Are motorbikes dangerous, or do their riders make them dangerous?

[KirstyJay]

People always say that motorbikes are really dangerous and that there is a higher risk of having an accident on one... but is that really the case, or is it just that the people that choose to ride this typre of vehicle tend to be a bit more 'adventurous' and therefore they ride them in a risker way that makes the likelihood of an accident a lot higher...?

The reason I say this, is that when I'm driving around the roads here in Tenerife, they always seem to do some downright nutty manoeuvres, such as overtaking on blind bends, and zigzagging through traffic, or doing about 50k over the limit... I get the impression that the guys (and gals) riding these bikes are thrill seekers, so if there was a person riding that just wanted to get from A to B safely, then would the reputation of motorbikes be better?

What do you lot think? Are all bike riders nutters, or are bikes dangerous? :D (This is a light-hearted discussion, by the way! I'm not calling all bikers nutters!)

[Goforgold]

Well I've known quite a few bike owners in my time and they were all very careful riders, but all have come off at some time during the ownership of their bikes. The most incidents were cars pulling out in front of them. Bikes are so easy to miss, being hidden by a lampost, or the 'A' post of the windscreen of a car etc. Hitting diesel / potholes was another factor.

[KirstyJay]

Bikes are so easy to miss, being hidden by a lampost, or the 'A' post of the windscreen of a car etc. Hitting diesel / potholes was another factor.Good point... I suppose cyclists have the same problems... so, is it a bit of both then?! :D

[Suej]

I think motor bikes ridden correctly and their riders paying attention to car users that don´t always see them they are perfectly safe. I must admit in all my years of driving I´ve still been given the odd scare when I just haven´t seen them it´s as if they just appear from nowhere but this is always when they are riding way too fast!:moped:

[Sal]

I believe if the rider is a responsible road user they are quite safe - apart from as already mentioned when other vehicle drivers fail to spot them!

[karinagal]

The only time I've been in an accident (as opposed to dropping the bike or it spitting me off..!) was when I was on a roundabout and a car decided to join me in my lane as opposed to waiting for me to pass..... Female on the school run with her head up her chorus and verse... Minor spill, minimum damage..

[dede]

I ride a motorbike as does my hubby and we go on rides most weekends, I think if everyone rode a motorbike at some point in their life it would make everyone more aware of bikers on the roads. I know it must look like some bikers are nutters but what youve got to remember is that there is obviously no need to get in a line of traffic so it looks like your zig zagging as you put it through the traffic, as for overtaking on blind bends well i just wouldnt do this but it may look to the car driver that the biker is doing this when in fact the biker can see alot more than a car can, and can get into spaces far smaller and quicker if need be. MY hubby has been a biker for 44 years and so he has had a couple of accidents but both have been caused by a bad car driver and not his fault. I have fell off mine once but that was also the fault of another car driver. so on a comparison of bikers and car drivers i would say that bikers are more aware of their surroundings therefore are safer riders than car drivers who just dont seem to see bikers. Having said all that there are some bikers that are just on a deathwish but these nearly always end up a statistic unfortunatley that give bikers the bad name. What i should do is attach a camera to me one weekend and show just how many dangerous car drivers there are out there on the road.:cheeky:

[tonypub]

its the car drivers that are dangereous,not seeing the bike n all that.

[marbro8]

went on one once crashed and never been on one since:D

[warbey]

A Motorbike cannot stay upright by Itself as it only has two wheels.
As a Youngster on Roads a lot less busy than nowadays I would ride almost anythingand the Japanese sourced Bikes had not arrived.
During that time I skidded and fell off in Snow, had a speed type wobbleand laid the Bike down
and finally went down a Pot Hole went over the Bars and landed on My Crash helmeted Head.
Woke up in Hozzy two Days Later.
Two weeks later My Mate took Me Home from Hozzy on His Pillion.
Later, overtaking two cars the first Car I was alongside pulled out to overtake
I accelerated away from that but it was a near thing
Conclusion Cars are Safer, Wife (Pillion) agreed.

Quite a few Years later, I bought a 50 cc Honda.
This sipped Petrol and was Ideal to get to and from Work which was Local.
I would go to a Local Traffic congested Town and had some more near misses.

Locally there have been four Deaths of Bikers this last Month.

I loved bikes but in Todays World they are an accident waiting to happen..

[karinagal]

I ride a motorbike as does my hubby and we go on rides most weekends, I think if everyone rode a motorbike at some point in their life it would make everyone more aware of bikers on the roads. I know it must look like some bikers are nutters but what youve got to remember is that there is obviously no need to get in a line of traffic so it looks like your zig zagging as you put it through the traffic, as for overtaking on blind bends well i just wouldnt do this but it may look to the car driver that the biker is doing this when in fact the biker can see alot more than a car can, and can get into spaces far smaller and quicker if need be. MY hubby has been a biker for 44 years and so he has had a couple of accidents but both have been caused by a bad car driver and not his fault. I have fell off mine once but that was also the fault of another car driver. so on a comparison of bikers and car drivers i would say that bikers are more aware of their surroundings therefore are safer riders than car drivers who just dont seem to see bikers. Having said all that there are some bikers that are just on a deathwish but these nearly always end up a statistic unfortunatley that give bikers the bad name. What i should do is attach a camera to me one weekend and show just how many dangerous car drivers there are out there on the road.:cheeky:

Dede, would you agree that being a (safe) biker also makes you a better driver? A biker in a car is always more likely to check the blind spot (known in biking terms as a 'lifesaver') before changing lanes......

[dede]

Dede, would you agree that being a (safe) biker also makes you a better driver? A biker in a car is always more likely to check the blind spot (known in biking terms as a 'lifesaver') before changing lanes......

Yes defo... thats why i said everyone should have a least one go on a bike.

[karinagal]

We each have to take responsibility for our own space on the road and our own actions. The freedom that you get riding a bike is a joy, but it comes with increased risk. As a biker, you have to be aware of the road conditions, your own ability and the limitations of your machine. In addition, you have to be constantly on the lookout for drivers changing lanes while speaking on their mobiles and/or drifting into your lane without looking or because they're too busy trying to read a map/drink coffee/put on make-up as they drive.

The emergency services have a nick name for bikers - they refer to us as organ donors! When you don't have roll bars and air bags, any accident has the potential to cause life threatening injuries.. The crash barriers that prevent cars/trucks from crossing carriageways and reduce their momentum are potentially fatal to a biker thrown from his/her bike...

[sunspot]

I just wish the riders would wear more safety clothes,bare arms and legs is a frightening sight on many a bike

[Davie Thistle]

......it's not the bike or the rider that causes these so called statistics!

it.s the bampots in the cages that DON'T LOOK! that causes 99% of the problems,:nono:

If it was up to me I'd make ALL cage drivers sit a CBT (Compulsary Bike Training)
then they would know & learn the rules of the road,
& APPRECIATE what we bikers have to put up with on a daily basis.

and yeah I'm a car driver, bus driver, bike rider & CBT Instructor.
(35+ years on the road & not an accident or an insurance claim)

I'll be signing autographs in the foyer!!!:crylaughing:

[karinagal]

I just wish the riders would wear more safety clothes,bare arms and legs is a frightening sight on many a bike

Agreed. And it makes one hell of a mess if you come off - I've heard of people who have had their skin/flesh scraped off down to the bone (road rash).. The problem is that in a hot climate most protective gear would be like wearing your own personal sauna!!

[wen53]

Most of the time accidents are caused by car drivers not checking blind spots and other potential areas that a biker may appear. I am a car driver but rode a vespa in my youth, many car drivers are oblivious to bikes/scooters/bicycles. Many times I've waited for a bike to go past at a junction or stayed to the left when a bike is behind me and wants to get past, they have always thanked me.

On another note, having just returned from Tenerife, I always cringe when I see bikers going down the TF1 with just shorts, T-shirt and flip flops on.:dontknow:

[timmylish]

The long and short of it, unfortunately for bikers, if an accident occurs the bikers have the rough end on the extent of the injuries. I personally don,t like the Spanish bikers as I am of the opinion that they create most of the trouble because they don,t understand the machine under them nor the basics of the rules applied to all road users.
I have had the privilege, years ago, to be taken on many rides by a pal in Glasgow who was the ultimate driver having been the road tester for Honda in Europe who also did the Isle of Man T.T. challenges. A real experience. After that I fully understood why women get the thrills they have, sometimes just sitting on some of these machines!

[KirstyJay]

What i should do is attach a camera to me one weekend and show just how many dangerous car drivers there are out there on the road.:cheeky:I'd love to see that video on youtube, as I have to say that I see a lot of idiot drivers too... ;)

I also used to ride a vespa in my youth, but was always really careful of where I went/pulled out/etc. I did drive it in Greece though.

I still check my blind spot every time I pull out and drive at 10 to 2.... however... however well I consider myself to drive, we all have our moments and I often get shocked when I'm driving carefully and get buzzed by bike drivers...

I have to say, I'd love to give it a go, and often went on a bike as a teen with cool boyfriends ;) , so if anyone's up to a trip to my neck of the woods, feel free :D

[slodgedad]

I have ridden motor bikes on and off for 40 odd years and the safest I ever felt was when I lived in Naples, one of the traffic blackspots in the western world.

Probably because cars going more than 2 miles in an hour were unheard of.

It's car drivers that make bikes unsafe.

[Tom & Sharon]

I knew a guy for years who rode a motorbike as a hobby. I don't know what it was, but it was a big one. He was a sensible, professional man with a lovely family.

One day when he was 48, a car hit him and that was it - Goodnight Vienna! That's the problem with them, it doesn't matter how sensible you are, you're still a sitting duck.

His family have never got over it.

[samnickgodber]

Its one of two halves, i rode a 50cc out here for 4 yrs before i took my driving test here, and i was told that just think to your-self all other road users are nutters and you´ll be ok, the trouble with bikers is they tend to get lost in your field of vision (blind spot) and just seem to turn up out of no where, you need to look twice at every junction before you pull out as i said they "just seem to turn up", I personally think its not the bike its other road users including other bikers,

[karinagal]

After that I fully understood why women get the thrills they have, sometimes just sitting on some of these machines!

Ahem..! V-twins every time......!

:P


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- Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

[Nikas]

It depends on the rider. But for me when you are in a car you are in somekind of can of metal. On the motorbike you are open to all dangers.

[MaxineC]

They frighten the life out of me, I cam off a bike at 17 and have never been on another one since. The guy was a very safe rider, but it was oil on the road that caused us to come off, not his incompetence, still enough to put me off though. :(

I also had a friend who killed a biker in an accident. The biker was at fault, but it took my friend many years to get over it, even more than 20 years on he still has times when he remembers it and it upsets him. Our son-in-law also had a very bad biking accident and was in a wheelchair for over 2 years (fully recovered now, and still has a bike! :eek:) so those incidents have put me off even more...

I certainly don't think they're all nutters, far from it, but there is a small percentage with a deathwish and they give they others a bad reputation.

[Pooh]

I've been riding bikes for many many years, even if I don't have any here in Tenerife. But no matter how safe and careful driver you are, you always have to treat every car on the road as a potential assassin, out to kill you. And if something happens, no matter who's at fault, I'm pulling the short straw.... so yes, they are definitely more dangerous than cars, since there ARE cars sharing the road with you, but at the same time a lot of nutters are acting like suicide pilots, making the statistics even worse. (Here they seem to be in majority, leaving their brains at home when getting on a bike... Although that seems to be more or less universal, with certain types of bikes.)

[babybadger]

Ahem..! V-twins every time......!

:P


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- Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

Agreed , V-twins rule , the noisier the better, keep an eye out for White Buell.....

[Goforgold]

This may sound silly, but I think horse riding is even more dangerous than riding a motor bike. I know as many people hurt from falling off horses as I do from falling off bikes.

[Pooh]

This may sound silly, but I think horse riding is even more dangerous than riding a motor bike. I know as many people hurt from falling off horses as I do from falling off bikes.

Oh, definitely worse than motorbikes. I rode horses quite a lot for a few years 20 years ago, but no matter how good rider you are, the horse has it's own mind, and can get scared or whatever.
On the bike I'm in 100% control of what the bike's doing (unless something breaks), but even with well trained horses I never felt it was more the 75%... Just pure luck I never broke my back or neck! (Even though I actually never fell off, ever.)

[Rocketman]

Motorbikes are dangerous because you have virtually no protection in an accident.

[fixer]

Basicly you need to have your witts about you as car drivers seem not to see bikers of course there are bikers who dont give other road user proper consideration only had one accident on the road caused by driver pulling out. My claim to fame is being off at every corner at Knochill but having the correct protection is a must. David
1130 me at Eastfortune on the orange bike last weekend

[Goforgold]

Basicly you need to have your witts about you as car drivers seem not to see bikers of course there are bikers who dont give other road user proper consideration only had one accident on the road caused by driver pulling out. My claim to fame is being off at every corner at Knochill but having the correct protection is a must. David
1130 me at Eastfortune on the orange bike last weekend

Great!! What place did you come David?

[babybadger]

I'd rather be thrown from a bike , than cut out of a car, I've been thrown from a bike and got up and walked away..... being cut from a car leaking petrol is a much scarier prospect. If you treat every car driver as potentially going to knock you off, then motorcycles are as safe as the rider....They out-accelerate and out-brake cars in most circumstances, giving the rider the decision to to manoeuvre quicker than a car driver. Car drivers don't have the same reaction times (yes I drive as well!) Motorcyclists don't have many distractions either.

[fixer]

5th and 6th in my class getting old now used be better and thats a 750 im about to overtake ive got a 400.David

[karinagal]

Basicly you need to have your witts about you as car drivers seem not to see bikers of course there are bikers who dont give other road user proper consideration only had one accident on the road caused by driver pulling out. My claim to fame is being off at every corner at Knochill but having the correct protection is a must. David
1130 me at Eastfortune on the orange bike last weekend

A friend of mine - Stuart McDonald - races at East Fortune occasionally.. do you know him at all? He lost his wife to breast cancer earlier this year. Carolyn and I rode together in Amazon Heart rides.

I've been to BSB at knockhill several times - great wee track as long as it's dry!! Makes for exciting races! OH had a car driving session there - a blooming rabbit ran across the track just before the start/finish line on his last and fastest lap and he braked.. was kicking himself afterwards!!

[fixer]

I know that Stuart rides a 1100 Kawasaki in the same race as me but dont know him personaly thats him in the photo his times are about the same as mine i see but i did beat him. David i know remember speaking to him after the race

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Ian THOMSON

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Stuart MacDONALD

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[babybadger]

A friend of mine - Stuart McDonald - races at East Fortune occasionally.. do you know him at all? He lost his wife to breast cancer earlier this year. Carolyn and I rode together in Amazon Heart rides.

I've been to BSB at knockhill several times - great wee track as long as it's dry!! Makes for exciting races! OH had a car driving session there - a blooming rabbit ran across the track just before the start/finish line on his last and fastest lap and he braked.. was kicking himself afterwards!!

Wet racing is the best, just keep the heat in the tyres.....

[lozzie1821]

I think its a hard 1 to call............ it can depend on the driver sometimes, it can depend on weather or the other person involved in a crash.....

I used to have a moped 50cc, I drove down the back round to parque de la reina, hit a stone after it had been raining and came off my bike ended up with a foot infection 1 week in hosp.. whos fault is it? mine for not seeing the stone? the bad weather??? i had my bike for 3 years and that was the only accident i had..

My friend (18) had a much bigger bike than me.. driving in los cristianos a car took a wrong turning, crashed into my friend and left my friend in a coma for months - the only reason they never turned off life support machine was due to eyelashes flickering.....
Another friend of mine (father of 2 in his 40s) was messing about showing off on his bike lost control and well i wont go into to much detail of outcome but he is no longer with us..

It some situations it is the person on the bike who makes the bike dangerous and sometimes its not the person or the bike....

[karinagal]

I know that Stuart rides a 1100 Kawasaki in the same race as me but dont know him personaly thats him in the photo his times are about the same as mine i see but i did beat him. David i know remember speaking to him after the race

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Ian THOMSON

8

10:17.604

1:15.302

1:15.280

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David ****

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9:06.533

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1:14.824

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75.056



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Stuart MacDONALD

7

9:21.015

14.482

1:16.7

Excellent! Thanks for that!

[carpenter]

Out of interest I wonder if more pedestrians have been killed or seriously injured than motorcyclists?
I frankly don't give a damn if motorcycles are deemed dangerous I love them the bigger the better the louder the better. So many people condemn them for not being safe, bit like all those people that think boxing should be banned or cheese rolling outlawed. The world was a much more fun place before Health and Safety and do-gooders

They don't know how to ride or understand their machines over here. I don't know if anyone remembers a car racing game from the 80's called TCR but that is what the TF1 reminds me of, 2 lanes of fast moving traffic that change lanes without indicating, looking or caring desperately trying to get ahead. Then you see the bikers hurtling along with them wearing nothing more than flip flops and budgie smugglers with an open face helmet so they can still smoke a fag.
They deserve to fall off in my opinion to punish them for there stupidity but I wouldn't wish for any one to see because it shouldn't be them who has to suffer that horror show only the stupid rider.
True you stand a better chance of escaping injury if your in a car in a normal situation but there is a much greater chance of driving off a cliff than riding off one and living up in the mountains like I do I'd choose a bike every time.

[miketikolo]

Well I've known quite a few motorcycle entrepreneurs in my a while to they were all very cautious people, but all have come off at a while during the management of their motorbikes.

[lcbandit]

Past my bike test 25 years ago (currently riding an R1 n 600 bandit), my car test 22 years ago and my lgv 12 months ago!! bikes aren't dangerous its the other idiots on the road who cause the problems most of the time, and as has been mentioned potholes, diesel etc and then you do get the odd idiot who thinks he/she is riding in the TT!
I have fallen off my bike stood still! (yes its embarassing) and been knocked off my bike by some stupid woman, who yes you've guessed it, didn't see me! she also decided after pulling upto the the kirb she wanted to actually turn right just as I went round her!
I believe that a greater awareness needs to be added to the car test and if that means car drivers having to do a stint on a bike so be it, will make them more alert to us bikers!
I also agree riding a bike in flip flops n shorts is bloody madness!

Mandy

[fixer]

Here is me falling off 2 weeks ago not injured as wearing the correct gear now wheres my flip flops. David
2943

[TIS]

.... As a biker, you have to be aware of the road conditions, your own ability and the limitations of your machine. ....QUOTE]

This is the problem though. Bikers, myself included have a much higher assessment of their actual skills, what they think they can do and what they think the bike can do. The main issue being failure to understand just howmuch more difficult it is for bike to stop,particularly in anemergency, as they realistically have no chance of stopping other than in a straightline. Forget about ABS helping you steeraround it ( although bikes are now getting this). Trouble is,you can't really testthis easily on a bike.

I agree that car drivers could do a lot worse than have a day in the life of a biker to appreciate the differences, but I also think bikers should have a compulsory course on trials biking to learn how to really throw a bike around. It certainly helps if in an accident. So much easier to do in a car -Race track in Jerez is a great day out for those car drivers wishing to learn about ESP and all thing to do with speeding and braking under control.

Added after 2 minutes:

[QUOTE=lcbandit;171624]....I also agree riding a bike in flip flops n shorts is bloody madness!

Mandy
Why don't the police book these idiots - its called being proactive to a real danger, and could very well savetheir lifeor at least a few limbs.