Comments on: Motorcycle road toll slowly creeps up!

By: eyesup

eyesup — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 12:57:25 +0000

Hi Chrissie, There are a lot of people working on this one and their job is made very difficult by all the different factors.

The obvious factor for many crashes though, is with the rider’s right wrist and its connection with the rider’s brain. Not the bikes horsepower, not the bikes potential top speed.

Some are just accidents, some are a momentary lapse in concentration or a distraction at the wrong time by the rider or other driver, and some are a “brain fade” moment by rider or driver.

Plus, some riders and drivers should not be on the road.

What’s going on in the riders head, how the bike is set up and maintained (tyre type, condition, pressure and many more factors), road condition and design, weather and other road users etc. etc. It’s not an easy fix

Motorcyclists must be aware of and accept their level of ability, be aware of their surrounds, be aware of others, not be influenced by others, attend appropriate training and refresh their training, be educated and educate themselves about proper bike set up, wear the right gear, stay switched on, ride safely and arrive home.

The words I remember most vividly (and appreciated most) as an 18yo learning to ride a bike with a group of more experienced riders, were “we don’t care when you get there just get there, we’ll wait.”

By: Michael King

Michael King — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 05:35:53 +0000

In answer to Chrissie’s question as to why so many motorcyclists “lose control” of their bikes.
Probably the main reason for the loss of control in many fatal crashes is because motorcyclists often misjudge the severity of a corner or bend in the road ahead. As a result the approach speed is too great and centrifugal forces acting on the machine drag it away from the centre of the road towards the edge. It is here that loose gravel and other material cause the tyres to lose traction with the road surface and the bike continues to slide further off the road. The resultant collision with roadside objects such as trees, rocks or even signs, cause substantial injuries. The faster the slide off the road the greater the injuries sustained. The same type of crash results in many cars becoming wrapped around roadside trees and lamp poles as well.
Centrifugal forces can be explained as a weight on the end of a piece of string which is twirled around your head. When you let go of the string the weight flies off at high speed. The faster you twirl the string the further the weight will travel when let go.
The obvious preventative measures in avoiding this type of crash are a good appreciation of the road surface, tyre traction and, most importantly, speed through the corner. Once the bike commences a slide there is almost nothing the rider can do about sustaining serious injuries. You can see this type of crash on the race track in almost any racing event - that’s why they put huge sand pits on the corners to slow riders and bikes down before they come to a safe stop. Normal roads don’t have sand pits.

By: chrissie

chrissie — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 05:02:55 +0000

Am very interested to know why so many motorcyclists “lose control” of their bikes. Is there one factor that outweighs every other one or is it just a combination of several.

By: Curley

Curley — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 01:14:18 +0000

Thanks Mike.

These figures seem to support the media campaigns of 1 in 4 deaths in Qld involve a motorcyclist. Many are single vehicle. The one fact that is pleasing (if you could use that word)is that the Gold Coast area had 27 deaths in 2007 (that’s not the pleasing bit) but only 3 so far in 2009. That is a big decrease. I hope that the trends reverse across the rest of the state.