rusty (03/06/83)
From: rusty in response to rabbit!ark's query i dug up these statistics which my roommate dug up when i bought my bike. from the National Center for Health Statistics, Final Mortality Statistics, United States, 1976-1978: activity chance of death in a year ======== ========================= motorcycling 1 in 50 smoking, 1 pack a day 1 in 200 horse racing 1 in 750 auto driving 1 in 6,000 power boating 1 in 6,000 rock climing 1 in 7,500 playing football 1 in 25,000 canoeing 1 in 100,000 i wonder what the percentages were for those with and without a helmet of those 50?
kar (03/09/83)
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
mike (03/10/83)
#R:sdcarl:-426700:zinfandel:4600005:000:1022
zinfandel!mike Mar 9 11:45:00 1983
Statistics can be very misleading unless they are very well defined.
After all statisticly you will die, 100 percent chance (please, no flames
from immortals). The unanswered questions are when, where, how, etc. My
experience has taught me that when a motorcycle shares a road with other
vehicles the motorcycle rider must drive defensively (to stay in one piece).
If the rider doesn't, the risk of injury or death is increased. At least
half of the motorcycle related deaths that I've personally heard about have
involved people racing on the street (one was even in a residential tract).
The statistic in your article might really be a comment on the abilities (or
lack of them) of the general riding public (whatever that is).
P.S. Flames to /dev/null. Don't get the idea that I associate racing on the
street with dead riders. All of the instances I have heard bad things
about were from racing on two lane roads under uncontrolled conditions.
Mike Blenderman
decvax!sytek!zehntel!zinfandel!mikehsc (03/16/83)
Statistics and accident studies show that most fatalities fall into one or more of the following categories: -no valid motorcycle driver's license. -not own bike. -less than one year riding experience. -using alcohol or drugs. -no helmet. -at or near intersection. -below 50 mph. In general, people get killed because they are inexperienced, impaired (alcohol etc.), or risk-loving (no helmet, probably correlated with other risk-taking behavior), and because they tangle with a car. The safest place per mile or per hour is a limited-access highway; cars are less likely to drive over you. All those who love to push it to the limits on public roads, please feel free to flame away about how your high level of skill compensates for your risk-taking. A sober adult with more than a year of riding experience and wearing a helmet is about as likely to be killed as the average grunt in a car without a seatbelt. I find that an acceptable personal level of risk on my bike (I ALWAYS use the seatbelt in a car); others may prefer more or less.
mark (03/22/83)
#R:sdcarl:-426700:zinfandel:4600007:000:99 zinfandel!mark Mar 19 19:36:00 1983 But that's probably because only the lucky make it through the first year. :-) Mark Wittenberg
kos (03/24/83)
#R:sdcarl:-426700:uiucdcs:8800011:000:205 uiucdcs!kos Mar 23 13:02:00 1983 The lucky? Give me a break. Luck isn't enough to keep a motorcyclist alive. It's the smart and the skilled that make it through the first year in one piece. Phil Kos University of Illinois