From: utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!CAD:tektronix!zehntel!sytek!menlo70!hao!seismo!rocheste!ritcv!kar
Newsgroups: net.cycle
Title: Re: motorcycles dangerous?
Article-I.D.: ritcv.150
Posted: Wed Mar  9 08:39:05 1983
Received: Sat Mar 12 05:27:02 1983
References: sdcarl.4267


Yes, it is dangerous to ride a motorcycle, but I think the 1/50 chance of death
per year is misleading.

The intrinsic danger in riding is mechanical in nature.  If one of your tires
blows out, you've lost half of them, not a quarter of them as in a car, with
the resulting (likely fatal) loss of control.  I suppose similar things could
also cause an untimely death (such as a chain snapping at 55 mph), but the tire
example is easiest to visualize.  To guard against these types of accidents, 
one must keep his/her bike in top mechanical condition and must also be more
alert while riding than an auto driver is (a pothole that would break a shock
in a car can break your neck on a bike).

It is my opinion that the greater part of the 1 in 50 statistic is the extrin-
sic danger, that which the rider can avoid.  It is often claimed that one of
the problems with motorcycles is that auto drivers have a hard time seeing 
them.  There is little that can be done about the size of the vehicle, but your
visibility can be increased in other ways.  I, for example, wear a blaze-orange
jacket whenever I ride.  More important than this, by far, is the problem of
being where you are not expected to be.  I have seen many riders that zip in
and out of traffic, or zoom to the right around a car that is turning left
at an intersection, or riding down the shoulder of the road.  This compounds
the visibility problem: not only do other drivers have a hard time seeing you
in the first place, but now you show up where they never would have thought to
look at all!  No wonder some many of these riders get clobbered!  The real
problem here is not with the auto drivers, there's no way we can educate the
majority of people on the road to watch out for the minority.  The real problem
is the fact that it is FUN to do many of these dangerous things.  Most people
wouldn't dare ride a bike, and here you are, brave and bold, zipping past these
poor frightened cretins who are waiting like cattle behind a stop sign.  I used
to do it also, until, as I flashed thru an intersection once, I thought, "What
if some guy were turning left in my path?"

Riding at night poses its own set of problems, but I think I've made my point
by now.  I believe that the main cause of cycle accidents is bad riding habits.
By developing good habits, you can significantly reduce the risk of riding.
Remember, the 1/50 statistic is an average: there are probably a fair number of
jerks for whom the proper probability is closer to 1/5, and this skews the
statistic somewhat.

Just as a point of information, I started riding 5 years ago when I was 25 and
already an experienced auto driver.  (Personal opinion: there ought to be a
minimum age for cycle licenses several years higher than the minimum age for
auto licenses.)

	- Ken Reek
	  Rochester, NY