Post by FightingFalcon on Jun 15, 2006 2:52:57 GMT -8
Someone posted this on a Kawasaki message board...you can imagine how we all reacted. Everytime a non-rider writes about motorcycles, it's always "over-powered machines", "extremely dangerous", "idiotic", etc. I'm beginning to really hate non-riders...
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Letters to the editor should be sent to feedback@ott.sunpub.com
Head's up for 'idiotic' motorcyclists
By EARL McRAE
In my opinion, only idiots drive motorcycles. What got me thinking again of motorcyclists as idiots was quarterback Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers who's in serious condition today from injuries suffered when he crashed his motorcycle into a car and idiotically wasn't wearing a helmet because he idiotically chose not to for he idiotically wasn't required to in Pennsylvania that idiotically doesn't have a mandatory helmet law and it'll be interesting to see if Ben Roethlisberger when he recovers decides that busted nose, busted jaw, busted teeth, banged up head, lacerated face, were not enough to make him wear a helmet doing something that's potentially far more dangerous to his cranium and life than playing football where he wears a helmet and will continue to do so should his idiot thinking not have ended his career.
When I saw on TV the shattered car windshield that met the naked head and face of Ben Roethlisberger, I got to thinking of the 10% of motorcycle idiots nationally who idiotically defy the provincial helmet laws from coast to coast and who, with their helmeted brethren, idiotically take macho delight in idiotically thundering up behind us, idiotically rocketing in and out of the traffic without any regard for safety, not hearing our "YOU %$#@ IDIOT," nor caring if they did.
Motorcycle helmets, which have been mandatory in all of Canada for decades, won't save the lives or brain functions of all motorcyclists in serious crashes, but Ray Marchand says more lives and brain functions will be saved by wearing helmets.
"If Roethlisberger had been wearing a proper helmet with a full visor, even a partial visor, he wouldn't have sustained the injuries he did," says Ray Marchand, expert, in that his two titles with the Canada Safety Council are (a) National Co-Ordinator of the Motorcycle Rider Training Program and (b) Manager of Traffic Safety and Training, to say nothing of the fact he owns and rides two motorcycles himself, a 2004 Triumph Bonneville, a 1987 BMW R65, and the only "spill" he had was 32 years ago on a dark, rain-slicked road when he was 17 before a helmet law, but was wearing a full-face one anyway -- and saved his head from more serious injury -- because as a summer tow truck driver, "I saw the motorcyclists' blood on the road at accident scenes."
While to me motorcyclists are recklessness-dating idiots flirting with death, I must admit Ray Marchand -- exception -- provides statistics that surprise me.
For example: The year for the latest stats, 2004, there were 409,000 registered motorcyclists in Canada, and 199 deaths. In 2003: 373,000 cyclists, 177 deaths; 2002: 350,000 cyclists, 172 deaths; 2001: 318,000 cyclists, 157 deaths; 2000: 311,000 cyclists, 173 deaths.
He doesn't have injury stats. The last year for Ottawa, 2005 -- two driver deaths, 80 injuries, out of some 17,000 cyclists. "Only 2% of accidents are fatal, half that due to impairment."
In 1973, the last year without the CSC's nation-wide motorcycle training program (85% of Ontario cyclists have taken it), and with far fewer motorcycles, fatalities peaked nationally at 903.
Also surprising: "The average pre-crash speed is only 49 km/h. Most collisions are in-town, at intersections with a vehicle. The other main reasons are going too quickly on rural roads, around turns, and the other is impairment. About 10% of fatalities are because helmets were not worn, or not tied on. Poor judgment and inexperience are main factors in causing the accidents."
And: "The likelihood of a collision for an experienced motorcyclist is the same as the likelihood of a collision for an experienced car driver. There are more fatalities in scuba diving and sky diving."
In individual-freedom-fetish America, 30 states repealed their helmet laws.
One was Florida. "The maverick woman motorcyclist who led the repeal movement," says Marchand, "was killed in a motorcycle accident two weeks after the repeal. Head injuries."
But there's one unacceptable flaw in Canada that needs to be addressed.
Protective visors. Full, three-quarter, and half. Some helmets come with them. They can be removed. And too often are.
Ray Marchand: "I could never ride without the proper, facial protection. But visors are not mandatory. They should be. Not only for protecting the face in an accident, but wind pressure deforms the cornea causing trouble calculating distance and seeing objects. Bugs can fly into the eyes, causing an accident. I feel visors should be mandatory in the form of legislation."
=============================================
Letters to the editor should be sent to feedback@ott.sunpub.com
Head's up for 'idiotic' motorcyclists
By EARL McRAE
In my opinion, only idiots drive motorcycles. What got me thinking again of motorcyclists as idiots was quarterback Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers who's in serious condition today from injuries suffered when he crashed his motorcycle into a car and idiotically wasn't wearing a helmet because he idiotically chose not to for he idiotically wasn't required to in Pennsylvania that idiotically doesn't have a mandatory helmet law and it'll be interesting to see if Ben Roethlisberger when he recovers decides that busted nose, busted jaw, busted teeth, banged up head, lacerated face, were not enough to make him wear a helmet doing something that's potentially far more dangerous to his cranium and life than playing football where he wears a helmet and will continue to do so should his idiot thinking not have ended his career.
When I saw on TV the shattered car windshield that met the naked head and face of Ben Roethlisberger, I got to thinking of the 10% of motorcycle idiots nationally who idiotically defy the provincial helmet laws from coast to coast and who, with their helmeted brethren, idiotically take macho delight in idiotically thundering up behind us, idiotically rocketing in and out of the traffic without any regard for safety, not hearing our "YOU %$#@ IDIOT," nor caring if they did.
Motorcycle helmets, which have been mandatory in all of Canada for decades, won't save the lives or brain functions of all motorcyclists in serious crashes, but Ray Marchand says more lives and brain functions will be saved by wearing helmets.
"If Roethlisberger had been wearing a proper helmet with a full visor, even a partial visor, he wouldn't have sustained the injuries he did," says Ray Marchand, expert, in that his two titles with the Canada Safety Council are (a) National Co-Ordinator of the Motorcycle Rider Training Program and (b) Manager of Traffic Safety and Training, to say nothing of the fact he owns and rides two motorcycles himself, a 2004 Triumph Bonneville, a 1987 BMW R65, and the only "spill" he had was 32 years ago on a dark, rain-slicked road when he was 17 before a helmet law, but was wearing a full-face one anyway -- and saved his head from more serious injury -- because as a summer tow truck driver, "I saw the motorcyclists' blood on the road at accident scenes."
While to me motorcyclists are recklessness-dating idiots flirting with death, I must admit Ray Marchand -- exception -- provides statistics that surprise me.
For example: The year for the latest stats, 2004, there were 409,000 registered motorcyclists in Canada, and 199 deaths. In 2003: 373,000 cyclists, 177 deaths; 2002: 350,000 cyclists, 172 deaths; 2001: 318,000 cyclists, 157 deaths; 2000: 311,000 cyclists, 173 deaths.
He doesn't have injury stats. The last year for Ottawa, 2005 -- two driver deaths, 80 injuries, out of some 17,000 cyclists. "Only 2% of accidents are fatal, half that due to impairment."
In 1973, the last year without the CSC's nation-wide motorcycle training program (85% of Ontario cyclists have taken it), and with far fewer motorcycles, fatalities peaked nationally at 903.
Also surprising: "The average pre-crash speed is only 49 km/h. Most collisions are in-town, at intersections with a vehicle. The other main reasons are going too quickly on rural roads, around turns, and the other is impairment. About 10% of fatalities are because helmets were not worn, or not tied on. Poor judgment and inexperience are main factors in causing the accidents."
And: "The likelihood of a collision for an experienced motorcyclist is the same as the likelihood of a collision for an experienced car driver. There are more fatalities in scuba diving and sky diving."
In individual-freedom-fetish America, 30 states repealed their helmet laws.
One was Florida. "The maverick woman motorcyclist who led the repeal movement," says Marchand, "was killed in a motorcycle accident two weeks after the repeal. Head injuries."
But there's one unacceptable flaw in Canada that needs to be addressed.
Protective visors. Full, three-quarter, and half. Some helmets come with them. They can be removed. And too often are.
Ray Marchand: "I could never ride without the proper, facial protection. But visors are not mandatory. They should be. Not only for protecting the face in an accident, but wind pressure deforms the cornea causing trouble calculating distance and seeing objects. Bugs can fly into the eyes, causing an accident. I feel visors should be mandatory in the form of legislation."
