PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - If this story won't convince you to stop riding motorcycles, don't know what will

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Quote:

Originally Posted by jplinville (Post 2738521)

That's it! Im going to sell my Harley and Big Dog due to this thread....
Puhlease...

The invisible pimp hand of Darwin at work.

Ever notice that in nearly all WWII movies, the Germans with the cycle and sidecar are usually the first to go. :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by WVOtoGO (Post 2738463)

Absolutely right !!
Especially if you’re flying along and you have a head-on with a white Chevy pickup truck.
Odds of survival there, are pretty slim.
:D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isvboSZssIA&NR=1

Quote:

Originally Posted by tjts1 (Post 2738524)

The invisible pimp hand of Darwin at work.

Lemme put it this way...just because one rider wasn't aware enough of his surroundings and didn't ride in a defensive manner doesn't mean that I'm changing my habits. Stupidity runs both ways when riding, and it's the riders job to keep aware enough of ALL dangers.

I was thrown off of a Kawasaki many years ago due to being hit by a deer at night. It didn't keep me off the bike, it showed me that there are dangers other than morons on the road.

You speak of Darwin? Then that crash was natures way of weeding out the weak.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/20/ryan-dunn-dead-jackass-star-car-crash_n_880322.html

Drunks kill others than bikers: sometimes themselves & their passengers....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Txjake (Post 2738594)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/20/ryan-dunn-dead-jackass-star-car-crash_n_880322.html

Drunks kill others than bikers: sometimes themselves & their passengers....

For all the loud obnoxious motorcycles on the road I didn't realize that bikers were so desperate to divert attention away from themselves. Weird.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Txjake (Post 2738594)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/20/ryan-dunn-dead-jackass-star-car-crash_n_880322.html

Drunks kill others than bikers: sometimes themselves & their passengers....

All those guys live right in my area, would often see them around. That's one stretch of road that is highly prone for deer, they were also doing a ton of construction on it last time I was there not too long ago which could also be pretty dangerous (bumpy, grooved pavement, etc). Sad sad sad.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tjts1 (Post 2738627)

For all the loud obnoxious motorcycles on the road I didn't realize that bikers were so desperate to divert attention away from themselves. Weird.

:confused: uh...this makes so little sense, I am not sure how to answer you. No diversion, we had talked about DUIs killing folks. Here is an example of a famous jackass offing himself & a buddy drunk n driving fast. If you dont like motorcycles, fine. Nobody is going to make you ride one of those loud obnoxious and scary things. :rolleyes: All bikers ask is that you dont kill them due to inattention or other poor driving habits. :) Have a nice day....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eskimo (Post 2738428)

Seriously: Can you point to any relevant statistics comparing the risks?

No problem, 1 post is all it takes right?

Quote:

Russian Plane Crash Kills 44
by The Associated Press

text size A A A June 20, 2011 A passenger jet crashed in heavy fog late Monday on a highway in northwestern Russia, killing 44 people, officials said. Eight people survived the crash.

The Tu-134 plane, belonging to the RusAir airline, was en route from Moscow to the city of Petrozavodsk, Emergencies Ministry spokeswoman Olga Semyonova told The Associated Press.

Her ministry said in a website statement that 44 people were killed. Eight survivors, including a 10-year-old boy, were hospitalized in critical condition in Petrozavodsk.

Semyonova said the plane went down on its final approach to the airport in Petrozavodsk, making a crash landing about a mile short of the runway. It was unclear if the plane had attempted to land on the road, or just happened to fall there, she said. Petrozavodsk is in Karelia province, near the Finnish border, about 400 miles northwest of Moscow.

Authorities had no immediate explanation for the accident, but the Interfax news agency quoted the airport director Alexei Kuzmitsky as saying there were "unfavorable weather conditions."

Russian news agencies reported there may have also been problems with runway illumination.

Photographs on the ministry website showed fragments of metal strewn across a road as a thick fog hung over woodland in the background. A landing gear jutting out from the ground was the only recognizable plane part.

The plane was carrying 52 people, including nine crew members, Semyonova said. Russian news agencies said Russian Premier League soccer referee Vladimir Pettay and a Swedish citizen were among the victims.

The Karelia branch of the Emergencies Ministry said radio contact with the pilot was lost at 11:40 p.m. local time (7:30 p.m. EDT). The black box flight data recorders have been recovered, the news agencies said.

The crash occurred on the eve of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's planned appearance Tuesday at the Paris Air Show to support dozens of Russian firms seeking sales contracts.

Russia and the other former Soviet republics have some of the world's worst air traffic safety records, according to the International Air Transport Association.

Experts blame weak government controls, poor pilot training and a cost-cutting mentality for the poor safety record, leading to emergency landings being reported with alarming regularity.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski was among 96 people killed when his Tu-154 crashed in heavy fog while trying to land near the western city of Smolensk in April 2010. In 2006, three crashes — two in Russia and one in Ukraine — killed more than 400 people.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eskimo (Post 2738428)

Seriously: Can you point to any relevant statistics comparing the risks?

Like this ?

A little old. But interesting.

http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/portal/site/PHMSA/menuitem.ebdc7a8a7e39f2e55cf2031050248a0c/?vgnextoid=8524adbb3c60d110VgnVCM1000009ed07898RCRD&vgnextchannel=c442adbb3c60d110VgnVCM1000009ed078 98RCRD&vgnextfmt=print

Funny this showed up.
Sunday I was following a crotch-rocket piloted by a 50s-ish guy wearing only sandles, cargo-shorts, t-shirt ("Back To The Fifties" themed) and no brain-bucket...everything you shouldn't be doing...he was doing...

We're heading north on Hwy 93 and coming up to the median split about 3 miles south of I-94 on the south side of Eau Claire...he goes over to the left lane of the two-laner and is slowing passing a mini-van...I'm behind the mini-van (right lane) and then it starts...

Mini-van-airhead starts to drift right into numb-nutz-biker...

I lay on the horn, the biker looks at the MV JUSTINTIMETOPULLOUTOFTHEVISEANDGETPASTTHEF#@$HEADINTHEMV!!!

QUESTION: Which of those two airheads needed a swift kick in the @55 and the other a good hard visit to the head with a tire-iron? Or BOTH???

Rhetorical question. :rolleyes:

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Swede (Post 2738438)

Texting drivers could be a big issue for mc riders.

x2.

Ive been hit several times on my bicycle, last time recently, IMO more dangerous to ride a bicycle on the road than a motorcycle, but way more dangerous for both in the last couple of years. Motorcycle can at least keep up with traffic, giving you more time. Stopped riding on anything but bike paths, seems like every idiot on the road is texting some other idiot a stream of inane commentary.

Quote:

IMO more dangerous to ride a bicycle on the road than a motorcycle

I think so too.

Have you ever tried to ride a road bicycle at night with a rechargeable battery powered headlight and flashing red tail light. It is almost like that tail lite is a target:eek:. I did it one time and that was all it took for me.

This thread will not keep me off of the motorscooter and motorcycle. If I die doing it then I will have passed on doing what I enjoy doing almost as good as wrenching:).

Quote:

Originally Posted by WVOtoGO (Post 2739215)

Yes, that's the sort of information I had in mind when I asked about "relevant statistics comparing the risks".

I find risk perception to be an interesting topic.

The bottom line is with a car you have something around you, to give you a fighting chance in the event of an accident.

On a bike you have nothing, you are the crumple zone.

One of my uncles tenants was killed 6 months ago on his bike when some distracted lady in an SUV pulled out in front of him. If he had been in a car/truck chances are he would have walked away.