Riding safety article from Bike mag

[kasandrich]

I've been reading a very interesting article in the October edition of Bike magazine.

Its too long to relay it all here, but makes interesting reading. For instance we all know that the winter roads can be lethal, but were you aware that you are statistically much safer in january than you are in July??

But the biggest insight is that in most cases rider training may not help make you safer, and may actually increase danger (through increased confidence), a change in mental attitude is the most likely thing to make you a safer rider and that those who are pre-disposed to addiction are in the high risk category, (addiction to dopamine and adrenaline rushes gained on a bike, but you have to push harder and harder to get the same rush).

Whilst in town (where accident tend to be less life threatening) the biggest threat is from cars, out in the open countryside in National speed limits the greatest threat comes from within, and it is out in the countryside in 60mph limits where most deaths occur.

Lastly us Chaps are genetically conditioned to take risks, our female riding companions are not.

[kasandrich]

BTW seeing that January is statistically the safest month to be on a bike on the road, I'm going to leave it until January, then try and get my knee down ROFLMAO!!!!


........Isn't that the message article was conveying?

[harriebird]

probably skewed by the fact that the sort of riders that are out and about in january are fully aware of the conditions they may encounter and are skilled enough to deal with them etc etc.

the biggest change in my riding/mindset came from an instructor telling me actually i rode rather well so not to panic if someone was behin me!! i am much happier in myself if someone else is behind me now, which means i'm less likely to put myself un er pressure...

sorry but the letter that comes between c & e has just stoppe working on my keyboar arghhhhh!!!!

the genetic thing is a fair point but like everything there are always exceptions to the rule!

[kasandrich]

probably skewed by the fact that the sort of riders that are out and about in january are fully aware of the conditions they may encounter and are skilled enough to deal with them etc etc.

That was toungue in cheek LOL


the genetic thing is a fair point but like everything there are always exceptions to the rule!

Absolutely.

But their theory goes Women make a huge investment in propogating their genes, nine months pregnancy and years of nurturing......Whereas with Blokes the more women they have sex with the more they propogate their Genes, and if taking risks and making him some sort of superhero is likely to get him into bed with more women then he is genetically programmed to do it. Evolution means that these characteristics get propogated forward into future generations.

I think I am the exception that proves that rule, when I consider risks I think of the possibility of the pain it might induce, and make my decision on that.

[harriebird]

That was toungue in cheek LOL

i know, i was actually referring to the top post though!!!

i am of the "addictive personality" persuasion, and female so work that out!

my attitude to risk has been shaped by the fact that i f**ked my leg up doing something i loved and it changed my whole life and took a long time to get over.

i don't want bikes to do the same for me as climbing did, and my climbing accident was just that, an accident, but i take more care on my bike because of the involvement of other people in the equation whose actions i can't predict. and the likelihood of hurting other people is also higher on the road than on the crag/up the mountain etc.

all the extra training i have ever done has not made me over confident though, i find if anything else it freaks me out more because i think about all the stuff i have been doing wrong and what could have happened as a result. it really can't be a bad thing....

[kasandrich]

With regard to the extra training, it was referring to the higher risk people, it was not by any means suggesting extra training is bad, just that if you are in the pschologically high risk group, then the extra confidence that extra training could bring, could compound your pschological situation and therefore actually increase your risk.

How long ago was your climbing accident Harriebird?

[RaceMeNSee]

yeah i read that issue and took the test thing at the end......and i came out as the worse option!lol.a risk taker!or addrenaline junkie! i have actually swapped back to my winter style of riding recently though....which means no filtering through the A12, and rarely going over 110mph........i must be getting old! lol

[Komplikated]

there is probably a couple of factors as to why jan is statistically safer to ride than july

1. you ride more tentitivly, its a whole different ball game riding in winter, the opportunities to put power down a few and fair between
2. there are probably 1/2 as many bikes on the roads to have an accident. i know i dont need to nod anywhere near as much on my travels in the winter months ;)

[kasandrich]

Yeah, its Komplikated isn't it http://www.essexbikers.co.uk/forum/images/icons/icon12.gif

Sorry couldn't resist that.

[Komplikated]

http://www.mcnninjas.co.uk/forum/Smileys/mcnninjas_classic/eusa_doh.gif

[winjaninja]

According to Essex Police's website, the most at risk rider is 25-35 riding a 600cc sports bike in a national speed limit on a left hand bend. Normally no other vehicles are involved.

Contrary to popular opinion, we're killing ourselves, not car drivers doing it for us.

[Dal]

As I don't fit into that particular pigeon hole I'd have to agree :grin2

[harriebird]

when i was at the maldon bike safe event, on the bike safe stand there was a little card showing a map of north essex with little green and red stars where all the accidents had been, green for slight, orange for major injuries and red for fatal i think.

unsurprisingly it was mostly green splodges in town and orange and red for all the rural roads that we love so much, so goes along with what has already been said.

but it really brought home to me some of the accident blackspots nearest my house, i'll have a look and see if i can find an online version. it wasn't preachy because it was just simple facts presented in a very clear and effective way.

it certainly made me think about how i approach one particular bend (right by where i live), i knew it was dangerous but didnt realise quite how bad. so i take it a bit easier there now.

and again to add to what winjaninja posted, if you have had your licence less 6 months then it just bumps it up even more. needless to say phil is terrified!!

[Dal]

I think we can get to buried in the so called facts and statistics (First of all acepting they are facts). And of course we can all prepare for what may lay around the corner in the best ways we can. on say additional training,or the protective clothing we spend hundreds of pounds on or even down to the type of bike we ride. We can do all this and still get caught out!!

I guess like they say it's fate.

As for Phil, from what I've seen he appears to be a very conscientious rider and as long as you can be aware of whats going on around you there isn't much more you can do.

[kasandrich]

I missed that! I didn't see a map with accident spots marked, if you could find an online version it would be helpfull.

[winjaninja]

I missed that! I didn't see a map with accident spots marked, if you could find an online version it would be helpfull.

This may well underline not just the points raised in this thread, but certain other **ahem** discussions that have gone on recently

http://www.essex.police.uk/bikesafe/stats06.htm

[Komplikated]

so they were all involved in accidents with other vehicles??!!

poor kev:(
its not nice when you can put names to those kind of stats :(

[Dal]

This may well underline not just the points raised in this thread, but certain other **ahem** discussions that have gone on recently

http://www.essex.police.uk/bikesafe/stats06.htm

Thats just plain scary :eek:

[S Boy]

I think one of the major factors on rural roads is the condition of them, pot-holes, loose chippings etc. Also farmers are ploughing their fields this time of year and are leaving mud and crap on the roads, some do clean up after themselves,but most can't be arsed. Also horses that crap on rural roads dosn't help either !!!!

:shooter

[harriebird]

no this is true - but don't forget we all have a responsibility to report bad/dangerous conditions to the council. i have reported at least 5 diesel spillages to the highways department in recent weeks, and each time they have been out very quickly to attend to them.

if you report it and someone else crashes etc after you haev reported the problem, then the council *can* be prosecuted for negligence if they have failed to take action. it only takes a phonecall and they are very friendly and helpful.

richard i'll try and email the road safety officer as it was really interesting, in a slightly morbid way, it was only a small map, folded up to credit card size really by the key rings and other tat. food for thought though.

thoughts to those who have lost close friends recently xxxx

[winjaninja]

Considering some of the other threads recently (no picking at healing scabs), it's bloody heartening to see people really thinking about their riding in this context, rather than the speed/kneedown/rozzer running that seems to plague sports bike groups over the last couple of years.

Couple of links for you.

Suffolk IAM (http://www.suffolk-advanced-motorcyclists.com/)

Essex IAM (http://www.cadam.org.uk/)

[harriebird]

yep i agree, a pretty good thread really, this can be quite an emotive subject but it's nice to discuss it in a way where no-one gets shouted down for trying to be sensible AND still have a bit of fun!

[kasandrich]

There are a lot of very young (compared to me anyway LOL) bikers on here, but I am often amazed by the Maturity of those young bikers.

[winjaninja]

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39403000/jpg/_39403399_gits203.jpg

That's us that is:laugh1

[kasandrich]

I mean it, there are 17, 18 and nineteen year olds on here that have more mature attitudes than I did at 30!