Motorcyclist protesting helmet law dies when he hits his head...

True....M/C's have gotten a little more powerful since 'back in the day' but they're also equipped with tires (or tyres), brakes, and other safety equipment that are an order of magnitude better than the scoots that we rode in the 70's.

Thrust to weight ratios are contributing factors to accidents to be sure, but in reality anything more than about 125cc just means that you have to walk a little further to find all the pieces/parts. In the bad old days of the Cold War we called that "overkill"...a term that unlike "throw weight" has worked its way into general usage.

Single vehicle M/C accidents are usually caused by a dead short (pun almost unintended) between the throttle and the seat.
M/C involved multi-vehicle accidents are usually caused by idiot drivers (which is extra redundant) who are too distracted by things inside their vehicle to be bothered with the trivialities of collision avoidance.
There are statistical outliers to be sure, but all of this is self evident to anyone who has ever spent more than an hour astride any kind of cycle, motorized or not.
My last close call was an elderly gentleman in a pea-soup green G2, who either didn't want to interrupt his cell call or spoil his fuel efficiency by actually having to stop at a stop sign.
Two things kept me from flinging my helmet through his side window.
1. Proper upbringing.
2. I think the incident scared him more than it scared me.

Like I said before.....
The world isn't fair.
HOW you deal with that is (still) yer call.

Me?
I usually go for a nice ride...preferably coincident with a needed trip (example-commute to work) so that my conscience won't be too troubled by the shrill screaming of the carbon zealots.

 

Hah, good one, 'cept ruggers don't wear plastic shoulder pads.

 

Or if they just saw the poor girlfriend of the American Idol contestant last year. She was in a bad car accident, obviously bad head injury. Brought her in to meet the judges in wheelchair, couldn't talk, tremors in her arms, quite helpless ... sad really.

 

[ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_football]Rugby football - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

 

Europe has the same bikes we do, with better/safer crash statistics. Most of the countries overseas have a tiered license system that keeps brand new riders (i.e. SQUIDS*) off of 600-1000CC superbikes until they've ridden for a year or two on something more reasonable to learn on (125CC/250CC).

If you've never ridden a modern 1000cc superbike, you'll have to understand that twisting the right wrist a little too far and fast in low gear can and will kill you in about five seconds.

I could actually agree with a similar tiered license system being implemented here, as well as requiring helmets at least until you've reached the highest tier.

*SQUID: Super Quick Until I'm Dead - generally a younger kid with a super fast bike with the need to prove it at every intersection, often seen stunting in the middle of the freeway.

 

I have personally seen more than one rider stopped on the shoulder at the MO/KS state line on a busy 6 lane highway putting their helmet in their saddle bag. It is that important to them.

 

Hah! Heard the term hundreds of times. Newbies is another common one (need to solve that acronym)

 

I suppose the funny one is where they've got their helmet strapped to side of saddle. It protects the bike when they fall down, but oops, not their head

 

Does Busey still ride motorcycles, and if so, with or without a helmet? What kinds of public messages, if any, has he made on the subject since his recovery? It'd be interesting to find out.

I don't believe any felled rider bloodied and broken and in excrutiating pain on the pavement would say "Yeah, it was worth it, to feel the wind whipping my hair at 80MPH is an experience worth dying for." Yeah, right.

 

For a 9mo period I commuted on bicycle through downtown Wash DC 2 people got killed within 1 block from my route.. One guy got swiped by dumpster truck and dragged a couple blocks, hit and run. Driver turned himself in after seeing the report on local news he only realized then what happened.

Thing is that it was in rush hour on busy street and there is another void of traffic runs in parallel, the bicyclist should not have been there.

IMHO you cannot be 100% safe, and when you ride 2 wheels any fender-bender is potential life altering experience. But it is all down to common sense, truth is that if you take some basic precautions (dress to be seen, wear protective gear, maintain safety bubble around, don't take unnecessary risks, etc) you'd be alot better off.

Keep the rubber side down, and while the neon yellow is not the best fashion statement, it goes long way with motorists. At 60mph car will travel 44' in .5sec, and per tests bright color cuts driver's perception time .5-1sec.

 

More than once the cost of medical care to those injured was brought up. The point of my post was to ask where you draw the line. Therefore, your point is moot because no matter how long it takes, how vague or general the term the expense of medical care to those engaging in risky practices is passed on.