The question...... (How to decrease motorcycle fatalities)

[Rel]

Proof?

False.

 

[DarkAngel452]

I think there are different solutions for different types of riders.

Making track days / riding parks more feasible both financially and locally would be great for the younger sport bike speed enthusiasts.

Requiring insurance, MSF, and liscence for sales would definitely help with newer/returning riders.

Increasing DUI penalties for the riders/drivers, and potentially making alcohol serving institutions more liable/incentive to ensure that people leaving have a safe way home.

With our technology I don't see why there couldn't be virtual driving tests similar to arcade games required to get any/all licensing for both cars and motorcycles that test their understanding of how to handle common and difficult situations, as well as make them more aware of potential risks. I mean it could just be a thing like smog where its done by private entities that give certificates of completion that are required to renew/receive a licenses just in the same way smog checks are done for cars. I'm sure if legislation was passed private buisinesses would jump to serve the clique market like this. I mean imagine having to do a cage driving situation where you are about to turn onto a street, or lane change, and its designed to have a low visibility motorcycle oncoming that would be extremely difficult to avoid even if they were very aware. I think just having them experience the fact that it can happen would go a long way to making them safer drivers. Such scenarios could be setup for a lot of things.

Those are just a few ideas, but they won't solve everything.

 

[DataDan]

The study says that 60% of those involved in accidents had no helmets. Hard to believe. I don't ride much in LA, but I don't remember ever seeing anyone without at least some kind of skid lid here in northern CA.

That list is simply the brief summary of Hurt Report conclusions. The actual report is vastly larger than that and remains the only in-depth analysis of motorcycle crashes in the US. Crashes were studied in the mid-1970s when CA didn't have a helmet law.

According to USDOT data from 2006, 85% of motorcyclists killed in CA were helmeted, 10% were not, and another 3% were listed as "helmets used improperly". I suspect that many of the 10% and the 3% were actually wearing non-compliant helmets.

 

[mookiera]

Sell the cars, fund more cops on the roads.
..

I don't have a problem with selling the cars for a DUI with a certain
BAC a bit more than .08%. But, I don't want to have my own personal
LEO following me on every motorized trip I take. I say take the money
and fund automakers to put blood alcohol testers in every vehicle,
coupled with a fingerprint recording device. And the tester takes another
sample and records the fingerprint again 5 minutes into the trip.

I am not pretending to know what the best answer to the safety dilemnas
are, but I think it isn't right to target any particular type of vehicle for
minor equipment infractions in order to catch other violations(drunk, unlicensed). I can see how that is a great way to verify sobriety and license
compliance. I don't know if riders are any more likely to be unlicensed than
drivers, but I'd be willing to bet that there are a lot more drunk drivers on the road @ any given moment than drunk riders.

 

[ILOAD2]

Proof?

I can only speak to what I have directly seen.

Clearly. CLEARLY. There is selective enforcement occuring on a small 7 mile stretch of highway in Santa Cruz County-Highway 9@Highway 236 North to Skyline Blvd.intersection. To the point of RECKLESS endangerment tactics employed by "law enforcement".I use that term VERY loosely in regards to the park rangers that have taken up the duties of traffic enforcement.

Not to mention the "walk through" inspections of various agency's,of the 4 corners parking lot.ONLY inspecting "sport" motorcycles.

Tell me? Is the piece of angle steel used to measure license plate "angle" a certified,California state issued inspection device?

 

[mookiera]

LEO's aren't profiling sport bikes. Yes, they have had a lot of attention recently, but you know as well as I do, that the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
By "profiling" bikes we got a lot of unlicensed riders off the roads. By towing as many bikes as we can, we "in theory" save lives. By enforcing vehicle code violations, we remove as many impaired drivers as possible.

Saving lives is the goal, isnt it?

Proof?
Profiling?
Sounds like that's what you are calling it, except when you
are calling it 'not profiling'.
Looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck . . .
If you take all the motorcycles off the road you will have no more
drunk riders, unlicensed riders or dead riders. Great plan.

I would bet that the LEO leaders are assuming that the program
that you develop will come with recommendations aimed more at
riders than at drivers, when it is clear that a high percentage of
rider deaths are cause by drivers.
Now if only we can find a way to get all the terrorists, rapists,
child molesters and murderers to start riding sport bikes with illegal mods, we could quickly make this world a better much better place to live.

 

[mookiera]

Of the 8 deaths in San Jose.....

4 were cruisers
4 were sportbikes

Of the 4 cruisers, three had alcohol in their system.

Sounds like all the evidence you need to start 'not profiling' cruisers.

But, back to your original post and what to do about it...
One other factor to consider in tackling this serious problem of deaths is
that motorcycle usage is likely to continue its meteoric rise in the coming
years as energy prices remain high and traffic congestion increases. I
still don't what the answers will be, but I'm glad you are opening your
research up to the wide, varied and totally affected minds of the
bikers here on BARF.

 

[Rel]

LEO enforcement goes where the complaints are. As for the "angle" steel device, I have no idea of what you speak.

No bullshit. I have no idea.

Tell me? Is the piece of angle steel used to measure license plate "angle" a certified,California state issued inspection device?

 

[ST Guy]

Mandatory and comprehensive training before getting a license. Maybe tiered licensing.

 

[Rel]

I dont have the answer, but someone out there does.

I still don't what the answers will be, but I'm glad you are opening your research up to the wide, varied and totally affected minds of the bikers here on BARF.

 

[Diezel]

The problem is, what does the seller say if the purchaser's family says the purchaser didn't have a license?

Wouldn't that basically be fraud, or falsification of a legal document?

Requiring a M1 to purchase? Nope. What about collectors who never ride?
I purchased my first car at age 14. I did not have a license nor did I ever drive it. I did tear it apart and rebuild it then sold it before I got a license. (MGTD)

How about, Tough Shit? Why should a collector be any different. Meet the "legal reqirements" of ownership like everyone else.
OR, Take the legal route, NON-OP.

CA DMV's way it was done: A "minor" without a license could not technically own a vehicle (or at least this is how it was, when I got my VW @ 15)... So it was registered to my dad. Once i was "legal" then it was transfered to me. Hmm so much for following the law right?

All registered non-op I imagine....
-jim

You would think, a smart collector... Would take this option, vs the amount of money it would be if all were currently street registered. There for if not "registered for street use", a license, registration, and insurance requirements go right out the window. Up until the owner does something retarded like take it out on a public road.

 

[mookiera]

LEO enforcement goes where the complaints are. .

My complaints are:
1.) Cars are killing bikers at an alarming rate.
2.) Young sportbikers are getting me profiled.
3.) Young sportbikers are young sportbikers and I'm not.

 

[Rel]

We are working on #1.

I too am a victim of #2.

I agree with #3.

My complaints are:
1.) Cars are killing bikers at an alarming rate.
2.) Young sportbikers are getting me profiled.
3.) Young sportbikers are young sportbikers and I'm not.

 

[TheRiddler]

I crashed at 17 (little over a year ago) the first week on my bike. I had taken the MSF and had my permit. It was actually one week after I finished the MSF, and I had my C license for almost a year at this point. I had ridden my bike every day during that week. And I was riding a 40hp bike (Ninja 500).

A couple things that probably would've kept it from happening:

- Trackday. Ripping the throttle open in a controlled environment, because that's all I wanted to do when I got on that bike. If you could get a way to discount trackdays for new riders (less than 6 months?), I'd be all over that.

- Ride2Die.com. I hadn't seen that site before I crashed, and I didn't even come close to realizing the severity of what a motorcycle crash can do.

- Motorcycle to car speed comparison. You don't realize how much faster even slow bikes are in a straight line than the average car if you don't see it in person. Have a Corolla next to a Ninja 250 at the MSF course, and have them both do a 0-60 side-by-side (with the 250 rider being experienced). Then do it with a 600 supersport. That'd let me clearly see the difference.

 

[NorCal Factory]

Reduced insurance rates that incent specific training each year.

Tiered licensing tied to age/ experience and training. More training events directed at new bike buyers and younger riders.

One example is the event at a local college.

 

[brichter]

Wouldn't that basically be fraud, or falsification of a legal document?

Fraud on whom? The seller, if the buyer furnished a license? Buyer may have used a fake, and how is the seller to verify the status of every prospective buyer's license, especially when that data is held confidential by the state?

And what if the buyer didn't provide a license? He's dead, no legal recourse there if he did use a fake, but how to prove the seller didn't pull the number out of his ass just to satisfy the requirement when the buyer didn't have a license and he wanted to make the sale?

 

[ex911]

For the drunk riders: have severe penalties for riding-under-the-influence: like loss of license for a year for the first offense. And make the threshold much lower, like 0.04 or even zero tolerance.

For the moving violators: tiered licensing like they do in Europe.

 

[brichter]

For the drunk riders: have severe penalties for riding-under-the-influence: like loss of license for a year for the first offense. And make the threshold much lower, like 0.04 or even zero tolerance.

For the moving violators: tiered licensing like they do in Europe.

Then you'll have all the motorcycle riders complaining that they're being unfairly singled out, as if we don't have enough of those threads already.

Moving violators: tiered licensing won't help. If they're gonna break the law, they're gonna break it. Doesn't matter if it's on a 250 or a liter bike.

Tiered licensing will help save the n00bs from their own inexperience, however.

 

[Blacknblue]

Based on my informal readings I've taken some personal actions:
1. I don't drink and ride. Period.
2. I'm careful with my entrance speed into turns.
3. I wear a yellow helmet with refective tape and a reflective "halo."
4. I take extra caution at all intersections.

Every little bit helps and these are the biggies statistically if I recall correctly.

 

[CABilly]

A little radical, but what about mandating something like the MSF to be taken along with the already-mandated driver's training for kids - and people getting their first CA license (covers imigrants and out of state transplants as well)? Without completing that requirement, only a provisional permit would be issued. That might help with the awareness factor when it comes to cagers. I think it would also open the door to the moto world to a lot of people who may have ruled it out, thinking they couldn't do it or for some reason it wasn't for them.

Teired licensing would be a plus, too. If for no other practical reason than providing more cool options beyond the boring Rebel/Virago/Ninjette trifecta for n00bs, I would support it.