Here’s a nice infographic slapped together by Sutliff and Stout (a bunch of motorcycle accident lawyers.)
If you take a good look, motorcycles are overall involved in few accidents, a product of there being fewer of the vehicles on the road than automobiles. The accidents that do happen are mostly due to irresponsible riding — speeding, drunk driving, not knowing what the hell you’re doing, not wearing decent gear… The big difference between a motorcycle accident and a car accident: you crash on a bike, you’ll get hurt. Simple as that. It might not be life-threatening (I broke a should and pranged a toe pretty badly in my first motorcycles accident…I haven’t had another, but I’m sure it’s lurking out there in the murky depths of probability.), it might be a serious injury (I’ve known two people that got mangled pretty badly but recovered), but you’ve nothing between you and the idiots. Like skydiving, rock-climbing, or jaywalking — it’s dangerous.
But it you pay attention to your surroundings, wear proper gear, and don’t ride stupid you will most likely get through your motorcycling life without serious mishap.
They are dangerous… unfortunately I have I have firsthand experience. You don’t want to have an accident… The only good thing about having one is you have a different perspective on the subject. This is my story… http://www.thetexasrambler.com/2012/05/23/yes-motorcycling-is-dangerous/
Ride safe…
45% of motorcycle accidents do not involve another vehicle.
67% of motorcycle accidents are caused by the second vehicle pulling in front of, or turning into the motorcyclist.
“Like skydiving, rock-climbing, or jaywalking — it’s dangerous.”
I’m confused. By this, do you mean to imply that it’s not actually dangerous? Last I checked, rock climbing is extremely safe: statistically, much safer than driving a car. (I don’t know about the other activities mentioned.)
Simply put: life is dangerous. You will get hurt, and it is 100% fatal. So have fun with it.
I ride, I accept the risk, and try to mitigate it where I can.