It is upsetting to riders as I’m sure you can imagine when the news about yet another vehicle making a left-hand turn sends a motorcyclist to intensive care or worse. This is exactly what happened to 26 year old Justin Rovitaille of Derry yesterday when a woman turned left into his path. He had little time to react. While well documented, this specific type of accident continues to happen time and again.
As I mentioned above, this scenario is unfortunately all too common. Documentation and extensive studies have been done from real life accident reconstruction sites and can be read about in the Hurt Report. This report holds evidence of the what and why motorcyclists find themselves on the pavement. Unfortunately for Justin, he falls close to two of the most common reasons for a motorcycle accident; intersections and age.
How are we to protect ourselves from serious injury while enjoying the sport we love? One way is to study the Hurt Report, take the highest percentages of occurrences and reduce them in our favor. Begin by getting motorcycle training!
• 92% of motorcyclists without training are more likely to be involved in a motorcycle accident.
• Wear eye protection as 73% of accidents occur to riders who did not protect the eyes.
• Keep away from bars and if at a party drink soda, water, coffee or tea as 50% of accidents are caused by motorcyclists under the influence of alcohol. (This goes elicit, prescription and over the counter meds as well.)
“The most frequent accident configuration is the motorcycle proceeding straight then the automobile makes a left turn in front of the oncoming motorcycle.” This is number eight in the Hurt Summary, and also what put Justin in harms way. Justin is also near the age group that is most frequently represented in motorcycle accidents.
Of the vehicle drivers who cross our paths in untimely ways, it is the young (20 to 29) and the old (65 and over) that do us the most harm. That last my friend Dave can well attest too with his recent encounter with the blue haired lady. However, while many accidents are no fault of the motorcyclist, it is the rider who pays the price. Can we protect ourselves better by understanding the statistics? I think so; because knowledge is power and the more we empower ourselves the better equipped we are to avoid accident and injury.
With all that said, we still need to protect us from ourselves. When I see sports bikes popping wheelies, bikers zipping in and out of traffic and generally putting themselves at risk, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that they are an accident waiting to happen.
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3 comments:
great post, thank you :)
What you say speaks the truth and points out the dangers we face every time we go out riding..A multitude of facts play a role here:
inexperience, training, driver education, impatience and road rage and the list goes on... We just need to drill it in to the young...Safety First...! Hopefully, things will improve as the number of riders on the road increase.
No doubt, we can do a lot to keep ourselves safe. Just today I was thinking about this as I was passed by a group of sport bikes weaving in and out of traffic and popping wheelies.
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