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aidanspa
 Advanced Member
1458 Posts
[Mentor]
Omaha, NE
USA
Harley-Davidson
Heritage Softail
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 Posted - 12/29/2008 : 4:17 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by gymnast
Aidanspa. Laconia Week, Weirs Beach, "Live Free and Die", beautiful tree lined roads that double as organic crash test sites, State liquor stores at rest areas as you enter the state. What more could you possibly ask for? If it wasn't for "8 months of winter", New Hampshire could "triple the score".
All sarcasm aside, New Hampshire is a beautiful state and a wonderful place to carefully enjoy a ride.
This just in from WMUR 9 in New Hampshire on December 29, 2008:
quote:
Deaths On NH Roads Up In 2008
Fatalities Increase For Those Over 71, Motorcyclists
According to Peter Thomson, coordinator of the New Hampshire Highway Safety Agency, the biggest concern of state safety officials is the rise in motorcycle fatalities which have been "trending upward for the last five years".
In 2003 there were nine fatal motorcycle accidents, but in 2004, that number jumped to 27 (200% increase). The next year, motorcycle fatalities spiked at 42 (55% increase from 2004 and 366% increase from two years prior) and although they went down the next year, the number has steadily climbed in the years since.
Thomson's words regarding the increase in biker deaths:
quote:
"More and more baby boomers are getting back into riding motorcycles," said Thomson. These boomers rode as teenagers, gave it up and are now getting back into riding without updating their skills," Thomson said. "The motorcycles 20 and 30 years ago compared to those today, there's a big difference. They're more powerful, a bigger bike really."
More riders and bigger bikes.
In 2007, NH ranked 47th of 50 states in the number of motorcycle fatalities as a percentage of all vehicular fatalities with 14.4% (USA avg 9.5%).
More riders and bigger bikes.
In 1995, NH ranked LAST of 50 states in the number of motorcycle fatalities as a percentage of all vehicular fatalities with 9.4% (USA avg 4.0%).
12 years later and still near the bottom.
Looks like the only solution is to decrease the number of "baby boomer" riders and to make the bikes smaller. |
Edited by - aidanspa on 12/29/2008 4:35 PM |
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SkootchNC
Advanced Member
603 Posts
[Mentor]
raleigh, north carolina
USA
Harley-Davidson
road glide
Peer Review:
1
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Posted - 01/07/2009 : 6:41 AM
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Night train,
you said "I am beginning to find it somewhat disheartening the more we review the available stats. I had always held the notion that the prime threat to me as a motorcyclist on the highways was the inattentive cage operators and I don't think I was alone in that regard."
Like you, I have labored with the information we learned years ago... "62% of ALL motorcycle accidents, were caused by the driver who turned left, and struck the rider"
NCSHP SGT. Mark Brown states in his BIKESAFE-NORTH CAROLINA class. this has dropped to the fifth leading cause. With the first 4 leading causes being the motorcyclist himself
1)improper curve skills
2)improper braking
3)improper safety gear
4)impaired rider
Will tiered licensing cause everyone who currently rides without an endorsement to suddenly get right? I doubt it.
Will it save novice riders? probably
Then you have the riders who kept their endorcements, but haven't owned a bike in years.
As a side note... this summer as gas prices soared, my friends at various dealerships, told me story after story of owners, who pulled old bikes from their respective garages, and were getting them road-worthy. Dry rotted tires, and hoses were pointed out, by mechanics, and promptly ignored by owners
As Walt Kelly said in his "POGO" comic strip many years ago
"we have met the enemy and he is us!" |
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Night Train
Moderator
1335 Posts
[Mentor]
Sydney, Nova Scotia
Canada
Harley-Davidson
03 Electra Glide Std
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Posted - 01/07/2009 : 7:17 AM
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SkootchNC, excellent post. The more we delve into what can or should be done to decrease the rise in motorcycle fatalities, the more aware I become that there is no immediate or solitary answer.
As so aptly pointed out by yourself, our biggest enemy is ourselves.
If we were to be successful to implement a system of training and education that was universally adopted, at best, we could only reduce the level of motorcycling deaths. The inherent nature of the activity itself, encompasses risk for even the most seasoned and experienced riders. Motorcycling is dangerous and the most we can reasonably expect to achieve is to mitigate that danger, we can never eliminate it.
When it comes right down to it, isn't the danger part of the attraction of riding to begin with to a certain degree? |
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rioguy
Ex-Member
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Posted - 01/07/2009 : 7:18 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by SkootchNC
NCSHP SGT. Mark Brown states in his BIKESAFE-NORTH CAROLINA class. this has dropped to the fifth leading cause. With the first 4 leading causes being the motorcyclist himself
1)improper curve skills
2)improper braking
3)improper safety gear
4)impaired rider
I would add excessive speed to this and move improper safety gear down to last.
In about the first week of riding, I came to the conclusion that the most probable cause of a crash is me. The number of times I have had to take significant evasive action for another vehicle is 3. The number of times where the outcome was in doubt at the time I took the action is 0.
I don't drink, so that one is not a factor. And I don't speed.
The number of opportunities to screw up the first three numbers in the millions.
I feel this is very good news as we can reduce our probability of a crash to a very low number by focusing inward rather than outward. I'd be really scared if I knew I had to wait for some training panacea to come along before I could be safe.
I've given up on trying to change others. Those who would listen will ask. The books are available. The information is on the internet. About the only thing the states can do is make the information more visible. But those who want to ignore it will. |
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