Would you Recommend Family Members And Friends Not To Drive A Motorcycle; 7 Dead After Motorcycle Crash (car crash, brake)

[AnesthesiaMD]

I used to ride Harleys all the time, in spite of seeing the results of the accidents at work. After years of pleading with me to get rid of them, my wife finally wore me down.

So I sold the Harleys, but as a compromise, she lets me keep a Vespa out at our beach house that I ride around during the summer months.

The thing she doesn’t understand is the Vespa is just as dangerous as the motorcycles. It has a 300cc engine, which is bigger than a lot of small motorcycles. But it has a quiet engine so people don’t hear me like they did on the Harleys.

My kids will never ride, if I have anything to do with it. It is not usually the rider, it is the cagers I worry about.

[Statz2k10]

Their are a lot of responsible motorcycle drivers out there. I'm sure it's a great ride during a beautiful day on a country rode. But I can't tell you how many times I see guys on motorcycles on the interstate speeding in & out of traffic at at least 80+ miles an hour. Some of them really do think they are invincible on the road & for those it's hard to feel bad for when something bad happens.

[uggabugga]

Originally Posted by Statz2k10

Their are a lot of responsible motorcycle drivers out there. I'm sure it's a great ride during a beautiful day on a country rode. But I can't tell you how many times I see guys on motorcycles on the interstate speeding in & out of traffic at at least 80+ miles an hour. Some of them really do think they are invincible on the road & for those it's hard to feel bad for when something bad happens.

i see at least 3 such idiots every time i get on the DC beltway, at least in spring/summer/fall. i'm shocked that more of them don't end up painting the roadway.

[Mathguy]

Originally Posted by scarabchuck

On the road riding...I would absolutely try to discourage it. There is just too much distracted driving going on now. For those riding motorcycles, it isn't if an accident will happen, it's when.


Now track riding or trails, sure I encourage it, and do it myself.

^^^This. Just too much distracted driving these days.

I know too many guys over the years that have died because the driver etc. "didn't see them", my friends brother just got hurt last year by someone that made an illegal turn in front of them.

Just talking about regular riding, nothing fast, following the rules of the road etc.

About once a year on my commute someone does something really bad like run a red light etc, but I've been lucky so far to avoid those but when that luck runs out I'd prefer a trip to the hospital instead of the morgue.

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by Toyman at Jewel Lake

I ride 25-30 thousand miles a year. What should be done is to charge anyone who "didn't see them" or otherwise murders a biker through their incompetence or inattention with vehicular homicide and lock them up for long periods of time.

Accidents happen all the time because someone made a mistake, criminally charging someone with homicide is a bit extreme.

Pass and enforce cell-phone laws.

For that they should be criminally charged with homicide.

I'll admit-part of it goes both ways.

I was driving down a five lane highway with moderate traffic probably going about 65 or 70, I was passing a car on my right and some guy on a bike blasted between us. He must of been going 100+

BTW the driver that murdered the 7 bikers has a long history of incidence including multiple DWIs and driving without a license.

The trailer he was pulling was far too big for that truck even without a load. The trailer likely exceeded his towing capacity by a lot. That will push you all over the road especially when braking.

[augiedogie]

I still ride at 66. Started when I was 20. I have no intention of stopping. If the Good Lord decides its my day, so be it.

[Mathguy]

Originally Posted by uggabugga

i see at least 3 such idiots every time i get on the DC beltway, at least in spring/summer/fall. i'm shocked that more of them don't end up painting the roadway.

I did a proxy estimate once based on available information and estimated the "crotch rocket" death rate to be about 2% ANNUALLY and that's not separating out the really nutty ones from the ones that just like the fast bike. So, 100 guys with sport bikes this year is down to <90 in 5 years just due to accidents on those bikes.

I'm just stating a rough estimate. I've cited it before and the only criticism I've got from bikers is that it might be a little on the low side. There was an article 10 years or so ago about the marine corp looking to ban such bikes from young marines as they had a summer where they were losing more soldiers to motorcycles than in Iraq or Afghanistan.

[Volobjectitarian]

Rode as a teenager, then again as an adult. Sold my bike back in 2009. Never riding again.

The Einstein maxim about the infinite amount of human stupidity is the primary reason. I have maybe 200k miles driven in my motorcycle rider life, and all of it in pretty serious safety gear (my jacket has impact plates FFS), and I kept getting more and more scared of something bad happening because of the seemingly exponential growth in American dumbassery behind the wheel of cars. Every time I drive my car anywhere, I get at least one reminder from some idiot why my "sell the bike" call was the proper one.

Just not worth it. I go sailing now, for that whole "breeze in the hair, free & open" feeling. More expensive, requires an ocean or big ass lake, but sooooooo much safer.

I would never tell anyone what to do, but I know my motorcycle days are behind me.

[Annie53]

Originally Posted by phma

So what are you telling us ?
You would still put him in a nursing home today and riding a bike didn't matter at all ?
He sounds like a weakling manbun soy-boy anyway !!!

Are gun lovers considered soy-boys? ......because he was one and that I didn't mind as long as he only shot at targets. {He was never a hunter, if he was, I would have never married him in the first place.}

All kinds of guns came and went, there was an Uzi and a Tommy Gun mixed in there along the way and who knows what else. He and his buddies would spend hours making bullets, tinkering with, buying, selling, trading and shooting their guns.

In the end, genetics killed him at 46, ten years after our divorce. He was scheduled for open heart surgery in two weeks when he had a major heart attack and died. His father had had open heart surgery at the same age and died at 67-68 after refusing to have another open heart procedure.

If we had ended up together in our 80's or 90's who knows which one of us would have put the other one in a nursing home under the right circumstances?

[Scooby Snacks]

Originally Posted by austinnerd

Guess I'll be the contrarian, I used to ride all the time (rain or shine) and I plan on riding again. My kids ride dirt bikes and I would be ok with them riding street bikes. Being a motorcyclist for so long I've heard the stories (amazing how when folks find out you ride they feel the impulse to tell you every horror story they know), I've seen the videos, I've witnessed first hand, and I've been down a few times myself. But then again 13 church goers in a small bus die when they got head-on'd by a pickup not far from here, almost every day there is a report of someone dying in a auto accident in the local news so there you go, those roads are a dangerous place.

I actually am as well. I rode with my ex-husband on his Harley with him and enjoyed it immensely. There is nothing like riding on a motorcycle. He was a very careful rider; always rode the speed limit or below and always with a helmet even when riding short distances. After we divorced, I didn't hear anything from him until just last week. 5 years had passed in the interim. We talked on the phone and I was shocked to hear he had been in a severe motorcycle accident in which he had a faceplant with a full grown buck. He had to have facial surgery and now has some memory problems. I asked him why he wasn't wearing a helmet. He said, "It was hooked to the seat and I wasn't going far." I said, "It protected the seat very well didn't it?" I was angry with him for being so wreckless.

He used to tell me all the time he would never ride without a helmet even if he was riding only one block. I guess he had ridden so long he got complacent. His older brother is the same way; he hardly ever wears a helmet. Their dad was in an accident as well but is was pretty minor. He was wearing a helmet. Their mom was riding behind and she had some road rash but was unhurt otherwise.

My cousin was in a severe motorcycle accident way back in the 80s. He was riding in the rain, slipped on the wet pavement, went over a bridge, was not wearing a helmet, and nearly died. He was in a coma for a month. Despite all these personal experiences with motorcycle accidents, I am still a fan, but only under specific conditions. All parties must wear high quality full face helmets, boots, jeans, and long sleeves at all times. Always drive at or below the speed limit. Avoid heavy traffic situations. I also think loud mufflers are a plus, not a minus. It helps for other drivers to hear you since they often don't see you. Those factors increase your safety immensely.