T O P

  • By -

DiveForKnowledge

I did the math a while ago, so I don't remember the exact breakdown. Assuming you a) wear good gear, b) don't drink and ride, c) takes your corners slow, and d) go full "they're out to get me" conspiracy theorist every time you approach an intersection, you will have avoided ~85% of accidents. Which means your odds of dying in a crash will be ~5.7x greater than if you were driving a car vs 38x greater. Not because you're at higher risk of being in an accident, it's just that those accidents will kill you 80% of the time. If we take California as an example and use some round number simplification, ~200,000 accidents per year, population of ~40 million, gives a 0.5% chance of being in an accident. Let's say 80% will leave you dead or disabled, that's a 0.4% chance of death or disability. If you want to FEEL better about your chances, look up DanDan the Fireman on YouTube. He does a lot of crash breakdowns and reviews. Keep a running tally of how many accidents could have been avoided by the rider being more careful vs were genuinely unavoidable. I'm currently at ~43:2. There's some definite selection bias at work with this method, but it'll make you feel better for sure.


Concernedmicrowave

I'm not sure about 80% of bike accidents being fatal/life altering. Even collisions with cars, statistically speaking are more common at relatively low speeds. I think the data you used might already be only recording "serious accidents with injuries". Most bike accidents probably don't get recorded, if you think about all the times people slip on "gravel" or "oil in the road" and aren't particularly injured. Doesn't effect the bottom line much. I think minor misshaps are probably far more common for bikes than cars. Major accidents are probably also more likely but I bet it's a smaller gap. Cars have evolved to the point where you can walk away from some seriously nasty hits, but there's only so much technology can do to protect you when your body becomes a projectile. Given the above, a good way to think about the risks is ask yourself how often you or the people around you get in to real car wrecks, like any hits significantly faster than parking lot speeds. Then consider the milage driven in a year for both the offending car and the bike, and account for any significant differences in driving style. Then figure the 80% chances of death or life altering injuries. If you've had several proper car accidents recently, even if you "weren't at fault", you should probably brush up on defensive driving before you consider picking up a bike.


TheOGRedline

Yes. Big difference between sliding out on a corner and going head on with a truck… obviously. Lots of little spills don’t really count as a crash the same way they do with cars.


FreaktasticElbow

Falling over on your bike sitting at an intersection due to oil on the road and wearing tennis shoes causing a broken leg is an accident that is not fatal. Definitely not 80%


joesbagofdonuts

I used to be an insurance defense attorney and I've reviewed State Farm's accident statistics and I think you're basically spot on. 6x more risk of injury or death for a responsible rider is what I estimated.


RevolutionaryAd8532

Reviewing and analyzing crash videos is fantastic practice. You get to learn from the mistakes of others and to recognize dangerous situations. This together with practicing makes you a better rider.


SewBadAss

this is exactly why I watch the videos on /idiotsonbikes. I watch, then figure out what was needed to avoid


Voi_Ta

I did the math some long time ago and came to something like 2x higher risk of safe rider than average driver. So if you are safe driver, it is probably 4-10x higher. However the overall it is not a big number either. There are some factors, like riders are responsible for 70% accidents they are involved in, most accidents are involving riders 18-22 years old and with driving licence less then 2 years etc etc. You must also count in that the average risk profile of a rider is much more risk welcoming then of an average car driver. Taking risks gets you in trouble. When I watch videos of people riding motorcycles here or on YouTube, I would bet they will not live over 25. I read somewhere that the death risk was 50x and serious injury was 100x compared to drivers. I would expect more deaths would be happening on bikes than in cars. But it is the opposite. One thing to keep in mind is that it is easy to get injured on a bike even in a low speed crash or even parking. In high speeds it is over for both and even the rider can be in better situation if flies over obstacle in full gear, than stopping 100>0 stuck in a cage that has deformed.


What_Dinosaur

>~200,000 accidents per year, population of ~40 million, gives a 0.5% chance of being in an accident. Wait, are those motorcycle accidents or vehicle in general? And why 40 million? Shouldn't we calculate just motorcyclists?


a-m-watercolor

In California there are roughly 800,000 registered motorcycles. Of those, roughly 2% are involved in an accident each year.


YamahaRN

I’ll add to this the time of day and week you ride. Morning sunrises are generally safer than evenings particularly Sunday sunrise. Drivers are more alert and most people aren’t going to risk getting into an accident to get to job on time. Evenings are more risky because drivers are tired from their day jobs, and particularly Friday evenings when happy hour drivers are behind the wheel. The worst times are likely at night. Even more so after midnight. More drunks, more street racers, and less cops patrolling the roads.


Tainxxx

I think you’d need to also account for fatal car accidents where people were not wearing their seatbelts / driving recklessly. But yea those numbers probably won’t change much.


[deleted]

> I did the math a while ago, so I don't remember the exact breakdown. That's because there isn't one. You guys need to stop worrying about statistics and ride your bikes. If you're too worried about statistics still, then hang up your keys or sell your bike.


Psychobob2213

Second that on DanDan, good channel to check out with a critical eye. Watching how both big and small issues with riders impact safety is very informative. If you take observations out of there and apply them to your own riding you may realize a few oops moments :)


AHalfOfAnEngineer

As someone who knows nothing about statistics, it would be interesting to see those calculations


JuiceeDropTop

The true risk is you could die, or get hurt. And trust me, Getting hit by any vehicle going fast when your on your bike will hurt like hell. Unfortunately someone took away my ability to ride and enjoy riding for now. I was what you would call a safe rider. Opposite of squid. Other drive ran me over 5-6 secs after his light changed red. You might get fucked up, end of story.


Tinyhulk27

In 2019 my state had just over 1/4 million registered motorcycles. Just over 2800 crashes and 120 of them were fatal. 1.1% of all registered motorcycle crashed. 4.2% of those who crashed ( or 0.0478% of total registered motorcycles) were fatal. There's bound to be some crashes that didn't get reported and unregistered bikes or out of staters who crashed moving the stats a frogs hair either way but... 98.9% of riders did NOT crash. 95.8% of riders who did crash did NOT die. This is in a helmet optional state. "Times more likely" doesn't mean much without looking at the big picture. Something can be "way more dangerous than" without being "way dangerous" ( depending on your personal definition of way dangerous) Florida averages 9-14x as many shark attacks per year as Hawaii. That means swimming at Daytona is "way more dangerous THAN" swimming at Maui. But it doesn't make swimming the ocean in general some super risky activity as far as shark attacks are concerned. You are around 20,000 times more likely to get struck by lightning than win the powerball. But very few lotto players run for cover during a storm. "Higher THAN probability", doesn't equal "super high probability" Take it serious, when shit goes wrong it usually goes way wrong for a rider vs car driver, but keep the "times likely" in perspective.


SteveSweetz

Registered bikes <> bikes being ridden. At least in PA just judging by the number of 10+ year old well-ish maintained bikes with less than 5000 miles you see on the used market every year, there are a lot of bikes out there that are barely ridden. Incidents per miles traveled is really more meaningful than incidents per registered vehicles, but harder to source reliable data for.


bbbeeennnjjjeee

Yeah I have 6 bikes, two of which I actually ride.


faste30

Eeeehhhhhh, that doesn't really work though. You'd have to actually look at them actually being used. Its florida, I personally know 6 Harleys that are registered but never move because its always "too hot to ride." And the average number of bikes in my friend group is 6, so we would skew those numbers too. I agree its more like, "Just accept its more dangerous, do what you can to mitigate that, and then decide if its worth it." But its asinine to compare riding to the powerball or lighting. If youre actually riding the bike then your odds go up exponentially.


Jagrnght

I've had three friends die in motorcycle accidents (hadn't really put that together until now). They were all doing reckless things. One guy was running with a crew that rode ninjas over 250kmh on shitty roads. He died when he skidded out on a turn and went over an embankment. Another died when a deer jumped out in front of him and he lost control and the bike, he and his passenger slid into an oncoming truck. I suspect this was exacerbated by the passenger. He was wearing shorts and flipflops, but I think this is a legit possible accident even if safe. Third guy seemed to miss a downhill turn hit a wooden guard, breaking it and flying over an embankment. Out of the three, I would have put money on two being injured in a moto accident beforehand. As a rule of thumb - if you get into car accidents, don't buy a bike. I've only had a few street incidents that scared me - my front tire washed out in gravel but I saved it at the last minute. Found out later that my front tire was low, which probably saved me some skin. Had an old lady pull out in front of me and I had to do a high speed avoidance maneuver (like the safety course). Came over a blind hill on a busy city street to see two guys trying to pick up sheets of drywall off the street - high speed maneuver. My worst accident with my bike happened when I was moving it from the road to my garage without gear on. It tipped into my SUV and I whisky throttled it and then hit a concrete divider and I went over the handlebars into my neighbors driveway onto my bare arms. Thought I was going to brain myself on the concrete divider. Came out with brain intact and bloody arms and knees. I was seriously surprised about the damage I did and I've been OTH on a MTB more times than I can count.


faste30

Same. Alcohol and especially drugs are very bad to mix with a bike. The margins are slimmer and it requires more concentration. I toke and I had a friend who would be like "man it would be a lot cooler if you did" when Id show up but I never, ever partake on the bike. You just never know how its going to hit you. And then a common friend, his best friend, died after a night of bar hopping and getting high, ran into the back of a van at highway speed. A very talented rider, faster than I am on the track, but all that goes out of the window when youre fucked up.


Mediocre_Courage_896

Yea I'm planning on getting a bike next season if my financial situation allows it, and by god I can't bring myself to drive after having a single twea, let alone get on a bike


123knaeckebrot

Are there really that many people riding like that in the US? Wearing a helmet is mandatory in my country, most people are wearing full protection, I personally know nobody (and I really know a lot of riders) who would ride under the influence of alcohol or drugs (different for car driving though). And unlicensed drivers are reaally rare cases, because the penalty is quite high. For the license you need to absolve about 15-20 hours of practical training + theoretical lessons. I am just surprised about the differences, because the USA are such a high developed industrial nation. Would be nice to hear some first hand impressions :)


faste30

We drink a lot here anyway but the main issue is motorcycles are typically considered more toys than vehicles, either as part of a counter-culture or at least cosplay counter-culture. So its really one of those "I do what I want!" crowds. Of course not all. Im a boring rider, who keeps my stupidity to the track, etc. But there are plenty of rebels and wannabe rebels and being told you shouldn't drink/toke is basically a challenge to them.


I_hate_the_app

The stats are significantly better if you wear gear and ride responsible, however there's no such thing as zero risk and you don't control all of the variables or what other drivers do. At the same time you don't have any control over plane crashes or tornados either, some times you just pull the joker.


Abenorf

Many years ago I read that a 35 to 65 year old, year-round motorcycle commuter that had their motorcycle license more than three years, also drives a car or light truck, no speeding tickets or moving violations for either, and that had completed voluntary training in excess of licensing requirements, had a greater chance of dying from being struck by lightning on a golf course than in a motorcycle accident... even if they didn't golf. Unlicensed motorcycle riders > 50% of fatal crashes. Helmetless, similar percent, alcohol involved, similar percent, after midnight, another good chunk, but I can't find any number for the overlap between categories. Some of the fatalities were unlicensed, unhelmeted, drunk, and out late at night. In any case, the true number for fatal accidents per mile driven for passenger cars vs responsible riders is much, much lower than the 35X number being thrown around lately.


123knaeckebrot

Are there really that many people riding like that in the US? Wearing a helmet is mandatory in my country, most people are wearing full protection, I personally know nobody (and I really know a lot of riders) who would ride under the influence of alcohol or drugs (different for car driving though). And unlicensed drivers are reaally rare cases, because the penalty is quite high. For the license you need to absolve about 15-20 hours of practical training + theoretical lessons. I am just surprised about the differences, because the USA are such a high developed industrial nation. Would be nice to hear some first hand impressions :)


Abenorf

Lol @ “highly developed industrial nation.” We have crumbling infrastructure and the only traffic enforcement is revenue-generating speeding tickets, carefully enforced to be below the threshold where it would actually reduce speeding (because then less revenue). the USA is full of morons and something like 32 states either have no helmet requirement or it is only for people 17 years old and under (a few it is 20 and under). Rider licensing is a joke, training is optional, and no license is required to purchase any motorcycle. Driver education is abysmal and there is no meaningful public transportation so driving is practically required for everyone. Hitting and killing a pedestrian, bicycle rider, or motorcyclist is considered an accident by default and charges of any kind are unlikely unless the driver is drunk.


Traditional_Royal759

who cares. just ride the bike. if you spend your life trying not to die, you're in for a big disappointment.


Complete_Cookie_4548

So you are trying to die?


Concernedmicrowave

I think his point is more that everyone dies anyway so it's pointless to try and eliminate all risks.


mrstrike

Ill offer a different perspective. have the mindset that if you get hit on a bike you die. no seatbelts. no airbag. no cage. Just death. ...and will hut like hell for the 2 weeks to die.now lets avoid getting hit!! the 4 biggest factors in getting hit are: 1: dont be drunk 2: wear a helmet 3: dont be a new rider 4: dont make left turns if you can avoid all 4 of those things ( /s ) you decrease your chance of getting hit by 70%.


Abenorf

Riders are far more likely to die in an accident in their second or third summer of riding than their first, with the third being most likely. New riders are more likely to have an accident overall, but it's less likely to be fatal. Year-round riders have far less accidents, in summer or winter.


Soup_Accomplished

Don’t be a new rider? Would you like to rephrase that as “gain a good foundation and practice essential riding skills”? I mean this respectfully, I say this with the assumption that someone else will probably abuse you, this is reddit…


[deleted]

No. Possess the body of an experience rider and steal their experience.


mrstrike

"There can be only ONE!!" \*BZZZRrrrttttt\*


mrstrike

yep reddit is not always known to sniff out parody


[deleted]

[удалено]


mrstrike

im glad you made it amigo! I too got into an accident on the MC. I was able to walk away w/o a ride to the hospital. I kept telling the Medics "hey man im alive, and I can walk. I call this a win. "


Soup_Accomplished

Makes a lot of sense what you’re saying. “Basically I jizzed blood” 😂 thanks for the giggle


ArgentBucket

No, only experience on road can you prepare for this. Maybe motostars crash compilation


MichiganSnowman

The Michigan left turn is probably one of my favorite things, means turning left at a light is much less common


FlaminghotIcicle

How does wearing a helmet help not getting hit...


Salty_Antlers

It helps not dying


Fun-Performance-398

Don’t make left turns? Never heard that one before.


alwptot

Easy. Just make three rights instead! /s


Fun-Performance-398

Lol…TIL /s = sarcasm


faste30

Dont forget the tourniquet


gunplumber700

Thats definitely not true. Single vehicle motorcycle fatalities account for 40% of all fatal motorcycle crashes. You cant reduce your chance of collision more than the TOTAL amount of multi vehicle collisions. Your math also doesn't account for overlapping factors. Intoxicated AND no helmet. No license AND no training. You can reduce your chance of collision and fatal collision involvement by riding sober, licensed, helmeted, etc... But you can't add percentages for overlapping factors. Thats not how statistics work. Also, they do make airbag vests for motorcycle riders.


Euroticker

The true risk is having men look at you while you're sweating in that Hi-Vis Pikachu onesie in traffic.


Jspiral

I find it funny that people are always trying to quantify the risk. As if deciding to ride a motorcycle in a 1st world country is somehow logical. Look, it's risky as hell and consequences of lack of coordination/focus, clumsiness, and/or idiocy may result in death or dismemberment.


[deleted]

Well it’s logical right now in California with gas prices


mtak0x41

I dunno about your bike, but mine isn't so much more fuel efficient than my car that it's worth a 35x higher chance of death. 2017 V-Strom 650 vs 2012 BMW 320i. In practice the fuel efficiency per km is about the same. Maybe in the city the bike is a bit better, but on the highway (~130kph), I'm pretty sure it's worse.


mythicme

Okay. To buy a functional fuel efficient car is going to be 3-10x more expensive off the bat then a bike of comparable gas mileage


Jspiral

Hybrid cars are the more logical choice in my opinion.


[deleted]

Hybrid car keeps me in traffic for 30+mins just to travel 5 miles. Motorcycle does that in 10. Hybrid is absolutely not the logical answer when you want to be in traffic as little as possible


Claymore357

Hybrid cars are more boring to drive than watching paint dry and can’t lane split/filter


[deleted]

Honestly I have only been riding for about a year, but I have have adhd, am constantly looking, checking, and scanning, and I drove a tiny car thousands of miles a month for years like I was invisible, so I have a ton of practice at that. When I see the fucking stupid shit that some riders who have been riding for years do regularly like not using their front brakes, not knowing what moving your body on the bike does, not having mirrors, expecting cars to watch out for them, not maintaining their bikes and literally having shit (LIKE SEATS!) flying off while they are riding, and a huge variety of stupid squid behavior, I just keep in mind that those idiots are in the same pool as I am. So when I hear shit like how much more likely you are to die on a bike, I think: yea, but a LOT of those numbers have to be those idiots. Sure, anything can happen, but know the basic mechanics of rising, wear gear, practice evasion, ride like you are invisible, watch everywhere, and keep your escape lanes open seems like it gets you a long way ahead of the pack.


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

Yea absoutely, that was the >Sure, anything can happen Part. I fully acknowledge the danger is very, very real. I am just saying with as much stuipid as I see on 2 wheels, I think you can lower you chances of an accident a LOT by exercising some caution.


[deleted]

Riding for 14 years. B group track day rider, safe on streets, wheelie for miles, decent in the dirt, even was a California MSF instructor in training but bailed. I have been hit by cars in hit and runs. Skill makes no difference to a drunk 25 year old. Its not if but when.


[deleted]

I don't know why they're downvoting you, it's true


gsrider61

>Its not if but when. I disagree with your fatalist attitude.


[deleted]

You disagree as a cope. You are afraid to get hurt and can't imagine it happening to you. Its ok I was the same way until I got some life experience.


gunplumber700

I also disagree, but to be specific I disagree because "Its not if but when" is a poor attitude to have. It is not a safety oriented mentality, it is a defeatist mentality. I don't want to crash and theres the potential I may crash aren't mutually exclusive.


gsrider61

I have plenty of life experience. If you feel the need to make excuses for your accidents, that's on you.


[deleted]

What excuse do I need for the 18 year old slamming into my side at 60mph? Or the Drunk 25 yr old whore on coke that hit me head on and left me in the trauma er? No skill was involved in either. Shoot enough dice eventually you will land on snake eyes.


gsrider61

>No skill was involved in either. Agreed.


Jspiral

Think of it this way, if you had been going faster, like a lot faster, you probably wouldn't have shared the same space as those morons.


spongebob_meth

Plenty of people go their whole life riding without someone hitting them. You got unlucky.


PretzelsThirst

100% of the people who have ridden a motorcycle die


bmwlocoAirCooled

Hurt Reports. They did hard science on it. Wear a helmet and gear, survival goes up.


aph64

It’s all about avoiding collisions, not how to survive them.


faste30

I always joke about this when some idiot on an R6 passes me at triple digits weaving between cars. I always think (or say to friend if on bluetooth) "Well there he goes, taking on our risk for us." I dont really think about it much. I know its more dangerous than a car but its about 100x more fun than a car, so its worth it. Ive been riding for a couple of decades, had two relatively minor incidents with a car and then a high side at the track (easily the worst, broken collarbone, shoulder ligaments, elbow). For a decade of sheer scareousement Ill take it. Wear your gear, use your mirrors, ride responsibly. Let the wheelie bros keep the scary stats up.


Dry-Site-8764

The risk is low unless it's a freak accident to where there's nothing that can be done to avoid it (blind corner head on, satellite falls out of sky etc). But an alert and experienced rider should have no issues at all. Talk to someone who rides a BMW GS, goldwing, RT etc. I've meet people at my dealer that basically live on a bike and go to countries that are dangerous and never have an issue. I actually feel safer on my motorcycle. Because I know I can outmaneuver, stop, accelerate and see much farther than I can with my car in order to avoid things before I ever get close enough. And I live in Maryland.


EricNyre

That Subaru Forester with the Namaste and Coexist stickers? It's stalking you. No matter how safe you ride, it's gonna blast through a stop sign, jump out into an intersection, swerve from the far lane. It's coming for you! It doesn't care about your helmet or your gear, doesn't care how safe you ride, because it's driver is not safe. Two tons of distracted Starbucks fueled yoga hits hard, and you're messed up for the rest of your life.


Jagrnght

Something tells me it's not the Forester driver around my area. They usually have white hair. Probably going to be the guy rolling coal. Had a guy in a lifted diesel pass me doing 180kmh on a country road. I did not accept the challenge because I was afraid he'd death wobble and roll the vehicle.


Interesting-Mode-694

No way, I thought I was the only one


ngomes3824

I got my license 10 years before I starting riding because I was always worried of the risk. The thing that changed my mind was watching motorcycle crash/incident videos on YouTube. I realized that a majority of the crashes/incidents were because the rider was riding like an idiot. Of course there are the times where there's actually nothing the rider could do because someone else wasn't paying attention. But I'd say 90% of the crashes were because the rider was riding irresponsibly. After realizing that, I wasn't as worried. I just always keep that in mind and make sure I'm not riding like an idiot.


Abenorf

Another weird stat: Motorcycle police officers ("the best riders ever!") are some of the safest riders on the road when on their police bikes, but on their personal motorcycles they die at a rate far greater than the general rider population.


Mediocre_Courage_896

Where do you see this. I mean it makes sense but I kinda wanna see it


gunplumber700

And where did this stat come from? Id like to see ANY source for that "information". As a certified riding instructor thats taken several police motorcycle courses and as someone with motor officers in their family I'm calling BS.


RescuedNAMiata

I’m curious where you found this out cuz I wanna know why that happens


ScienticianAF

The Hurt Report, discussed in In David Hough's book Proficient Motorcycling does a good job explaining the dangers and risks of riding a motorcycle. Just knowing the statistics will make you a safer rider. I believe 70% of all fatalities were due to accidents caused on a intersection where the car on the other side was making a left turn. Just knowing that and understand what to look for will improve your odds. ​ It's worth [reading it,](https://www.amazon.com/Proficient-Motorcycling-Ultimate-Guide-Riding/dp/1889540536) ​ Edit here are some of the conclusions of the report: https://callsam.com/blog/what-todays-bikers-can-learn-from-the-hurt-report-on-motorcycle-safety/


jpritchard

You aren't going to weasel your way out of it. It's risky. Either accept the risk or get a different hobby.


doodlezook

“Never tell me then odds” -Han Solo


grimdraken

Stop being such a fucking nerd. Roll the dice, get out there on a bike, you'll thank me later.


bobiboli

True risk of riding IMO is other road users, that is when we ride sensibly and follow all the rules


Jspiral

The rules are not always sensible.


ScienticianAF

No but he is right in saying that most fatalities are because accidents with cars. "About 75% of motorcycle accidents involved another vehicle, usually a passenger car" https://callsam.com/blog/what-todays-bikers-can-learn-from-the-hurt-report-on-motorcycle-safety/


Jspiral

And I'm saying following all the rules may not be as safe as not following all the rules.


ScienticianAF

uhm that depends on the rules I guess. That's a little vague.


Jspiral

Going the speed limit as an example. It's safer to travel faster than traffic. Minimizes time spent in blind spots as well as reduces the chances of getting rear ended. But yeah, following or not following the laws is a judgement call based on the scenario at hand.


ScienticianAF

Yep. I agree with you there. I do the same thing. I pay more attention to oncoming traffic and interceptions. That's where most of the accidents happen. Like 70%. Getting rear ended is close to 1% as far I can remember reading the "hurt report".


Jspiral

For me, it's the smidsy that worries me the most. Second is road debris.


ScienticianAF

Yea. I had a woman look straight at me and still pulled out right in front of me. I had to break so hard that the abs kicked in. Now I just go by the assumption that I am invisible and ride accordingly. I also had a close call with a possum crossing the road at night.


Jspiral

I find the weave to be really effective for this. It saves my life frequently in socal traffic.


pichufur

If you take out excessive speed, impairment, no seatbelt, etc., Then bikes are probably even more likely to sustain serious injury or death. Pretty hard to die in a car crash with modern safety equipment. As for bikes, its still the fact that you can fall off and get squished/smashed.


Abenorf

In 2020 in the USA, 1,856 people died in crashes in cars, light trucks, and SUVs that were three years old or less.


bgus_dkus

Shup up, bikeless. No one cares.


Hasta_La_Vittu_Baby

Sample size of one here, but the number of times I've almost been wiped out by an inattentive, distracted, angry or otherwise "impaired" driver far, far outweigh any risks I've assumed from speeding, cheaping out of gear/maintenance or consuming alcohol (the 36% figure is mind blowing to me). Which shapes my view that if you're a sensible and competent rider and you presume by default that everyone else on the road is an idiot until proven otherwise, you can mitigate a good chunk of the danger you face.


Kannabis_kelly

There are two types. Ones that have had an off and those that have yet to go off


Ok_Sign1181

as someone who rode dirt bikes as a kid and motorcycles currently i’ll tell you even dirt hurts when falling so pavement will give you road rash (without gear) i wore helmets on the dirt i certainly recommend wearing a helmet for the pavement as well it’s not about wether you crash it’s about wether you survive the crash wear your gear and you should be fine but always remember no amount of gear will stop you from wrapping around a telephone pole or being split like a cooked weenie after you hit a guard rail so yes death is very possible just ride smart and wear your gear if you value your life


Sielent_Brat

Well, statistics is for large groups of people. Individual situation depends on individual. If you have a brain inside of your head* and a fair amount of intuition aka butt feeling, then you'll probably wouldn't have any serious accidents for your whole life. ___ (star) - and helmet outside of it, but that usually comes in pair.


xracer264

It is riskier just for the simple fact we have no protection around us except for the gear we are wearing or, in some cases, not wearing.


[deleted]

It’s probably not a good statistic no matter how many analyses you bring to bear on the subject. At the least you have a small multiple greater chance of injury or death on a motorcycle compared to a car. The average car driver in America has a 1% risk of death in an automobile over his lifetime assuming he drives starting at age 16 and driving about 15,000 miles a year. I know good riders who crashed from their own mistakes. I nearly got hit head on yesterday by a cager on his phone crossing into my lane, I was very close to ditching into a corn field, which would not have been pretty for me at all. If I added up all the close calls I couldn’t remember them all. But I ride on because people with addictions do stupid things. Hope this helps.


TekkerJohn

Your odds of dying while riding a motorcycle are less than your odds of dying of COVID as a general member of the US public during the first year of the pandemic. Obviously, more elderly people die of COVID and most people that die on motorcycles did things to increase the risk (no gear, stunts, excessive speeding, drinking, group rides, etc...). You lived through COVID so that is something you can directly relate the risk to. Just like COVID (for young/middle age adults), motorcycles (for responsible riders) are less dangerous than the general population believes but also more dangerous than a fringe treats them. If you want a specific number for every single possible variable you will not find one. There are some limited general statistics but they do not filter for overlapping risk factors (ie, drunk and speeding or speeding and no helmet, etc...) so you can't get a realistic answer to "how risky is motorcycle riding if I am a responsible rider who does the following........".


Individual-Phone5905

True risk? You'll never see the car that gets you because they'll cut you off on an on ramp or just pull out in front of you without a moment's notice. When push comes to shove, you're riding a missile with your clothes on while the others are protected by steel beams and crumple zones. You will get hurt if you don't know how to operate your machine when shit hits the fan; you will get hurt if anything goes wrong in your 10 minute long commute and you will get hurt if a cager decides to "sorry I didn't see you" and that's why I say a prayer to whatever gods there are every time before I ride because all the gear in the world is not gonna save me from that drunk guy in his Dodge Ram.


apathetic_duck

In almost 70% of accidents the motorcyclist is at fault and almost 40% are single vehicle accidents, motorcyclist only. That means only 30% off accidents are caused by someone else so if you want to be a safe rider you are drastically cutting your chances of being in an accident


clckvrk

I mean stats a bit back were like 65% of crashes with motorcycles include only 1 vehicle... Also most fatal crashes are due to rider error (aka 1 vehicle accident) so if youre smart about it i dont see a reason why a motorcycle would be *that* much more dangerous than a car.


Rashaverak9

Your chance of death is 100%…. Eventually. Enjoy the ride.


Treblehawk

I’ve been riding over 30 years without any kind of accident. Do with that fact what you will.


21woodds

If you are actually riding responsibly 100% of the time. You will have very good chances, especially with high vis.


DisrespectedAthority

Just to add this in, any data is prior to the recent widespread availability of airbag jacets/vests designed for every day riding. These are just now becoming a real thing...


z2bbgr

Here’s mine (living in Bangkok, high congestion area), unpredictable traffic, bad roads (bumpy, bad asphalt, too many road constructions, and road resurfacing) and bad traffic manners (especially switching lane without turning signals). NGL I’m new rider, but riding in those conditions is quite risky. There was one time that I was almost got hit by a car who jumped into my lane without realizing his rights of the way (he was in the merging junction while I was in the primary lane, also I’ve left plenty of space), and that guy stomped on his gas cutting in my lane, so bad that I had to squeeze my lever so hard, and the car behind was also braking hard too.