When I was in my third year of rehab residency, I ran into a friend of mine named Steve at the hospital where I was rotating. I knew Steve from med school and I hadn't seen him in about two years. We had about five minutes to catch up before we had to go our separate ways. I still remember the conversation:
Steve: "So how's PM&R residency?"
Me: "We see some pretty crazy things. Are you still riding that motorcycle?"
Steve: "Yeah... sometimes..."
Me: "I've just seen some horrible motorcycle accidents. I mean, people get really badly hurt in those accidents. I think about half our patients right now were injured on motorcycles."
Steve: "Oh, yeah?"
Me: "You really have to be out of your mind to ride a motorcycle. We have one guy who is paralyzed from the neck down, and then another lady who--"
Steve: "Actually, I have to go now."
Later I was looking back on that conversation and I couldn't believe I spent my entire time with a friend I hadn't seen in years warning him about how likely he was to get badly hurt on his motorcycle. But I feel that passionately about it.
Think about your car. Say you have a new car with all the safety features. You've got a seatbelt. You've got airbags everywhere. You've got a shell of metal protecting you. And some new cars have head injury protection. And even with all that, people still get badly injured or killed in car accidents.
So what have you got on a motorcycle? A helmet? (If you're lucky.)
I think the statistic is that you're more than thirty times more likely to be badly injured in a motorcycle crash than a car crash. Maybe this is my problem for being scared of taking risks. I'd never jump out of a plane, but this is something that people do. It's not a matter of debate that jumping out of a plane is much riskier than what I do, which is not jump out of a plane.
I have just seen a LOT of really horrible motorcycle accidents. Bad head injuries, bad spinal cord injuries, amputations. Yes, I've seen more people badly injured from car accidents, but it's not like you can avoid driving in this day and age. You can, however, avoid weaving in and out of highway traffic on a bike going 80 miles per hour.
Also, do you know why motorcyclists wear leather jackets and leather pants? Not to be badass. It's because if you fall off the bike, it helps keep your skin from being shredded.
So that's why I think people who ride motorcyles are out of their minds.
(And dirtbikes too.)
My BIL, on the day before his oldest child's first birthday, was riding his bike. Out in the boonies, speed limit is 55 mph, which he was doing.
ReplyDeleteA deer came out of nowhere, he hit it and lost control of his bike. He ended up on the road. The car behind him narrowly missed running over him.
Thank god for leather, as he was sore from hitting the ground at 55 mph, but no road rash.
Bike was sold shortly thereafter.
Some people carry huge life insurance policies on their motorcycle riding spouses/SO's Not that I know any of those..uhem.
ReplyDeleteOur health insurance also knows he rides...I'm not sure why we still have a policy. I wouldn't want to chance it if I were a health insurance co.
I just read parts of this post to my brother, who already does 90 mph weaving between cars on the highway while in a jeep. He's adament about getting a motorcycle but my whole family is trying to deter him. Hopefully this helps.
ReplyDeleteDon't waste your breath. If the kids of my rehab colleagues get motorcycles, I think that's proof no story can dissuade a person.
DeleteThe stupidity is in the lack of protective gear, not riding a motorbike. Watched a guy yesterday come off at 130mph, sprawled out rolling across the ground for 50m, then get up straight away and run to switch off his motorbike - he was perfectly fine. 90% of the problem is in the gear (or lack thereof).
ReplyDeleteNope. The stupidity is with both. It's just that if you're riding one without protective gear, you're even stupider.
DeleteWell, don't I feel dumb paying for all those safety features in my car when all I need to protect injury when going 130 mph is a helmet and some leather pants. We should spread the word!
Deletethink $1000 helmet, spine protector, neck brace, calf length boots, knee pads, kevlar, airbags (google airbag motorbike jacket). A helmet and some leather pants will do nothing...but if you get some decent gear - it goes a long way to preventing injury
DeleteTwo of my good friends, who were engaged, had motorcycles, gear, helmets and everything. One of them told me that she never rides at night, when she's in a bad mood, when it MIGHT TERRIBLY POSSIBLY rain or snow, on a main road and when she knows there will be a lot of traffic. Often times, they'd just ride them to/from school on back roads, where there was minimal traffic.
ReplyDeleteStill, I was very relieved when they got rid of them.
I ride. and I ride like a car. I stay in my lane and don't weave. And yes, I have come off my bike (full protective gear) ..on an oil spill. It happens and its part of biking, you accept that when you get on.
ReplyDeleteBut life without any risk? I mean how much do you want to coccoon yourself? Right now I dont' have a bike - I can't afford it, and in Alberta, its a 5 month a year hobby, not a year round transport - but I will again.
It's not possible to live life with no risk obviously. My personal opinion is that the risk of motorcycles is too high. But I do not have a thrill seeking personality. Certainly it's possible to live a full life without riding on a motorcycle.
DeleteEvery time I think of getting a bike I go to switch lanes in my car and (since I always double check my mirrors) *happen* to see one on my tail or right where I'm about to merge and I remember why I'm driving a car: Cars are easier to see and I like having something between me and an oncoming vehicle.
ReplyDeleteI still think they look like fun though, and they'd do wonders for my fuel costs.
My boyfriend in high school had a bike and I loved spending entire weekends on that damn thing. I loved it. I will always love bikes, and love the rush. But I fell off once and got some really bad skin grazing - I was lucky. And I've driven past too many horrific accidents. So no bike for me anymore.
ReplyDeleteAs for lecturing your friend... I have the same thing happening to me when I meet up with old friends and they're chainsmokers. But I've sort-of got the whole balance-the-conversation thing going these days.
It is a very personal thing. Frankly, it's one of my regrets that I've never learned to ride a motorcycle and never will be able to.
ReplyDeleteDo you know what riders call someone who rides without protective clothing on? A squid. Because that's what you look like if you slide on the road.
Smart riders know the risks. They spend lots of money on a good helmet and the best riding gear they can. The biggest danger is the cars on the road who ignore them or tailgate them as if they were a car. The 2nd biggest danger, in my unhumble opinion, are the other riders who do not behave - weaving in and out of traffic, speeding for no reason, changing lanes without signals, tailgating themselves, etc. who give a bad name to all the good, safe riders out there, and who help car drivers assume all motorcycle riders are selfish jerks.
But in the end it is like any other high risk thing. Kinda like skydiving, only on the roads with a zillion other idiots.
Where I live, people drive like maniacs. A friend of mine got into three car accidents in the last year while just sitting still in traffic or at a light. I feel like in a motorcycle, you're a sitting duck.
DeleteMy paramedic friends always called motorcycles "donorcycles" because patients in motorcycle accidents were usually only good for the donation of those of their organs that weren't too badly damaged from the crash.
ReplyDeleteWe call the guys who ride without helmets "organ donors."
Deletewe call 'em donorcyclists
DeleteI used to LOVE riding motorcycles. But a few years ago my best friend's brother got into a really bad accident. He had broken ribs and lost ALL his front teeth! Yep, both the upper and lower. And not just that, he swallowed at least half of those teeth! Yuck!
ReplyDeleteSo what do you think about commuting via bicycle. I am planning on riding my bike about two miles each way for the next three years that I am in nursing school. I follow the law, wear a helmet and try to avoid busy streets? Am I asking to be turned into roadkill?
ReplyDeleteMy stepdad actually got a liver transplant and the previous owner was a motorbike rider. No joke.
I tend to think bicycles are a little safer, if only because of the places people ride them. Nobody (sane) rides a bicycle on the highway. I actually haven't seen very many bad bicycle accidents. It seems like cyclists are most likely to get hit when a car is making a turn and doesn't see them, which means the car probably isn't going all that fast.
DeleteA long time ago, my husband used to ride a bicycle *without a helmet*, claiming he was going along a bike path where there were no cars. Needless to say, I'd never let him get away with that anymore.
My cousin died riding a bicycle. She just finished college, got married and starting her life. She was not wearing a helmet and when she was hit by a very slow-moving car, she fell over and hit her head on the curb. No broken bones but the impact on her skull turned out to be fatal. I guess she wasn't wearing a helmet because she was riding in her residential neighborhood. She was an only child and the grief just about killed her parents.
DeleteOk I will wear my helmet every single time religiously.
DeleteA lot depends on the rider himself/herself. If you ride around on your motorcycle without a helmet or protective gear, you're just plain stupid and in Belgium (where I'm from) it's even illegal. And just wearing a leather jacket and pants doesn't really cut it either, there's motorcycle clothing out there with fortified pieces around the most sensitive areas (back, shoulder, elbow, knee) of your body that helps break your fall.
ReplyDeleteBut you can be a careful rider, never weave and always keep your distance.. until some nitwit ignores a stop light or looks down to send a text and runs you over.
Regardless of all this, I'm still getting my motorcycle license. That probably makes me an idiot too =P.
Just going to nod my head after Fizzy.
ReplyDeleteJacob, unless you can pedal that bicycle to the tune of 80 mph, I'd say you are quite a bit safer than the average Hell's Angel.
We can finally rest assured, safe in the knowledge that NO MOTORCYCLE is equivalent to NO DEATH!
ReplyDeleteYou have finally discovered the ultimate cure. I was going to add another motorcycle to my stable - but not now!! No way! I am going to sell off my other two bikes, especially the one I drive insanely between cars at over 80 miles an hour - what was I thinking!! And now use my helmet and gear to drive my armor-like SUV into old age and (if I'm lucky) a slow and pain filled demise. Next: I would like to uncover the hidden dangers of keeping and minimizing the dangers of in our homes, aand it to mention around defenseless children - the biggest threat in a generation: I speak of the house cat!! Commonly known as PUSSIES!! (Pleasee feel free to use my lack of grammer, puntcuation and coherent thought to say that I prove your point! I only write under anonymous b/c I can't figure out all this technology.)
"Live long and prosper dweebs!"
Good thing that pussies don't drive motorcycles!
DeleteLucky for us that motorcyclist are organ donors or we'd never find any balls!
DeleteI'm glad motorcyclist are "organ donors" or we'd never get any balls!!
ReplyDeleteI'll never understand you doctors. You're smart people, but you have no concept of marketing! Instead of nagging people not to ride, you should be encouraging them! You'll get that much more business!
ReplyDelete(said tongue in cheek, of course)
I feel similarly in terms of the risks of riding motorcycles being much greater than the benefits. In some developing countries, motorcycles are used like taxis as on-the-spot for hire transportation (vs. cars, which are expensive and rare). I had a friend & fellow med student who was volunteering abroad and had to ride on one of those motorcycles after his other ride plans fell through. He didn't have a helmet since he hadn't been planning on being on a motorcycle. After a hit & run accident, he suffered massive head trauma and ended up passing away after a few days in the ICU. Due to visa complications, his parents arrived not too long before he passed away.
ReplyDeleteI can fully understand why Peace Corps volunteers are officially forbidden from riding on motorcycles.
On the other hand you would loose half you patient population if they outlawed motorcycles. I know of several responsible bikers out there, but then you pair that what the idiots we passed/passed us yesterday weaving in and out of traffic going 90 during rush hour (at least they were wearing helmet, which is now optional thanks to a recent repeal of the helmet law in our state) I wonder if it is the idiots that make up most of the injuries or the responsible rider that gets hit by a car driver not paying attention?
ReplyDelete