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My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

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Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#181

Post by terribleperson »

godelski wrote: post #176
beloch wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Motorcycle fatality rates have been trending upwards, not downwards[1]. Brake lights on helmets may illuminate one of the culprits: An ever increasing number of American trucks with poor visibility. Sitting on a bike, you're even shorter than a pedestrian and more likely to be completely out of sight. Perhaps its time to start regulating for better visibility, as Europe has done. [1] https://www.iii.org/fact-statisti…

What's interesting is fatality rates are increasing but injury rates are decreasing. Seems like something else might be at play. If it is more SUVs and Pickups then I think a brake light helmet would do a lot considering the danger those cars present is being harder to see those below them. But if it is something else, then maybe not as good of a solution.

Vehicles with a tall, flat face are more likely to kill instead of injure, from my recall of previous discussions on HN. That's been a trend in vehicle design for a few years now.

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#183

Post by radlad »

doctorpangloss wrote: post #157
radlad wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Freeway driving tends to be the safest driving, in any vehicle. This is because speed deltas are typically low, and there are no cross-streets or stopping. https://safetrec.berkeley.edu/2023-safetrec-traffic-safety-f... (Ctrl+F "Crash Location of Motorcycle Fatal Crashes")

Complex thing to analyze, no? Most Americans use freeways, and most do not use motorcycles. It's always hard to compare a rare thing to a common thing, it always has surprising problems. It's like when people on Reddit worry about radon in their basement, but the incidence rate of whatever cancer it was associated with is so low anyway. What about agency? "Don't worry about kids choking on Legos, kids don't die from…

I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at. There are plenty of statistics available showing that freeway driving is the safest driving vehicles do. There's not as much available for motorcycles specifically, which is why I dug up a relevant link and shared it. It seems to hold true for MCs too (and I have no reason to suspect it wouldn't.)

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#184

Post by nandomrumber »

haiku2077 wrote: post #180
nandomrumber wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At first glance I want to strongly disagree, but who am I to argue with your experience. What bike do you ride, and what vehicles are you calling trucks? Specifically.

An F750GS and a DRZ400SM are my main bikes (out of an entire garage full of stuff). For trucks I'm talking about F-150s and similar.

Do those two bikes have a higher / more upright riding position that a typical sportbike?

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#185

Post by andrewflnr »

GuinansEyebrows wrote: post #161
aziaziazi wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nice idea! Cars owner sometime use a "children inside" sticker. Won’t work for a solo bike obviously but wonder if some other messages might be effective like "Dad of toddlers", "I might be a cop", "vulnerable human"… the smiley is easier to read through.

heh, or you could join an OMC (outlaw motorcycle club) and get patched up * for an implied 'i will literally kill you if you get close to me' * don't do this

Ha, I have heard a couple motorcyclists sincerely recommend open-carrying a gun to scare off murderous asshole drivers (which, to be clear, absolutely exist). Neither of those options are on my to-do list though. :)

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#187

Post by haiku2077 »

nandomrumber wrote: post #184
haiku2077 wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An F750GS and a DRZ400SM are my main bikes (out of an entire garage full of stuff). For trucks I'm talking about F-150s and similar.

Do those two bikes have a higher / more upright riding position that a typical sportbike?

Sportbikes are lower, but they're not typical. Sportbikes sales trended way down over the past decade, with models being discontinued entirely in some regions. Current sporty-style bikes are generally more upright seating and share engines and platforms with non-sport models. Dual sport/off road bikes have trended upwards, even for riders who never go off pavement, because they're cheap to run and very practical as general purpose motorcycles. More recently, there's been a trend towards large touring bikes as well.

https://www.revzilla.com/common-tread/motorcycle-industry-q1...

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#188

Post by nandomrumber »

haiku2077 wrote: post #187
nandomrumber wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do those two bikes have a higher / more upright riding position that a typical sportbike?

Sportbikes are lower, but they're not typical. Sportbikes sales trended way down over the past decade, with models being discontinued entirely in some regions. Current sporty-style bikes are generally more upright seating and share engines and platforms with non-sport models. Dual sport/off road bikes have trended upwards, even for riders who never go off pavement, because they're cheap to run and very practical as g…

I see, thanks for the info. I’m licensed but haven’t owned a bike in years.

Do we have stats on whether more sports bike riders are involved in crashes that bikes with better visibility?

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#189

Post by AndrewSwift »

I wondered once if it would be possible to ride a motorcycle safely if I drove carefully (everyone I know who rides has been in at least one serious accident).

I thought: I could look at the data, but I see so many motorcyclists driving dangerously that the data wouldn't teach me much.

So then I thought: I bet if I look at the accident rate for women riders it would be interesting.

I found that in the UK, male riders have seven times the accident rate of female riders.

So I guess how you ride does make a huge difference.

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#190

Post by kayodelycaon »

WalterBright wrote: post #132

The issue with brake lights is they are binary on/off. It would likely be better if the brightness would vary by how hard the braking is. Like getting brighter and brighter and then rapidly flashing.

Every car would have to have the same brightness for their brake lights for this to work well. At night, cars in the US have their brake lights partially illuminated as running lights. On some cars these are so bright that it looks like they're actively braking.
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