New Reports From the NHTSA and IIHS Regarding Safety

Very interesting, enlightening, and somewhat scary reads.

http://www.nhtsa.gov/motorcycles/pdf/HS810855.htm


http://www.iihs.org/sr/pdfs/sr4209.pdf

 

Nice links.

Long read, but one statment comes to mind.

Wear your Freakin Helmet!
It will keep your face pretty

 

#1 item on the list should be a ban of cellphone use in cars and trucks. Even in a car, when I see a guy in a 100000000000 pound dumptruck trying to make a left across me, using one hand on a heavy steering wheel and the other to hold the cellphone, I get nervous!
At a light yesterday, I counted about 22 passenger vehicles and big trucks in the two lanes. 18 of those drivers had cellphones to thier ear. 2 had windows so dark I could not see, and 2 were VERY old women.

It is a highly visible intersection, I have a habit of counting cellphone users while I wait.

Not often, but on occassion, I do see 2 wheelers using cellphones while on the road. Seeing a guy drop his bike for a clear left turn because he coudlnt pull the clutch properly with cell in left hand, throttle and lit ciggarette in the right made me laugh.
He took the time to tell the person on the other end of the line he had to go before he stuck the phone into his pocket and the smoke into his mouth and wrestled the bike up and rode off.
I was waiting/hoping for a Darwin award winning moment.

Anyway,

cellphones distact drivers from paying attention to the bikers, and everything else on the road.

 

Something very interesting and concerning is that the number of deaths of older riders has increased almost fourfold, whilst the number of deaths for young riders has "only" doubled. Although I couldn't extract a correlation from the figures given, I wonder if the older age group is also responsible for the large number of fatal accidents involving very large bikes?
I often worry when I see people in their later years returning to motorcycling, often after a gap of twenty years or more, and buying huge, heavy, and very fast bikes. Somebody who rode a British 650 in their youth is ill-prepared for a modern 1700cc V twin, in my opinion.
It would also be interesting to learn how many of those older riders were in the group which had "no valid licence."

I'm sure I'll speak for ALL riders when I agree with Jeepsteve about cellphones. They are a menace to all on the road. The penalty for using one in a moving car should be so severe that your constitutional prohibition of "cruel and unusual punishment" would be seriously tested. Surgical deafening springs to mind as a possibility.

 

There's been talk here in Oklahoma about a law banning non-emergency cellphone use in cars, starting from 1st of next year. I REALLY hope it happens.

 

I agree that distractions like cell phones are a big problem, but I can't see banning them altogether, especially for those of us who drive for a living. I need to communicate on the road, so I have to find a way to do it safely, like using a hands-free device. (Which I have) Better enforcement of all kinds of distracted driving would certainly help. But please don't punish me for someone else's mistake.

 

Funny, but I don't recall any traffic safety issues being raised when citizens band radios were all the rage back in the 70s. Wonder why it is a problem for communication now. Of course I think that the mean intelligence quotient between the population then and the population now has plummeted... though I've no evidence to prove it.
Jeff, I agree that a ban is a bit harsh but I am also aware that the study that was done a few years back pointed out that the use of a hands free device did not mitigate the likelihood of a mishap. Distracted driving is distracted driving, whether it's a phone or a cheese burger. Now this does not change the necessity of communication while in transit, the fire department and law enforcement vehicles bear witness to this (looked at all the instrumentation in one of those things lately? Overload indeed!).
It is agreeable that enforcement is lax but this is simply because there is a burgeoning population and with less funding for law enforcement..., you do the math. This change needs to be effected by our personal examples and expectations with each other. Time was that society frowned upon poor behavior and had no problem getting straight to the point with the offender. Today, there is a prevailing attitude of "it's not my problem, I shouldn't get involved". Sadly, we are witnessing the descending spiral of apathy. Get involved, say something, and back it up by walking the walk.
There is a saying that was born out of the ruins of the Second World War; referring to the holocaust "All it takes for evil to flourish is for good people to do nothing" (I hope I didn’t butcher the quote too much). I'm involved in the solution because I want everyone to get home each and every day. I hope that it is contagious.

 

Funny how the article in that second link lists the Kawasaki ZX-6R as a "supersport" bike. Sure, it's a race bike, but I wouldn't class it as a supersport.

The stats in the first link are very interesting. I don't drink, my bikes and I are fully licensed (the ones I take on the road, anyway), and I wear full gear (minus riding pants) every time I ride. The people I ride with are all the same (though a couple of them take the trouble to wear the pants.)

I wish that there were more emphasis put on the "Share the Road" campaign they discussed. Even though the split between single- and multiple-vehicle accidents was pretty well down the middle, I would argue that a lot of "single vehicle" accidents - like mine last year - are still CAUSED by another driver's lack of awareness. Also, even when I'm in the car, I'm continuously amazed at other drivers' lack of common sense. A strong "Share the Road" campaign aimed at ALL other drivers would be tax money well spent, in my opinion.

Just my $0.02...

 

You know, I don't understand why the police in all places of North America don't fall back on the old reliable DWI - Driving While Impaired. Regardless of drugs, alcohol, food, phones, sex (!), DWI is really what these things all add up to and it seems strange to me that Death has not been an attitude-changer in this area, especialy in the litigation-friendly US.

Someone's baby gets choked by a toy's small battery and the Forces are all over it. Many more motorists of all kinds kill or get killed regularly while distracted and there is little done.

What's up with that?

And try to lay up a bit on the age thing, guys. Rick and I are living proof that while old, we have some sense (for a few more years anyway). And these huge and fast bikes were one of the reasons I acquired and came to love my 650 Maxim - fast enough to get the blood moving, forgiving enough to remind you that you hold your life in your hands, fun enough that every trip traveled is a happy trip. Just ask my ice cold teeth.

 

Psteele writes:
"And try to lay up a bit on the age thing, guys."

Sorry, but I think you have misunderstood my argument. I must have expressed it badly. I referred to "...people in their later years RETURNING to motorcycling...".
As probably the oldest person on this board (62-any advances?) I am unlikely to be denigrating older riders as a group!
Look at it this way: The typical, teen-aged, beginner rider starts on a 250 or similar and works his way up, learning as he goes, but baby boomers trying to recapture "those sweet childhood days that were as long as twenty days are now..." often go straight to Goldwing 1800s, HD tractors, or similar after thirty years away from two wheeling. They then attach huge trailers and almost equally massive spouses and head off towards the horizon, blissfully unaware of the weight and power beneath and behind them, and lulled into false security by years of sitting in luxuriously air-conditioned tin boxes.
Here in Australia we have a very large and successful club for the over-50s, but in almost every edition of the magazine we have obituaries of those who have "ridden on" into the hereafter, almost invariably on very large bikes.

Psteele, I am sure that we more mature riders of more sprightly machines have an excellent safety record!

 

Hey Big, thanks for the clarity and I could not agree more with the over-estimation of one's "world of knowledge" in later years combined with underestimation of a bike with an engine more than large enough for a car.

One of these days (how many times have I said that) my wife & I will get to Oz and we'll have to hook up. Share a Foster's or three. Still a ways away from retirement when I'll have the time (and money). Maybe we should set a week aside for sometime in 2022.

 

Consider that done! Anytime you're in South Australia, I'll be happy to introduce you to our great local brew, Coopers Ale.

Could I just put paid to a myth though. Fosters is not a popular beer in Australia. Hardly anyone drinks it, and it is usually referred to as rodent urine. (Errr, that's not exactly what we say, but you get the idea, and this IS a family friendly forum).

 

We have a similar brew here, Moosehead that receives similar descriptions - Moose urine, though not so delicately put in the local vernacular - and the popular local brew is Keith's India Pale Ale. Looking forward to 2022!

Providing my helmet and good sense get me there.