US Marine Corps Motorcycle Safety Study

[Dan_Ashley]

http://www.defense.gov/home/pdf/0412_militaryrider/DYK_USMC2.pdf

PPE in the study means "personal protectice equipment"
BA means "basic armor"

in working on statistics yesterday, I made an error. I have yet to ascertain what the error is, but I will soon. Remember I used to teach statistics at the university, so I will get to the problem with my numbers soon. The stats that I worked up yesterday, I think, are wrong. Never-the-less the numbers seem to state that motorcyclists have a 30 times greater chance of being the victim in a fatal crash than car drivers. THIS IS WHERE MY PROBLEM IS: Three wheel motorcycles have a 53% LESS chance of a fatality than a car driver. So, driving a Spyder is 53% safer than driving a car. This is certainly counter-intuitive, and will require more work on my part to analyze.

In 2011 there were only six 3-wheel motorcycle deaths reported to the National Highway Transportation Safety Agency (I need to confirm this). So, there seems to be very little data to analyze. Perhaps I can convince some insurance companies to share some of their claim data--but they have traditionally been somewhat stingy with their data.

 

[Pirate looks at --]

Question

Is it simple enough to state that there are so few three wheeled motorcycles?

 

[Chupaca]

Well..!!

you may still not have sufficient data for your study..for one there still are not that many of us, second geographically they are ridden much less in the colder climates your on road time will vary. Third the age of the roadster driver gives them the advantage in safe handling...but they are safe machines..!! :thumbup:
Then there is the trike vs the roadster...

 

[Dan_Ashley]

Is it simple enough to state that there are so few three wheeled motorcycles?

I think there are plenty. I'm contacting all the state DMVs to get the count of registrations.

But it would be nice if I could get the mileage distribution by geographic location. I'm not sure how to do that yet. Any ideas? A questionaire to enough registered owners would be prohibitively expensive.

 

[Dan_Ashley]

Another good one

http://www.georgeinstitute.org/medi...ng-protection-from-injury-or-just-the-weather

 

[Dan_Ashley]

But it would be nice if I could get the mileage distribution by geographic location. I'm not sure how to do that yet. .

I got the mileage data for the whole nation....it is 9,423 miles per motorcycle. I can get it by census tract....but the data is not disaggregated by motorcycle type.

 

[AlEverett]

I am willing to bet that it is a combination of the more mature people riding trikes and the improved technology, ABS VSS and Traction control, of the Spyders. We don't have the crazy antics of the 18 yr olds doing wheelies at 80 on the interstate. I know I am always more focused and alert when riding my bike than when I'm in the car.

 

[Dan_Ashley]

I am willing to bet that it is a combination of the more mature people riding trikes and the improved technology, ABS VSS and Traction control, of the Spyders. We don't have the crazy antics of the 18 yr olds doing wheelies at 80 on the interstate. I know I am always more focused and alert when riding my bike than when I'm in the car.

I think you are right. The data for touring vs sportbikes shows that...touring bikes are significantly under-represented in the crash data...but 3WMC (3 wheel motorcycles) is almost completely absent from reported crash data. So....if Spyders are really this safe...that is, if I can prove this, it might enable more sales for BRP (hence better product lifespan for us) or lower insurance rates...or what???? I donno.

 

[OldCowboy]

I am willing to bet that it is a combination of the more mature people riding trikes and the improved technology, ABS VSS and Traction control, of the Spyders. We don't have the crazy antics of the 18 yr olds doing wheelies at 80 on the interstate. I know I am always more focused and alert when riding my bike than when I'm in the car.

:agree: I know I'm much more focused and alert when ryding my :spyder2:, although some of that is spilling over to my driving habits in the car. Nanny does a great job of protecting us from our mistakes, something not present on other motorcycles.

 

[Bob Denman]

Could it be that the different handling characteristics of Trikes are forcing the riders to pay more attention to what is going on?? :dontknow:

 

[Dan McNally]

Extremely immature two-wheel riders don't live long enough to become mature Spyder Ryders . . .

 

[Bob Denman]

Sad :shocked: but true!

 

[Dan_Ashley]

Could it be that the different handling characteristics of Trikes are forcing the riders to pay more attention to what is going on?? :dontknow:

Could be....i think this might be able to be tested somehow....maybe in a simulator psychology lab....i wonder if anyone has done that....I'll go to the library next week and see if I can find any dissertations or published papers on the topic.

Maybe also, by the time people acquire enough assets to buy a trike, they have matured enough....I guess that is the same thing as another poster said--about maturity.

I know that trikes have almost zero "run off the road" (ROTR)crashes in the statistics. There are some, but not very many. ROTR is about 80% of single vehicle motorcycle accidents that are reported. This apparently is due to the design characteristics...:dontknow:

 

[jerpinoy]

In 1984 I attended a MC safety course required to have base sticker. 38 out of 40 of us raise their hand when asked if they had MC accident. I was one of the two who have no MC accident but our instructor ensured us that we will have. Two weeks later I dump my two wheeler on curvy graved road. I was ok , It only proved that 2 wheel MC are more dangerous in many aspect than my our spyders. Maturity play 99.9% for safety. I wish you all the best and have fun with our SPYDERS.:yes::yes:

 

[Dan_Ashley]

Maturity play 99.9% for safety..

Maybe more than that...I mean more than 99.9%. But still there are things we can all do and think about to improve our safety, and to continue enjoying our sport.

I am curious....if people would start adding to the safety tip list. I will start it....
1). No Booze: 24 hours from bottle to throttle 2) don't speed 3) go to a MC riding class 4) wear a WHITE helmet 5) wear boots 6) for cars entering your road way--when they appear to be stopped--watch their wheels to tell if they are really stopped. 7) Slow down before entering an intersection. 8) Signal, then turn your head and look behind you--don't just trust your mirrors. 9) Wear gloves, 10) wear some kind of eye protection.

 

[Well Hell]

Slightly different but still about safety

This past monday I was on the :spyder2: headed for school after work, going south on I15. I noticed a young lady in the lane to right of me two cars ahead and she kept looking down as she was driving. The next thing I know she has cut me off. If I had not been paying attention she would have taken the frunk off. I changed lanes and as I pluuled up her right I noticed her window was down. I got up next to her as the traffic stopped. I leaned over and yelled at her " DID YOY EVEN SEE ME? GET OFF OF YOUR :cus: PHONE BEFORE YOU KILL SOMEONE!" She looked at me and was ghost white :shocked::yikes:,she grabbed her streeing wheel very tight and drove off, and never looked at me again. I hope I saved someone in the future, but who knows.:banghead: This is the biggest threat to us on the road there is, imho. I think more of us need to bring these types of actions to the attention of the young ones out there.:chat:

 

[Dan_Ashley]

This past monday I was on the :spyder2: headed for school after work, going south on I15. I noticed a young lady in the lane to right of me two cars ahead and she kept looking down as she was driving. The next thing I know she has cut me off. If I had not been paying attention she would have taken the frunk off. I changed lanes and as I pluuled up her right I noticed her window was down. I got up next to her as the traffic stopped. I leaned over and yelled at her " DID YOY EVEN SEE ME? GET OFF OF YOUR :cus: PHONE BEFORE YOU KILL SOMEONE!" She looked at me and was ghost white :shocked::yikes:,she grabbed her streeing wheel very tight and drove off, and never looked at me again. I hope I saved someone in the future, but who knows.:banghead: This is the biggest threat to us on the road there is, imho. I think more of us need to bring these types of actions to the attention of the young ones out there.:chat:

good job! By watching the other driver you probably saved your life. By yelling at her you probably saved others too. Good job!

 

[MrLooney]

Moto Bike Safety

I have just finished the Team Oregon Motorcycle Safety Program.

They did not give any statistics between different bikes, 2 wheels or 3 wheels. Only that Motor Bikes in general have more than a 30% chance of accidents than a Cage. This is due to most cage drivers who cause the accident do not recognize motorbikes on the roads. THEY LOOK THROUGH MOTORBIKES. And that in more than half of motorbike accidents the driver is killed. It also goes on to say that over half the riders have a (BAC) Blood Alcohol Concentration in their blood stream. If I remember correctly (CRS) over 50% have of the riders in accidents have a BAC of 0.08 or higher (Oregon Legal Lower Limit for Drunk DUI). If you are stopped and are given a sobriety check and the officer deems that you have had any alcohol consumption even 1 swallow he can site you for Under The Influence and arrest you. Alcohol impairment starts with the first sip and continues down from there as you drink more.
Under the Influence under 0.08% is different from being Drunk over the 0.08%. None the less, both are convictable and come with heavy $ $ $ consequences.

One 12oz. beer, one 5.8 oz. glass wine, one shot of liquor, each one needs at least one hour of time to pass through your system. With each additional drink you have to add one more hour of time or longer to pass through your system. Drinks = Time is the only determining factors to pass alcohol out of your system.

The training course did not go into or mention any stats on 3 wheel bikes.

 

[CurtG]

I've always wondered if someone were to shoot a tester if they could plead self defense. But seriously it's only seems to be getting worse around here since Ohio made texting and driving against the law. It's even a primary offense for anyone under 18, but like I said it seems to worse than it was before the legislature got involved. I'm sure they feel they've done something for highway safety.

I be interested to see the results after the 2014's with all their "collision avoidance/prevention" devices have been out there for a few months how many of them are involved in distracted drive events.

Dan I really appreciate you efforts with this study.

Ride and ride safe,

 

[OldCowboy]

I am curious....if people would start adding to the safety tip list. I will start it....
1). No Booze: 24 hours from bottle to throttle

I believe this to be too extreme. We know that one drink is metabolized in about an hour. So, if I have a drink with dinner, it's a bit extreme to tell me I can't ryde the next morning. That being said, I agree we shouldn't ryde with alcohol on board.