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US Road Fatalities 2001-09 mapped with OpenStreetMap

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Re: US Road Fatalities 2001-09 mapped with OpenStreetMap

#81

Post by mkopinsky »

lancewiggs wrote: post #77
georgieporgie wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Something like 70% of single-vehicle motorcycle collisions involve alcohol, so that's the big one to avoid. Here are my tips, from 17 years of riding and commuting by motorcycle: * Avoid alcohol before riding (edit: personally, I never ride within six hours of consuming any alcohol). * Wear high-quality, full-body protective gear. * Avoid rush hour when possible, particularly evening rush hour when drivers are tired,…

I emphasize that enough - riding after any alcohol is temporary citizenship. But aside from not drinking or rising like an idiot the biggest thing we motorcyclists can do to increase our safety is to wear a high visibility jacket. It creates a noticeable difference in the percentage of other road users that see you, which addresses the major cause of accidents. Protective gear is a last resort - it's better to avoid…

Temporary citizenship? Is this some idiom I'm not familiar with?

Re: US Road Fatalities 2001-09 mapped with OpenStreetMap

#82

Post by cubicle67 »

georgieporgie wrote: post #55
AmericanOP wrote: post #30

Not quite sure yet how this influences my recent urge to start riding motorcycles. There seems to be a (near) 1:2 ratio between motorcycle and vehicle fatalities. I already knew motorcycle riders were 5 times more likely to get in accidents, and those accidents were 35 times more likely to result in very serious injury. In my life so far I've been in one small fender bender. This does confirm some of the self-imposed…

Something like 70% of single-vehicle motorcycle collisions involve alcohol, so that's the big one to avoid. Here are my tips, from 17 years of riding and commuting by motorcycle: * Avoid alcohol before riding (edit: personally, I never ride within six hours of consuming any alcohol). * Wear high-quality, full-body protective gear. * Avoid rush hour when possible, particularly evening rush hour when drivers are tired,…

Yes, wear protective gear. Always

Go outside and have a good look at the surface of the road. Remember when you were a kid, how much it hurt if you were running and fell and skinned your knees? Now imagine running flat out and diving face first onto the road - feel the asphalt tearing your legs and arms

Now imagine the same thing, but this time you're travelling at 30mph

The difference between having large amounts of your skin literally ripped away and replaced with deeply embedded rocks and dirt (and quite possibly several weeks in hospital) and just getting up again and continuing on your way? Boots, helmet, gloves and leathers

Re: US Road Fatalities 2001-09 mapped with OpenStreetMap

#83

Post by barrkel »

lancewiggs wrote: post #79
barrkel wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Highway / motorway riding is excruciatingly boring, even in the absence of speed limits. I've ridden from London to Kiel in Germany and back a couple of times, via France and Luxembourg, and found it infinitely preferable to avoid motorways, even though it takes 3 days rather than one (long) day per leg. Doing 200km/h+ gets old really fast when you're going in a straight line. If you've got speed limits and intend on…

Friends don't let friends ride Kawasakis, especially Ninjas. My pet theory is that each motorcycle has a use or personality, and after riding it for a while your behaviour ends up matching the personality of the bike. BMW tourers make you want to ride the curves from coast to coast, but do so safely. They don't mind a bit of speed, but are also content to cruise at legal limits. Harleys want you to cruise the straigh…

A Ninja 650r is not a Ninja like a ZX-R. It has the Ninja name in the US, but it is not a supersport bike; it's a sport tourer. It's a parallel twin, and is actually less aggressive to ride than the Suzuki SV650 - it doesn't even have clip-on handlebars. It has an upright seating position, not crouched over. At 70bhp it's got lower power than most of the detuned 600cc inline-4 standards.

Personally, I don't like dual-purpose bikes. I think they're too tall, and I never have need nor desire to go off-road in the least; for me, sport-touring is optimal. I think dual-purpose bikes are a bit like urban 4x4s: most never go off-road, and when they do, they're not actually very good at it. But of course this is a personal preference.

Re: US Road Fatalities 2001-09 mapped with OpenStreetMap

#85

Post by wavephorm »

AmericanOP wrote: post #30

Not quite sure yet how this influences my recent urge to start riding motorcycles. There seems to be a (near) 1:2 ratio between motorcycle and vehicle fatalities. I already knew motorcycle riders were 5 times more likely to get in accidents, and those accidents were 35 times more likely to result in very serious injury. In my life so far I've been in one small fender bender. This does confirm some of the self-imposed…

A coworker and friend of mine was riding his motorcycle to work one morning and got run over by a schoolbus. He died instantly.

It kind of ruined the term "if you get hit by a bus" for everyone at the office.

Re: US Road Fatalities 2001-09 mapped with OpenStreetMap

#86

Post by georgieporgie »

lancewiggs wrote: post #77
georgieporgie wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Something like 70% of single-vehicle motorcycle collisions involve alcohol, so that's the big one to avoid. Here are my tips, from 17 years of riding and commuting by motorcycle: * Avoid alcohol before riding (edit: personally, I never ride within six hours of consuming any alcohol). * Wear high-quality, full-body protective gear. * Avoid rush hour when possible, particularly evening rush hour when drivers are tired,…

I emphasize that enough - riding after any alcohol is temporary citizenship. But aside from not drinking or rising like an idiot the biggest thing we motorcyclists can do to increase our safety is to wear a high visibility jacket. It creates a noticeable difference in the percentage of other road users that see you, which addresses the major cause of accidents. Protective gear is a last resort - it's better to avoid…

I'm going to disagree with you, somewhat.

I see increasing numbers of riders with high-visibility gear. I've always been a fan, so I'm happy to see it. However, I've noticed that, more often than not, very little of the jacket/pants are actually visible when the rider is on the move. The helmet and shoulders are the most visible in oncoming traffic, and all too often the shoulders will be some darker color, meant to contrast with the high-viz torso and arms!

High-viz gear will unquestionably help with traffic to your sides and behind you, but I think a high-viz helmet is significantly more valuable than a jacket, and a modulated (flashing) headlight is more valuable than either, from the front.

I'm of the opinion that learning solid skills and practicing them regularly will contribute far more to healthy and longevity than gear alone. By skills, I mean more than just stopping and turning, I also mean the ability to read traffic and maintain focused awareness of absolutely everything around you.

By the way, my favorite piece of gear is my one-piece Aerostich Roadcrafter. Some elements of the design are getting outdated, but I'm literally able to put it on or take it off in under ten seconds, and the one-piece design means I always wear full protection. I would choose a different two-piece for touring, but for everyday riding, the Roadcrafter is hard to beat.

Re: US Road Fatalities 2001-09 mapped with OpenStreetMap

#89

Post by JshWright »

I find this a little... disquieting... I know the story behind a dozen or so of these little icons. Like any traumatic event, they'll come to mind from time to time (some are more memorable than others, for some reason). Being reminded of all of them at once is actually a little overwhelming.

It's also a bit of a disconnect seeing the chaos and trauma of some of those scenes reduced to a tiny graphic.

Re: US Road Fatalities 2001-09 mapped with OpenStreetMap

#90

Post by kgermino »

mkopinsky wrote: post #81
lancewiggs wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I emphasize that enough - riding after any alcohol is temporary citizenship. But aside from not drinking or rising like an idiot the biggest thing we motorcyclists can do to increase our safety is to wear a high visibility jacket. It creates a noticeable difference in the percentage of other road users that see you, which addresses the major cause of accidents. Protective gear is a last resort - it's better to avoid…

Temporary citizenship? Is this some idiom I'm not familiar with?

Early death.
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