Could be just more vehicles on the road.

[Tom]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/health/wellness/us-motorcycle-deaths-up-10-percent-in-last-year/ar-BBteFuG?li=BBnba9J&ocid=iehp

[screamday]

More vehicles with more distractions......e ither as OEM options or personal options.

[rocker59]

Motorcycle sales are up.  Deaths are up.

Notice that they didn't give us any numbers other than the absolute number of deaths.

Are sales also up 10%?  Are motorcycle vehicle miles up 10%?  I'd wager they're probably up more than that...

This is just a hit piece to promote universal helmet laws and ABS on motorcycles..  Blah, blah, blah...

[Penderic]

I find that a little happy music helps with the traffic.

https://vimeo.com/106226560

[canuguzzi]

Deaths are down, percentage wise for the period reported here.

http://www.iii.org/issue-update/motorcycle-crashes

[Tom]

Governor's Highway Safety Association vs. NHTSA on stats.  Wonder how the IIHS would factor in? 

[RANDM]

We get that too - accidents up 17%, no mention that there's
30% more bikes on the road - why let the truth ruin a good
beat up?

Maurie.

[Tom]

You have to wonder.  Are the Governor's playing for the press for more Fed Funds?  Out here because of the local AMA lobby it would be a political death for the sponsoring state senator or state representative.  A helmet law is looked at as a personal rights issue and the stats. don't back the insurance lobby or medical lobby.

[canuguzzi]

The spin sells the ideas. It is like saying there are spending cuts when the amount of spending keeps going up but the proposed rate of spending is less.

The same way of thinking applies, the approach just uses the other side of the argument to get results.

Why provide all the information when you can get most people to believe half the story?

[John A]

https://youtu.be/oIhbgyBkMF8
Did somebody say happy music?

[unclepete]

I did read a long time ago that 90% of the people who die in a motorcycle accident do it in the first 90 days of ownership . Wonder if that's anywhere near the truth ?

[canuguzzi]

Does that include everytime you buy one or add another or just the first one. A rather depressing thought if the counter start with every one you get.

Where is the happy music? Another one bites the dust.

[screamday]

Where is the happy music?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVM1nUmDHHc

[oldbike54]

I did read a long time ago that 90% of the people who die in a motorcycle accident do it in the first 90 days of ownership . Wonder if that's anywhere near the truth ?

 A bit inflated . The real stats W/O looking them up , are something close to 50% in the first few weeks of ownership , or on borrowed machinery . The stats are slightly skewed , the borrowed machinery thing usually implies inexperienced riders . The insurance figures we used to see also indicate that trained experienced riders are about as safe as the average car driver . Of course alcohol and drugs also play a roll .

 Dusty

[unclepete]

The 90 / 90 statement was most certainly meant as a caution to new riders .
This was in a time when you were expected to begin on a small bike around town and work your way up .
Now you take a two day class , buy a big bike , and off you go with your left turn signal blinking mile after mile .
I see this left turn signal thing many times , even on newer looking bikes . Don't new bikes have self-cancelling turn signals ?       

[segesta]

Around here, if you want to stay alive, don't go through an intersection on a yellow light... Because at least two cars are going to turn in front of you, even after it's red.

[oldbike54]

 Seems some have self cancelling signals , and some don't . JN Smyth rode until he was 91 , all over the country , mile after mile , turn signal blinking away gloriously on one side until he made a turn in the opposite direction , then the other side would blink until ... well , you get the picture 

 Dusty

[screamday]

Around here, if you want to stay alive, don't go through an intersection on a yellow light... Because at least two cars are going to turn in front of you, even after it's red.

And now they have the flashing left turn arrows which some people seem to think gives them the right-of-way to turn in front of on coming traffic. 

[Toecutter]

Anecdote time:

My wife's co-worker went to buy a new car a couple of months back.

The salesman asked her if she wanted Facebook and Instagram installed.


I ride in a world of windshield mounted GPS screens, and the resulting blindspots they create, pocket sized personal computers and jukeboxes, dashboards that make the "future tech" dreams of the 50s laughably primitive, all in the hands of generations that have been taught that life is all about them, personally.

It's kind of terrifying. I find that very few people respect the gravity and reality of driving.

[unclepete]

It is a harsh environment we ride in . In CA a commuter lane violation costs about $400 and a cell phone violation about $160 .

[Shorty]

The stat I heard was 25/25. People under 25 years old, and those with less than 2500 miles experience were the most likely victims of motorcycle accidents.  There are a lot of older people entering the market who have a "Big Hog or bust" mentality. Not always a good thing. Overconfidence, reduction in reflexes, balance.

[canuguzzi]

Anecdote time:

My wife's co-worker went to buy a new car a couple of months back.

The salesman asked her if she wanted Facebook and Instagram installed.


I ride in a world of windshield mounted GPS screens, and the resulting blindspots they create, pocket sized personal computers and jukeboxes, dashboards that make the "future tech" dreams of the 50s laughably primitive, all in the hands of generations that have been taught that life is all about them, personally.

It's kind of terrifying. I find that very few people respect the gravity and reality of driving.

Bet you aren't a fan of the Skully helmet.

We'll probably be reading about the "impact" of wearing them soon enough.

[Tom]

Somewhere in there,  consideration is never to the stats for illegal riders being part of the overall numbers. 

[rodekyll]

Somewhere in there,  consideration is never to the stats for illegal riders being part of the overall numbers.

Why should that matter?

[Tom]

It would address the inexperience factor and properly address the education level.  In other words,  a negative impact on licensed riders.  Insurance costs and more regulations etc.

[toaster404]

I recall looking through detailed statistics from somewhere.  Noted that drunks on ATVs were lumped with motorcycles.  And didn't see adventure bike neon tourists listed at all! 

I don't trust any of this stuff.  Looking at riders on the Dragon (a local hobby), I see big cruisers, sport tour riders, dual sport, motard, etc. doing their thing.  Sport bike riders in sneakers and the ape hanger guys look the most at risk of accidents.  The worst wrecks with people I know were guys on sport bikes who thought they knew the road.  I doubt that kind of detail shows up in any statistics.

One thing that's really obvious is that local drivers see motorcyclists better than folks in other counties around here.  The masses headed for the Dragon in the summer really changes perceptions.  The obvious solution being to get 20% of the vehicles on the road to be motorcycles.