(Untitled)

[littlesnowy]

I just heard a terrifying statistic

1% of road users were motorbikes (2005)
20% of road deaths were motorbikes (2005)

and apparenlty in 2005 there were 569 deaths of motorcyclists on the road.

that means there were 2845 road deaths

and i think they said its gone up the last two years! 

Comments

[copper13]

And I *still* want one. Just cos they are so cool. It's a pretty offputting statistic tho, I heard it last year some time :-(

[meus_profiteor]

The thing about bikes is that they're a lot less forgiving when compared to, say, a car.

It only takes a glancing clip or strong gust of wind set in motion a rapid chain of events leading to a broken neck and one dead motorcyclist.

That said, a lot of those deaths are down to inadequate training, both of the motorcyclists themselves, and of other motorists. Something that was drilled in to me when I was doing my Class 2 lessons (and was reiterated by the examiner) was to be especially careful of motorcyclists who may not realise that overhanging bits of your vehicle swing out in unexpected ways.

It's not always down to someone going too fast either. A common saying among advanced driving cicles is that "It's not speed that kills, but the inappropriate use of speed." Most accidents, both fatal and otherwise, they can be pretty much avoided by everyone being a little more vigilant and keeping an extra eye out for small and fast moving bikers.

Besides, one day I'll get my Cat-A licence... one day :-D