I would rather have an accident on bike in my full gear, than be trapped in a tin can while it burns. Splitting hairs.
Motorcycle involved in Mississauga crash that killed two people was stolen
- Thread starter griff2
- Start date
I would rather have an accident on bike in my full gear, than be trapped in a tin can while it burns. Splitting hairs.
While I can't really think of a more gruesome way to die than to burn alive, your argument might make sense if your car is a 1974 Pinto, I guess. But what percentage of modern cars catch fire after an accident? One study from 26 years ago (source) figured 0.3% or 3 times out of every 1000 crashes. And that was 26 years ago. Do you think fuel systems in modern cars are safer now than in 1990? Yeah, so the figure is likely a fraction of that now.
The stats for motorcycle casualties -- mortality and injuries -- in accidents speak for themselves. They're dangerous when used as intended.
Even with full gear motorcycles are dangerous. Full gear gives you a better chance to survive a slide without serious injury but will do basically nothing to prevent, say, below-the-knee leg amputations caused by being T-boned and even the most advanced gear can't change the fact that a motorcyclist's crumple-zone is basically his rib cage. Certain "armours" may help in some situations but that armour doesn't take make a motorcycle accident akin to being in an accident surrounded by a steel cage with energy dissipative interiors, seatbelts, airbags and the like.
Go out into the garage and grab your largest rubber mallet. Imagine swinging that at 60kph and striking your leg or your arm or or hand, even with your gear on. Now imagine that same scenario but instead your whole body is impacted by something weighing 2 tons and travelling at 60kph. Or you come off the bike rounding a corner and slide into a curb at 60kph. Gotta say that there are very few cases where I would rather be in an accident on a bike versus a car.
If you made me choose, sure, I'd rather be thrown clear than be trapped and burn. But that's a pretty specific, low-probability case. The gruesomeness of some cherry-picked, low-probability car accident scenarios doesn't make motorcycles any safer.
It's always nice to get back to basics. Refreshing, in fact.
