Quote:
Originally Posted by shereth
.......... I'm not rocking anything more protective than a pair of jeans on my way back and forth to work. I should know better - the one time I went off the bike years ago the only real damage was scraping up my legs - but the convenience factor comes in to play. I need to suck it up and get a pair of overpants.
.............
I always feel a twinge of guilt when I let "convenience" trump safety in these kinds of circumstances, and I know I still have a little ways to go before I can really call myself ATGATT.
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Most my scars from ancient falls are on my legs and ankles.
I could ride without a jacket or gloves, but never without riding boots and armored over-pants.
A Kevlar-woven jean will burn your skin and has no impact protection.
Learn about the parts of the body more damaged during falls and crashes:
http://roadsafety.mccofnsw.org.au/a/75.html
http://roadsafety.mccofnsw.org.au/a/91.html
Any rider who let's "convenience" trump safety, simply does not understand the risks that
his/her mental attitude is exposing him/her to.
It is not that the skin and bones of that rider are going to get hurt if he/she crashes, it is that his/her frame of mind, which is still functioning at a low level of awareness and capability to effectively react,
will lead him/her into dangerous situations.
He/she has more chances to crash because their lack of proper education.
He/she does not know that most crashes result in "inconvenient" injuries and that avoiding that accident is not only possible, but much more "convenient" than testing a protective gear that he/she may or may not be wearing at that particular short trip.
Here are some of the facts found by the Hurt report and copied from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...he_Hurt_Report
- Most motorcycle accidents involve a short trip associated with shopping, errands, friends, entertainment or recreation, and the accident is likely to happen in very short time close to the trip origin.
- Motorcycle riders between the ages of 16 and 24 are significantly Overrepresented in accidents; motorcycle riders between the ages of 30 and 50 are significantly underrepresented.
- Motorcycle riders in these accidents showed significant collision avoidance problems. Most riders would overbrake and skid the rear wheel, and underbrake the front wheel greatly reducing collision avoidance deceleration. The ability to countersteer and swerve was essentially absent.
- The typical motorcycle accident allows the motorcyclist just less than 2 seconds to complete all collision avoidance action.
- The likelihood of injury is extremely high in these motorcycle accidents; 98% of the multiple vehicle collisions and 96% of the single vehicle accidents resulted in some kind of injury to the motorcycle rider; 45% resulted in more than a minor injury.
- Half of the injuries to the somatic regions were to the ankle-foot, lower leg, knee, and thigh-upper leg.
- Approximately 50% of the motorcycle riders in traffic were using safety helmets but only 40% of the accident-involved motorcycle riders were wearing helmets at the time of the accident.
- Sixty percent of the motorcyclists were not wearing safety helmets at the time of the accident. Of this group, 26% said they did not wear helmets because they were uncomfortable and inconvenient, and 53% simply had no expectation of accident involvement.
