There was a book published back in the 90's titled "Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences". Basically it describes the unforeseen consequences of technology like antibiotics creating super-bugs or boxing gloves giving rise to a certain type of brain injury. The safety improvements of the modern automobile (safety glass, seat belts with inertia sensitive shoulder harnesses, air bags, impact dampening interiors, etc) have greatly reduced the injuries to drivers in collisions under 35mph and I think left many drivers with a feeling of invincibility.

It's not just that cellphones are distracting but that there is precious little consequences for Tanya the Texter when she runs your *** over. Your lying there in the road maybe the last few moments on this earth and what is she dealing with? A dropped call an insurance deductible and maybe a few points added to her lincense.

Now if a technology could be implimented in cars (like an airbag under the drivers seat) where Tanya would be launched through her windshield onto the hot asphalt next to you. Maybe then maybe she might hangup and drive.

naw

 

I've been doing quite a bit of digging on crash statistics, and I have a news feed set up on my computer that searches motorcycle crash reports from all over the US. The % statistics quoted here are primarily Idaho/Pacific Northwest, but they're pretty valid anywhere in the country:



50% of all fatal crashes were single vehicle crashes, meaning the motorcycle rider crashed all by himself.

In 70% of the fatal crashes where the rider crashed by himself, the crash resulted when the rider went wide in a curve and ran off the road.

In approximately 35%-40% of all fatal crashes the rider had been drinking.

In approximately 30% of all fatal crashes the rider did not have a valid endorsement.


Here's where the bad news starts...

Since 50% of all fatal crashes were the rider crashing by himself, the natural assumption is that the other 50% were multiple vehicle crashes, where the car turned left, etc., etc.. Not always.

A significant number of multi-vehicle fatal crashes involved motorcycles running into each other. Guys, I read about this every week, and it is tragic:

One bike stops, the other doesn't, rider died at the scene.
Two guys riding side by side, they come to a merge, one bike strikes the other.
One bike locks up his brakes, next bike crashes into first bike.
Lead bike turns into a parking lot, next rider is inattentive and crashes into the first.

It happens all the time.

A significant number of multi-vehicle crashes were 100% caused by the rider. Speeding, weaving in and out of traffic, wheelies, etc., etc..

Car turns left in front of bike and/or pulls out, motorcycle rider locks up rear wheel and crashes without ever hitting the car.

Car turns left in front of bike and/or pulls out, motorcycle rider locks up rear wheel, crashes, and slides into the side of the car. Technically, this is two crashes, first when the rider locked up the rear and crashed all by himself, and the second crash was the impact with the other vehicle. Make no mistake, a bike slows down a hell of a lot quicker when the contact patches are working than it slows down sliding along the pavement on steel and plastic.

There are, of course, crashes that were completely the fault of the cage driver, and because of the specifics of the situation the rider had absolutely no chance of avoiding the crash.

The natural assumption among most riders is that the vast, vast majority of crashes are not the rider's fault and could not have been avoided.

Unfortunately, that is not correct.

I'm going to make a semi-scientific wild *** guess based on the statistics I've seen and say that 80%+ of all fatal crashes were a combination of the rider crashing all by himself, motorcycles crashing into other motorcycles, crashes with cars that were caused by the rider, or the car violating the rider's right-of-way and the rider crashing due to poor braking skills and/or poor obstacle avoidance maneuvering skills.

80%+. I could be low. We can't just blame the cage drivers. It's on us, too.

We have to be careful out there.

 

Not trying to be argumentative, but can you post the actual statistics? or the source for them? or some summary of the number/totals and the source? You may be absolutely right, I would just like to see the actual numbers and where they come from.

 

Again not trying to be argumentative but Idaho/ Pacific Northwest crashes really aren't in anyway connected to florida. Maybe the pan-handle. I thought people drive bad and traffic was terrible in Houston and San Diego but South Florida is worse by a long mile. If you are not doing at least 80mph on 95 or turn pike your going to get run over. Side streets people running red lights. Like they don't even exist. It's taken me almost year to feel semi confident to ride around here. I guess that's why I like hey 27 so much, I can relax a little on that road.

I really think most cage drivers down here are just in to big a hurry to care if they hit a bike or car or pedestrian.

 

I'll do my best. As I mentioned, they are primarily PNW, including Idaho, and most of them were shared in a course I took, taught by an Idaho Motor Officer Instructor.

Here's a link to the summary of all 2012 Idaho fatal motorcycle crashes: http://idahostar.org/newsletters/archive/September_2012

Here's a sample of some of my crash reports from my news feed today.

One day.


Posted: Thursday, July 31, 2014 8:44 am | Updated: 10:28 am, Thu Jul 31, 2014.
By TIM PRUDENTE tprudente@capgaznews.com
A 38-year-old man died after losing control of his motorcycle on Gibralter Avenue in Annapolis and sliding into West Street and hitting a Cadillac Escalade at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, police said.
After impact, the Cadillac driven by Oscar Villalta Rubio, 42, of Annapolis, spun into the westbound lanes of West Street. The Cadillac struck a Buick LeSabre driven by Alverta Darden, 73, of Severna Park, police said. Rubio and Darden were not injured.
The motorcyclist, Preston Adams Jr. of Annapolis, was transported to Anne Arundel Medical Center where he died from his injuries, according to police.
Initial information indicates driver error was a contributing factor in this accident, police said.


7:21 a.m. EDT July 30, 2014
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A 26-year-old man died following a motorcycle crash Tuesday night, according to Florida Highway Patrol.
Troopers say Carlos Reuben Perez, Jr. was driving eastbound on Arlington Expressway to the northbound Southside Connector on the on-ramp.
Perez was traveling around a curve when he lost control of the motorcycle and collided with the concrete traffic barrier wall.
Perez was ejected from the motorcycle and landed on the concrete embankment Arlington Expressway service road, FHP reported.
According to troopers, Perez was wearing a helmet.
Perez died at the scene.

7/29/2014:
WEST SPRINGFIELD - A 49-year-old man from Farmington, Conn. was killed Tuesday night when he clipped the back of a car in the Memorial Bridge rotary, lost control of his motorcycle and crashed into a guardrail, police said.
The motorcycle operator, identified as Michael Strom, was pronounced dead at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield following the accident, said West Springfield Capt. Daniel Spaulding.
Investigators have determined that Strom was operating west on the Memorial Bridge toward West Springfield. As he approached the rotary, Strom apparently failed to yield to oncoming traffic already inside the rotary, Spaulding said.
His motorcycle, a Harley Davidson Road King, made contact with the rear of a car and went off the road into the guardrail on the inside of the rotary, Spaulding said.
Strom suffered severe head injuries in the accident, he said.
Investigators have not yet determined if speed was a factor.


7/28/2014
ST. GEORGE – A 72-year-old man was killed Saturday after losing control of his motorcycle while winding through a mountain pass on Old Highway 91.
Antonio Chiong, from North Las Vegas, was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead on scene due to head trauma. He was wearing a helmet, Washington County Sheriff's Sgt. Dave Crouse said.
The incident was reported at 5:21 p.m., six miles northeast of the Utah border.
Chiong was travelling with a small group of riders but no other vehicles were involved in the accident. When the group hit a left-hand turn in the road, Chiong veered off the right side, hit a sandy spot and was ejected when the motorcycle rolled, Crouse said.


Thursday, July 31, 2014
GARY, Ind. --
A motorcyclist died Wednesday night after his bike crashed in to the back of a semi in Gary.

About 7:45 p.m., Nicholas Stucker, 28, was driving a 2008 Kawasaki motorcycle on to the southbound Interstate 65 ramp from eastbound Interstate 80 when the bike hit the back of a semi pulling a tanker, Indiana State Police said in a statement.

Stucker, of the 100 block of North Wilson Street in Hobart, Ind., was not wearing a helmet and was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:45 p.m., according to police and the Lake County Coroner's office. He died of blunt force trauma, and his death was ruled an accident, the coroner's office said.

Witnesses told officers Stucker was speeding when he went around the first curve in the ramp's right lane before he struck the tanker, police said.


7/31/2014
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A motorcyclist was pronounced dead at the scene of a wreck in Dawson County on Wednesday evening.
According to the Georgia State Patrol, Elijah Cain Simmons, 21, of Baldwin, was traveling southbound on Ga. 9, when he lost control of the motorcycle while negotiating a right curve. The motorcycle crossed the center line and hit a pickup truck that was traveling northbound, according to a news release.
The driver of the truck was not injured.


Here's a chart of the Idaho fatality summary:

 

As the chart shows, 79 motorcycle fatalities, of which 58 were rider error, and 27 were positive drug/alcohol.

Here's one of the most important things I've taken away from the studying I've done, and the courses I've taken in aggressive braking and obstacle avoidance maneuvers:

Unless there was a witness who was also a skilled rider, there is no way of knowing how many of the crashes NOT listed under "Rider Error" could have been avoided had the rider possessed better skills.

In other words, a car really did turn in front of a rider and violated his right of way, and the rider crashed into the side of the car. But...

How far away was the rider? How fast was he going? Was that within reasonable stopping distance, had the rider not locked up the rear tire, crashed, and slid into the side of the car?

We can't possibly know. I assume that it's not logical to think that 100% of the time the rider had no chance to stop, or, even less likely, had zero chance to aggressively slow down, which then opens more possibility to find and take advantage of an escape route.

My objective in sharing these thoughts is to emphasize that we are more in control of these situations than we realize, and that if we assume it's always the cage driver's fault, we won't take responsibility for our own skills.

It's on us, guys. Not always, of course, but we have to look at it that way.

 

I've driven the full length of Florida, From Georgia to the Keys and from east to the Gulf, in a car.

Scared the living bejeesus of out me. I cannot imagine riding a bike down there.