360]

I'm a training nut and I truly believe it works whether or not the training subjects believe it does. Just being exposed to good information about safety moves it to front of mind. I can't wait to take the ERC here next spring.