Armed Forces Alarmed at the Numbers of Motorcycle Deaths

[elroyjetsn]

A picture is worth a thousand words:



http://hubpages.com/hub/Is-it-time-to-retire-superbikes

[AZ200cc]

It might be worth a cc limit on sport bikes, It seems crazy that a bike can go that much over the speed limit...But than they would have to have limits on sports cars and on tuners.....All of these vehicles go faster than they any person really needs..But again they are only as dangerous as the person riding them same as the cars. If You push it You will kill Yourself and maybe others. Bikes are fun but broken bones or death is not.
People need to be responsible for themselves and the actions they choose, The society now days blames everything else before they blame the people.

[Willys]

I think.....lol
OK...I'm from England. Over htere you are restricted to a cc size untill you have your licience, 250cc if I remember correctly. I had a choice of getting a slow Honda Super Dream250cc or a Suzuki GT 250cc that was capable of 110with 2 up...I sat back and thought for a minute....hmmm..??? OK..I made the wrong choice in my head first and voiced my choice to a few buddies at the pub. One guy who loved to race through the country back roads, single lanes etc...said.....come with me...I said...where??..he said..follow me, I want to show you something..? OK..I say..? He went into the washroom and said...take a look....he dropped his pants and turned his rear towards me...yep..wierd!! His arse was like flesh gravel!!! It healed in a rough lumpy texture from sliding down a road one day and having so bad a case of road rash that it never healed correctly!! He said....I made the wrong decission when I first got my first bike! I bought the GT type bike and wasn't ready for it's power and speed. I wish I had made the other choice he says. He said even his wife couldn't look at his rear for years after it happened!
This little show was like someone smacking me up the side of my head ...it made me choose the slower bike to learn the art of motorcycling on. Did it work? NOPE!!! I still came off within a month of buying it new! I hit a brick at 72 MPH in the fog dragging the pegs going around a lefthander! Not my fault. Sort of..yes going too fast in the fog..maybe? You could make an arguement for that...but that is what happens in England ..everyone does it. It's a different place and a different riding style over there.
Now..If i had bought the speed machine GT..I'm sure I would have been going even faster and the outcome would have been much worse than it was! I got some bad bruising and ripped my protective gear to streds!

I'm now a firm believer that all vehicles are designed and made to go way too fast and exceeding the speed limits . Why do we need such powerful machines? It's only the very young that demand them...once you have got that feel out of your blood..you don't need to go that fast any more. So we need to either govern or make these vehicles go slower..IMHO!

yes you can still kill yourself on a china bike...but it might be a bit hard to achieve it!

This is the reason I ride a KLR myself...I got rid of my Ninja!!!

[lego1970]

I'd have to disagree with you Willy. There are a lot of older guys that run the tracks, and without the high volume sales of sportbikes, your average guy couldn't afford the sportbike, or the trackday. Some people grow out of it, but for some it's a lifelong hobby. Also keep in mind that when the envelope is constantly pushed, technology goes with it. What the engineers learn gets passed down to other vehicles. Some of that technology is used to vehicles more fuel efficent, last longer, and safer both in preventative terms and actual crash worthiness. A lot of that wouldn't be possible if they didn't sell these vehicles to the public. Likewise the public wouldn't buy them if they were trackbike only and couldn't be riden on the street. They are getting a great deal of knowledge based on all the trackday popularity.
There are a lot of people both skilled and non-skilled that get killed on sportbikes but it shouldn't be capped, it should just be respected.

[elroyjetsn]

Maybe there could be an ultimatum! :x

You get caught 2x the posted speed limit, or over 100mph, you face mandatory confiscation of the vehicle and it goes to the crusher, bike or car or truck/lory and 5 days jailtime, or 10,000US fine. (for the first offence)

2nd time, loose vehicle, do a year and 100,000US fine and 6 months community service.

That should slow them down a bit. :wink:

[IronFist]

Originally Posted by elroyjetsn

Maybe there could be an ultimatum! :x

You get caught 2x the posted speed limit, or over 100mph, you face mandatory confiscation of the vehicle and it goes to the crusher, bike or car or truck/lory and 5 days jailtime, or 10,000US fine. (for the first offence)

2nd time, loose vehicle, do a year and 100,000US fine and 6 months community service.

That should slow them down a bit. :wink:

In Toronto, 2X the limit and they take your vehicle. When your insurance company finds out, it's tough to pay the premiums for 3 years. $2-3000 a year-ish. They did crush a car, but I only heard of the 1, racing caused fatality.

[lego1970]

10,000 dollars.....Yikes! I must admit, when I had my sportbikes in the past I would often cruise deep into the triple digits. You get out in parts of the US and there is no other traffic, visiblity is for miles and it's just as safe as cruising the speed limit in a major city. There is a time and place for everything, likewise I understand there has to be rules and punishment if rules broken, but the punishment should fit the crime.
You have bars and grills at every corner and I bet 20% of the people that leave those establishments are legally drunk, yet no one really enforces it. Pot, it's illegal and I know people both rich and poor, from all social classes the smoke it, at work, or driving etc. Unless there is a fatality involved, none of those crimes cost 10,000. Those crimes are just as likely to put others in harms way. There is time and place for everything, law or no law. When I see packs of sportbikes flying by me at night, I get annoyed. Not so much because I fear for my own safety, but because it brings on a bad image to an otherwise enjoyable hobby. I'm not denying a 300 bike flipping around in the air is not a hazard to other motorist, I'm just saying that the punishment should fit the crime. That's just my thoughts, Thanks..

[VinceDrake]

Forgive me for interjecting, but there are a couple of fallacies (sp?) with the Higher fines/Greater consequences argument. First: You have to catch the speeding driver first. i.e. now there's not only a bike doubling the limit, it's being followed by a couple/few 5000lb Crown Vics behind it, desperatly trying to keep up. Second: The operator doesn't care. If you're not worries about splattering yourself into the side of a greyhound, or romping a tire, or puking a wheel bearing at 200km/h You're probably not to worried about what the fine is, or what the insurance company id going to do.

I'm not trying to be a jerk, I just want to point out that maximum consequence does not equal maximum compliance.

I figure we need 4 things:

a. Driver's Exams that expire every 5 years. Everyone gets to re-qualify.

b. Interesting tracks. Not oval or 1/4 mile, but interesting twisty tracks. Sadly lacking, at least in my area. Give people a place to do what they do anyways, and get it off the streets.

c. Licence plate=Cell phone number. Watch people's driving habits improve with this one!

d. You get caught Driving stupidly, you have to drive the government-issued hot-pink E-scooter, painted out with neon-green signs that say,"I'm a girlie little jam-tart who isn't allowed a real bike anymore." 2 trips to the bar with that one should be enough...

Accountability and responsibility. I think one trip on the jam-tart bike would just about do it for me...

--Vince

[IronFist]

Darn it Vince, I like the way you think.

a. Driver's Exams that expire every 5 years. Everyone gets to re-qualify. A car is a dangerous weapon, it should be used like one. If you're un-qualified, you don't belong behind the wheel. But I bet car sales would plummet if people thought they might own a car that they are un-qualified to drive :wink:

b. Interesting tracks. Not oval or 1/4 mile, but interesting twisty tracks. Sadly lacking, at least in my area. Give people a place to do what they do anyways, and get it off the streets.

I wrote earlier that if they had a track with safety controls that the deaths would go down.

c. Licence plate=Cell phone number. Watch people's driving habits improve with this one!

I'm with that :wink:

d. You get caught Driving stupidly, you have to drive the government-issued hot-pink E-scooter, painted out with neon-green signs that say,"I'm a girlie little jam-tart who isn't allowed a real bike anymore." 2 trips to the bar with that one should be enough...

No, make em walk for going 120 in a 60 zone. There is no need to go 120 in a public area.

The Draconian measures don't stop all the racing here, but I hate to admit, it stops a lot of speeding, except the kids with tuner cars. That crowd is willing to commit vehicular homicide to be cool, and too good to get into an accident.

[elroyjetsn]

Good thoughts... the confiscation measure should in theory get many of the worst offender's cars off the street. Call it, smokey pinks or something.. :wink:

[VinceDrake]

Well, here's my problem with Confiscation/crushinating/Auctioning off, etc. If they don't learn, next time they'll run. i.e."I'm not giving my car to the man again!" or some such.

Or course, I'm not a sociological expert or anything, I'm just trying to think what would have burned my anal crevasse more a few short years ago when I was still stupid(er) Personally, losing a car (which I did) just would have (and did) make me angry and bitter, and make (made) me practice more so I could outrun the man.

My theory is, I want them to see the car/bike/whatever while they're driving the Jam-tart bike(tm) and let it burn a little bit that they're driving the jam-tart bike, when they *could* have been driving their Audi A8 or whatever... Kind of a 2 pronged approach, if you catch my drift.

The world's 2 best motivators are shame and greed. I'm trying to use both...

--Vince

[lego1970]

Ok, maybe it's the OJ & Vodka talking but I really like you guys. Like someone else posted in the political thread, it's nice that we can disagree, get along, and keep it civil. It's Friday night, Lionel Richie is playing in the background, Vodka is feeling good, and Sloppy Joes are cooking. Ya,ll take care..........

[AZ200cc]

It is very cool how everyone here seems to be able to get along when we all come from so many differant lifestyles. That's why I stuck around even after I was Chinabikeless

[IronFist]

Me too AZ.
Maybe it's because the people that are willing to own chinabikes, have smaller egos. More practical and less likely to shout. JMHO

[tigertamer]

Me too,
TT