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Do loud pipes save lives? (2021)

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Re: Do loud pipes save lives? (2021)

#51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By car: 30 mins. Public transport: 1 hour 30 mins. I'm not wasting 2 extra hours each day.

It's not like society without cars would be the exact same just without cars. People would live closer to where they need to be. It would be more public transport. More 15-minute cities etc. It's a bit dishonest to argue for continued car dominance just because it's already status quo.

This is why there's such a disconnect between people who have to commute to work and people advocating for your policies. You flippantly suggest something that would make another person's life much more miserable, and then when he protests, you handwave it away by saying that society will just be better and he'll live closer to his job.

Re: Do loud pipes save lives? (2021)

#52
post #31

In the hierarchy of road hatred, loud motorcycles are by far the most hated by all others (cars, pedestrians, cyclists, etc). Happy to hear there's no science/safety reason to encourage loud motorcycles.

I don't normally condone body shaming, but as somebody who really struggles with sudden loud noises, I will always insinuate that those with loud cars and motorbikes are compensating for something.

As someone who rides an unmodified bike, I hear the transmission more than the exhaust, which is more high-pitched. I can understand wanting better acoustics. But really annoyingly loud bothers me too and I never hear bikes in my car until they're past me.

Re: Do loud pipes save lives? (2021)

#53
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bikes are perfectly safe. It's car drivers who aren't.

most motorcycle accidents involve only the motorcycle and no other vehicle and motorcycles have a considerably higher rate of fatal crashes due to things like hitting fixed barriers.

What that stat doesn't tell you is the rate of near misses.

It's anecdotal I know, but as someone who commutes on a bike, the number of times I almost crash by myself per journey is near zero, yet the number of times a car tries to inadvertently occupy the same piece of road as me is multiple.

Re: Do loud pipes save lives? (2021)

#54

Anecdotally, anyone who rides will you tell you this. It doesn’t matter how high your high viz vest is, or how loudly you rev your bike, someone will blindly cut you off and not realise you’re there until it’s way too late. I’m glad to see the data to back that up. Maybe now my fellow riders can agree that their motorbikes are a bit too damn loud, and tone it down.

I used to ride in London every day. The difference in rate of almost-crashes before and after I get a different (yet still legal) exhaust was substantial.

Re: Do loud pipes save lives? (2021)

#55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most police bikes I see in the US are Harleys, I don't think they're buying anything out of practicality. If they were, you'd see a lot more BMW police motorcycles.

US police buy almost exclusively domestic vehicles.

Not when it comes to motorcycles. BMW and Honda are both extremely common police bikes. LAPD’s motorcycle fleet used to be almost entirely Kawasakis.

Re: Do loud pipes save lives? (2021)

#56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's one, very narrow way of viewing it. Another would be that cars lack the necessary visibility to be safe. No one in their right mind would advocate to banning cars. Instead, sensors could be employed to make up for the lack of visibility in cars. This should maybe be the topic of discussion, to introduce these types of safety sensors as essential. ABS breaks weren't the norm a few decades ago, so why not start…

I advocate for banning cars.

You mean transitioning to a car-less society over a reasonable period of time or out right car ban? I am talking about the later in my comment.

An I say "reasonable" intentionally vague because there are degrees of car dependency that varies between regions. On average, I believe Europe might be closer to banning private cars. USA I would bet not so much.

Re: Do loud pipes save lives? (2021)

#57
post #7

If motorcycles require loud pipes to be safe, they should probably be banned altogether - but I don't really think it is necessary to have loud pipes.

Bikes are perfectly safe. It's car drivers who aren't.

As a pedestrian, I want bicycle riding banned from sidewalks and any other pedestrian area.

Re: Do loud pipes save lives? (2021)

#58
post #18

Flawed premise in their research. They’re saying you can only hear motorcycles within 33ft, which is too late to react anyhow. The times when I’ve intentionally revved my engine to get attention, it’s because a driver was about to merge into me, and they were very close. In heavy traffic I’m often feathering the clutch, and pulling it in quickly to rev is an easier reach than hitting my horn. Anecdotally, when I swit…

Anecdotally I have had the opposite experience. My smaller bike with a v-twin engine and loud aftermarket exhausts is apparently much less noticeable than my larger sport-touring bike with quiet stock exhausts.

Re: Do loud pipes save lives? (2021)

#59

Anecdotally, anyone who rides will you tell you this. It doesn’t matter how high your high viz vest is, or how loudly you rev your bike, someone will blindly cut you off and not realise you’re there until it’s way too late. I’m glad to see the data to back that up. Maybe now my fellow riders can agree that their motorbikes are a bit too damn loud, and tone it down.

In my experience, there is a difference between something like a loud harley and a loud sportsbike. With a harley, I can't easily tell which direction the sound is coming from, but with a sportsbike I can.

Frankly, I don't understand how it is that there are so many obnoxiously loud bikes on the road. I've always assumed that it has nothing to do with safety and is more a reflection of the (deliberately) inconsiderate nature of some people.

Re: Do loud pipes save lives? (2021)

#60
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not like society without cars would be the exact same just without cars. People would live closer to where they need to be. It would be more public transport. More 15-minute cities etc. It's a bit dishonest to argue for continued car dominance just because it's already status quo.

This is why there's such a disconnect between people who have to commute to work and people advocating for your policies. You flippantly suggest something that would make another person's life much more miserable, and then when he protests, you handwave it away by saying that society will just be better and he'll live closer to his job.

Oh you’re right. Sorry. Let’s never change anything.
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