231–240 of 390 posts
If only somebody would make motorcycles less noisy.. I dream of the day where there are neither mosquitos nor motorcycle noise. Two most annoying things during the summer.
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…
Age is another differentiator. Take young men out of the equation and you get a much better picture. Another interesting stat is that the majority of motorcycle crashes are single vehicle accidents, ie. the rider going down by themselves. While this can be equipment failure, in most cases this will be crashing due to riding too fast or above skill level. So yes, riding very carefully at safe speeds and avoiding dange…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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. :)
What's more, notwithstanding the freakouts from Europeans and blue-staters about so-called "gun culture," you have no right to employ a firearm anywhere in the US unless someone is actively threatening to kill or maim you or a person near you. Not because you got in a road-rage pissing contest.
If anything, bringing a gun into a situation like that is a great way to get a felony assault/brandishing charge and lose your ability to own a gun period.
When I was commuting daily in the SF fog, I discovered that putting on of these [1] on my helmet did wonders to keep cars further off my tail. It moves the brake light up to eye level for people in SUVs and also triggers on engine braking. Wish it were cheaper, but was a worthwhile investment for me. Also, consider looking into airbag vests if you ride regularly. Also expensive but (supposedly) make a huge difference…
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…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Oh, now I see that it's just based on an accelerometer. Marketing it as "wireless" seems to suggest that it is monitoring the brake lights rather than "automatically" flashing based on motion.
If you read the article then you will see that the accelerometer is a feature that makes it safer. Apparently, motorcycles can brake even if you don't use the brake, and then you really want the lights to turn on.
> Apparently, motorcycles can
> brake even if you don't use
> the brake
Where's the quest to make motorcycles a huge bit quieter? I am so fed up with all the loud motorcycles in my city. Seems pretty arrogant of people with loud vehicles to think that we all want to hear them.
I have 2 bikes, both stock exhaust, both quiet. The older one with the Euro 3 and larger engine is more quiet than the one that is Euro 5 and has a small engine, but none is loud enough to wake anyone at night if I come home at that time. At the same time, a couple of neighbors with fancy Akrapovic cans will wake up the entire street every time they pass by.
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…
This sadly does not say anything because the kilometers driven is unknown in this statistic, right? So it could be that female drivers do not drive that many kilometers compared to males, which results in less accidents. Also, is this accidents total men / women? Then it would not even take into account, that there are significant more male riders.
Motorcyclists on average ride less than 3,000 miles a year, cars are 4-6x that. 90% of accidents are within 10 miles of the riders home.
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…
>Sitting on a bike, you're even shorter than a pedestrian and more likely to be completely out of sight. Not true at all except for the lowest-sitting cruisers. Most bikes put you eye level with an SUV driver and taller bikes above.
I see other people saying the same thing, but it totally defies my intuition.
Isn't the seat in an SUV objectively much higher up than the seat of a bike? Aren't your feet much higher on the floor of an SUV, than on a bike?
What am I missing here?