Good god, a plug for airbag riding suits..

[brider]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/horror-crash-motorcyclist-hit-by-car-wrong-side-of-the-road-081604613.html

SOMETHING had to save that poor guy,

[Rich A]

Holy Cow! I have an air-bag vest. I think I'll wear it more often now.

Rich A

[cookiemech]

I always wear mine . . .

[cloudbase]

I always wear mine . . .

As do I.

[Ryan]

First offense, the victim lived, and the driver was jailed for 16 months. I wish they took driving offenses as seriously here; there would be far fewer idiots on the roads (at least for 16 months until the first wave were released) and with that possibility looming over one's head, perhaps people would actively drive instead of steering.

[drdwb]

I’ve had a Hitair coat for couple years, fortunately It has never been tested. I’ve been trying to get my wife to purchase one but she’s been reluctant so thanks for the story. Perhaps I can get her to reconsider.

The coat cost about as much as a good helmet. And it’s only got to work once to make it worth the investment. I’m hopeful Aero Stitch will soon incorporate the technology into their line. I think that will be the ultimate protection.

[Motormike]

First offense, the victim lived, and the driver was jailed for 16 months. I wish they took driving offenses as seriously here; there would be far fewer idiots on the roads (at least for 16 months until the first wave were released) and with that possibility looming over one's head, perhaps people would actively drive instead of steering.

My thoughts exactly.  In the states he would have paid a small fine and been home in time for supper.

[Lannis]

My thoughts exactly.  In the states he would have paid a small fine and been home in time for supper.

There may be a lot of factors of "why that is", but my observations from riding in both places lead me to believe that in England, motorcycles are seen as serious transportation by the majority.

Brits rode motorcycles and sidecar outfits for daily and family transportation FAR after Americans had all gone to the Model T and its descendants.   Almost no Americans after World War One were using bikes and sidecars as transportations, but Brits continued for many years, even though cars such as the Austin Seven and the Morris Minor came along.   Bikes and sidecars didn't quit being used as commuters and head-for-the-beach-with-the-family machines until the Austin Mini days around 1960.

But in the USA, bikes were just for hell-raisers, Booze Fighters, taking over hapless towns, and running amok, and have never been anything but weekend toys (present company excluded, of course).  So when a motorcyclist gets hit head-on or otherwise injured or killed, there's a feeling of "well, any idiot riding a motorcycle probably caused it, might have even deserved it" which percolates into courtrooms and judgments.

I like the way they do it in England better, although I'd probably fume like anyone else at the years of time and thousands of dollars of training and licensing expense that it takes to get on the road with a bike .....

Lannis

[Blaufeld66]

Airbag jacket seems a good idea... until you are involved in a crash like mine, in wich after hitting a car sideways I fell hard hitting shoulder and ankle on the groud. No use for that jacket, in that occasion.
In head-on crashes, perhaps.

[cookiemech]

Airbag jacket seems a good idea... until you are involved in a crash like mine, in wich after hitting a car sideways I fell hard hitting shoulder and ankle on the groud. No use for that jacket, in that occasion.
In head-on crashes, perhaps.

An airbag jacket wouldn't have made your injuries worse, would it? I guess if we could pick and choose the sort of crash we'd be involved in, then we could suit up appropriately for that event . . .

[Old Jock]

Not watched that clip but I think it's the same one that heavily discussed on the Ducati UK forum, I didn't want to sign away my first born to Verizon

One thing nobody mentioned here was that the biker hit the anchors HARD and went into a stoppie, that probably helped save his life I reckon as it ejected him high and over the Scoobie.

Don't get me wrong the Airbag suit also will have contributed too. Although he ended up with a broken back a series of very fortuitous events came together for him. The Scoobie driving was awful and he was either going too fast, got distracted or both.

For all the talk of the UK standards being better, they are still pretty woeful, only a couple of years back I had an Audi R8 pull out doing 70+ onto my side of the road to overtake a line of vehicles, on a road not disimilar to the one one in that video. Forced me onto a very narrow verge at 60+ which was mercifully both clear and straight and I managed to bring the bike to a stop. Only one of many incidents where people do really stupid stuff, the difference is these 2 lane roads have the traffic travelling at speed and there is not a lot of wiggle room when it goes pear shaped.