So...riding...really that dangerous?

[Dirtytoes]

Here is a site with some statistics from various sources. Interesting and shocking.

http://home1.gte.net/res0ak9f/bike.htm

dude, that seriously scared the shyt outta me and i'm not easily scared by stuff like that....so bad that it made me think of selling the bike i just buoght yesterday.......but like skier said, you can make any kind of webpage like that but instead about cars or planes or w/e

[05harley]

OK, I do not like the site either. Pictures are pretty disgusting.

But what is inaccurate about the statistics? I checked them and the sources and they are correct. Sheeeze. The guy may not like motorcycles, but his stats are on.

[Skier]

OK, I do not like the site either. Pictures are pretty disgusting.

But what is inaccurate about the statistics? I checked them and the sources and they are correct. Sheeeze. The guy may not like motorcycles, but his stats are on.

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."

Guess what? I am a responsible rider who has taken state-sanctioned safety courses, have my endorsement, do readings about safe riding and never ride under the influence. I am lumped into those statistics with 17 year old rides with more testosteron than brains, bikes with huge motors, riding under the influence, have friends egging them on, are in the sport for the look, etc...

I honestly believe I am a bit safer than those riders are, yet we are still lumped into total motorcycling statistics.

Take these with a grain of salt, folks.

[omar]

That site is much more of a "scare people out of motorcycling" than an attempt at an unbiased analysis of statistics. It reads like a spam email and makes some pretty large jumps in "logic."

I could easily make a similar site that would make you never want to step foot in a car again. Or play with fireworks. Or work around heavy machinery. Or walk down the street. Or step foot outside your front door. Or stay inside your home all day.

Interesting, I see your point! It does make me feel a little better about getting my first bike

[Sev]

I don't think about the fact that I could die until I nearly do. Usually right after some cage almost changes lanes into me.

Once in a while it crosses my mind how much it would hurt to dump at highway speed, but I ignore that pretty quickly.

It's enough fun that I wouldn't mind if I died as a result of it.



*Edit* I just read through and look closely at all those pictures from the above site. To me... it's just a reason to wear gear. Roadrash SUCKS! The rest of the accidents... well most of those people weren't wearing helmets, that was their choice, so I'm not surprised they died. I saw a shirt a while back. It had 2 old indians on it in profile with the rear tires pointed towards the middle. And it read, "The brave may die young, but the scared never truely live."

If you thought carefully about all the ways you could accidently die, from choking on a pretzel to falling down the stairs, not to mention the million and 1 different diseases and viruses. Pollutants, cancer, people, weapons, animals, and everything else that there is out there you'd be surprised that we actually existed as a species. As an individual you are so damn fragile that a single alien cell is that it takes to kill you, one cell... doesn't even have to be alive is all it takes to end your life.

And you're worried about riding a motorcycle? BAH! I bet more people die from the flu every year then motorcycle accidents. I know there are more smoking related cancer deaths, and I'd be surprised if bee stings weren't responsible for more fatalities. Allergies are nothing to scoff at.

[Vit0r]

Jeez, that site was pretty graphic. But if you think about it someone can create a site about automobiles with even more disturbing pictures.

Fact of the matter is that there is always a risk whenever you step into any type of motor vehicle. And it is also a fact that you are more likely to die on a motorcycle. All riders know the risks, but they're willing to take that risk for what they love. My take on it is that if you're on a bike you are either in denial of the type of danger you're putting yourself in or that you are simply not afraid of personal harm, disfigurement, or death. I fall into the second category.

RIP to the riders on that site.

[sapaul]

Sitting on your "O Ring", watching TV night after night, can cause coronary artery disease, morbid obesity, diabetes, deep vein thrombosis, varicose veins, hemeroids, arthritus, gout, blah blah blah

I'll take the bike thanks.

[Sev]

The above link says that 4000 bikers die every year. I just found this over at consumer reports website on a review of HID lights

But neither HID nor halogen lights may provide enough light down the road on their low beams, says Michael Flannagan, senior associate research scientist at the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute. "Each year, some 2,300 pedestrians are killed at night in the road, not on the shoulder," says Flannagan, who analyzed 11 years of nationwide crash data to calculate the effect of darkness on pedestrian fatalities. His 2001 study found that pedestrians are killed at four times the rate in darkness as in daylight.

"The farther drivers can see straight ahead on low beams, the better," s

That's 2300 pedestrians killed every year while on the street (presumably at crosswalks etc.) during the NIGHT! This doesn't account for people on the sidewalk, or shoulder. Or those who are out during the day and get hit. Think about that for a second. 2300 people snuffed out for trying to cross the street while it's dark!

[shane-o]

In my state, bikes make up 2% of the traffic, and they represent 15% of the road fatalities every year, those stats would say, that riding a bike is a pretty fookin dangerous thing to do in traffic.

But

I think the way you ride, and the way you interpret the traffic has a lot to do with how likely you are to be seriously injured or killed.

I think that no one on the road has seen me, and those who have will try and puck me over, in amongst that I love riding everyday.

Geezuz some people just dont wake up in the morning and thats that. Go out and have some fun, what will be will be!!!


stay safe

[Wizzard]

The bottom line is that absolutely no one gets out of this world alive .
Regards, Wizzard