When I was learning to drive a car I was 17 years old. I was involved in three or four car crashes as a result of inexperience in my first two years of driving (none since). All crashes were relatively minor, the worst being getting hit from behind by a car doing around 40kph while my vehicle was stationary. I was never injured as the result of a car crash, and I was always able to drive away afterwards. If I had the same crash as the one I have just described while on a motorbike instead of in a car I would not be riding away afterwards. If a crash like that on a motorbike fails to kill you you are either very lucky or very very unlucky, depending on your injuries.
Motorcycles are risky. You can minimise your risk by utilising safety gear, training, maintenance and the application of common sense but you can never make that risk disappear. The real question though is: do we really want the risk to disappear. Most of us live lives that are relatively safe and that is possibly a good thing, but risky activities can help us build character and teach us a lot about ourselves (as well as being a shitload of fun). There are other outlets available such as white-water rafting and skydiving, but many of these so-called extreme sports are prohibitively expensive. You may be able to participate in extreme sports as an occasional treat, but I certainly cant afford to fork out 200 dollars a day just to get my little dose of adrenalin.
Personally I do try to minimise the risk of motorcycling, but only to a degree. I ensure that my bike is well maintained, I wear all the gear (even if I'm just popping up to the dairy) and I am trying to develop good road awareness and motorcycling skills. Even though I take these steps to minimise risk I still indulge in the occasional bit of risky behaviour on the road. Sometimes I speed, sometimes I corner a bit faster than is necessary. When I do engage in risky activity I try to ensure that I do it in places where I am less likely to injure others (and in places where the long arm of the law is unlikely to find me). In urban areas I dont take the same risks that I take in the country, probably because negotiating Auckland traffic is sufficiently difficult and dangerous that I don't feel the need to up the ante. For me the thrill of motorcycling often stems from the risk, and if the risk was ever completely gone then I believe I would have to find another hobby.
I don't believe that I am the only motorcyclist that thinks or behaves like this. Motorcycling is a risky activity and most people understand this even before they get their first motorbike. In particular those of us that started motorcycling as adults as opposed to those who were put on motorbikes as soon as they could walk. People who start as adults often have had a lifetime of viewing motorbike accidents in the news, we have heard references to motorcyclists being temporary New Zealanders, have heard the third-hand horror stories. Even with all these warnings we still take up motorcycling. So motorcycling attracts people that are risk takers, people who on average are less risk averse than the general population.
I am certain that the fact that the people who ride motorcycles are risk-takers impacts on our injury and fatality statistics. The type of people who drive a car at 49kph in a 50 zone or who buy cars purely based on their crash ratings are unlikely to take up motorcycling. A timid motorcyclist is almost a contradiction. As a result of this I tend to avoid group rides. You see, on group rides there are too many people like me. Too many people trying to push the envelope of their ability, and when you put a bunch of people like that together then stuff can rapidly turn to custard. These days I stick to riding solo, 2-up or with a very small group of close mates of similar ability. I know others that are concerned about the attitudes that prevail on group rides but still attend. For them the social aspect of motorcycling is important enough to outweigh the increased risks.
I guess what I am trying to say is that we are all trying to find a balance between the risks we take as motorcyclists and the precautions we take. For some people the risk of wearing the minimum amount of protective gear is a part of what for them is the motorcycling experience, for some people (people like me) all the gear all (well... 99.99%) of the time is what they feel is a necessary mitigation of the risks involved, and others believe that you must only wear leather and spend a years wages before you are safely equipped to go out there. You get this same spread across all areas of motorcycling, people who feel the speed and handling of a litre sportsbike is a crucial part of their experience down to people who ride 400cc cruisers and believe that if you go over 120kph (or more than 45kph around a 45kph signposted corner) you will spontaneously combust. A lot of people on kiwibiker seem to take the attitude that anyone who takes more risks than them is a reckless imbecile, and anyone who takes more precautions is an overly cautious poofter. My opinion is each to their own. We have enough non-motorcyclists who would love to regulate us out of existance, we don't need the constant internal bitchfest that seems to go on around here. Feel free to inform people as to perils and pitfalls (education is crucial and may even make some reassess the risks they choose to take) but once you have put the information out there dont take it as a personal affront if people choose to ignore it.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by YellowDog
Bookmarks