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Dapper Dan
Trad climber
Menlo Park
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Topic Author's Original Post - Mar 1, 2013 - 06:23pm PT
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The recent bike rant thread got me thinking about which two wheeled vehicle is going to get me killed first ...
On the motorcycle , you generally don't have 4,000 pound pieces of metal passing your left side constantly , but on the bicycle you rarely reach speeds that will take your life if you fall out of the saddle .
That being said , all bets are off when a motorist cuts in front of you.
The safety pros and cons are endless.
Personally I prefer the motorcycle, I ride about 10,000 miles a year . In the end I guess I'd rather be responsible for my own speed and safety , than relying on every passing car to pass me safely on the bicycle ...
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Don Paul
Big Wall climber
Colombia, South America
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You've got a lot more ability to get out of trouble on the moto. Lots of people drive them like maniacs but if you dont do that I think its safer than a bike.
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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My impression from talking to people who work in hospital ERs and Orthopedic wards is that they see far more motorcyclists than bicyclists.
That's strictly anecdotal, though, not proven fact.
Edit to add: Just speaking for myself, I've made it to the ER/Orthopedic ward three times in bicycle crashes. I've never driven a motorcycle though, so it's not a fair comparison
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EP
Trad climber
Way Out There
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Stitches, road rash, bruises from the bicycle
Broken collar bone, road rash, and concussion from the motorcycle
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Brandon-
climber
The Granite State.
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No, it's not a fair comparison. Far more people per capita ride motorcycles than bicycles on busy roads.
There are a lot of deadly motorcycle crashes here in NH, but we have the highest per capita motorcycle registration in the US, so I guess my comparison is not a fair one either.
Personally, having grown up with a dad who rode approximately four thousand miles per year on his road bike, I'd say that motorcycles are far more dangerous.
On a motorcycle, you're in the flow of traffic rather than beside it. Too many drivers don't see motorcycles when merging.
It's not how aware you are, it's how aware everyone around you is.
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skywalker
climber
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Now that is one disturbed individual!
S...
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guyman
Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
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I have never known a person who got killed riding a bike.
I have known a few who have been killed on Motorbike. RIP
Says it all.
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McHale's Navy
Trad climber
Panorama City, California & living in Seattle
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That's funny, that car's license was EKG........just about gave me a heart attack watching that video.
I was coming back from skiing with some other guys once and somebody came up behind our car on the freeway honking like crazy. I started to get flustered at the guy until it turned out he was trying to warn us our skis were falling off the roof of the car!
Something else was going on in this video - dude had a personal problem. (haha - me and last poster posted at the same time).
Regarding bicycle Vs motorcycle. I feel much safer on a motorcycle, but you can't workout on a motorcycle.
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Brandon-
climber
The Granite State.
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I do know someone who was hit while riding a road bike and killed, but it's extremely rare.
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McHale's Navy
Trad climber
Panorama City, California & living in Seattle
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It does not seem all that rare. Seems like hit and runs are common with bicycles too. I stay on very select roads when riding - people are too f*#ked up in cars. Hardly anything makes me more irrate than some as#@&%e in a car.
I'm getting better at just pulling off the road like I do when somebody tails me in my car - it's the best thing! Let them go and then chill. That's what those guys in the video should have done but they wanted to get a movie I guess.
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Don Paul
Big Wall climber
Colombia, South America
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If they were on bikes like the one Dapper Dan has, they could have accelerated to 150 mph in just a few seconds and the problem would disappear.
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Brandon-
climber
The Granite State.
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While I still feel that bicycles are safer, my dad had a redneck try to run him off the road once, then throw d cell batteries at him.
Some people are just as#@&%es.
Edit;
If they were on bikes like the one Dapper Dan has, they could have accelerated to 150 mph in just a few seconds and the problem would disappear.
No. The problem is drivers in front of, or next to you who don't see you, more often than not. Acceleration doesn't help.
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McHale's Navy
Trad climber
Panorama City, California & living in Seattle
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They are getting serious over on the bike rant thread....guns and all!
Short of having weapons on hand, I threw my bicycle through a truck windshield on Vancouver Island in the 70s, after he helped to cause my girlfriend to flip her bike.
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kenny morrell
Trad climber
danville,ca
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I really enjoy both. I also been serious f#cked up on both.
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pud
climber
Sportbikeville & Yucca brevifolia
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I feel safer operating a motorcycle than a car but, I ride a lot.
I feel much more vulnerable on a bicycle, without a doubt.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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but on the bicycle you rarely reach speeds that will take your life if you fall out of the saddle
ha! you don't ride down hills... there are many places around Livermore where I was seriously wondering just how good the wheel I built was... and hoping that there wasn't too much gravel on the road...
...not infrequently over the 40 mph speed limit braking to stay behind cars... and with a tail wind one winter exceeded that speed by a lot, on a 1.5 lane rural road with bobwire fence boundaries, not a good mix with lycra.
You can die.
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Captain...or Skully
climber
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So the question isn't whether you're gonna die fer sure, it's if you wanna be on fire while you die fer sure. Right?
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Eric Beck
Sport climber
Bishop, California
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Back in the 70s I had a girlfriend who was a nurse in the Stanford heart transplant unit. She said that they got 75% of the hearts from motorcyclists.
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McHale's Navy
Trad climber
Panorama City, California & living in Seattle
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You get bonus points if you are a organ donor on your license/motorcycle endorsement.
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justthemaid
climber
Jim Henson's Basement
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Statistically.. you are WAY more likely to get injured or killed on a motorcycle.. but it sure takes a long-ass time to go 10,000 miles on a pedal bike.
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skywalker
climber
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On the fence. By the way, I posted earlier and I didn't know the circumstances. If that was a 75 yr old vet who just lost his wife F#$k that a#$hole on the bike. If I was a 75 year old who just lost his wife, f#$k you and get off the damn road you're in my space! If I was 75 and AM STILL driving a country road...F#$k You!
Everyone else just go around.
Anyway my track record is such that I think I've crashed more times on a bike (Shwinn(?) etc, than a motorcycle but it may be close. I've been hit twice on a bicycle never on a motorcycle. Both in Boulder. One dude that hit me rides motorbikes and felt terrible. I saw it coming and jumped off the bike and across the hood total "Fall Guy" style unhurt. He drove me home, took my bike, returned it the next day with a tune up, and all new parts that could have been in his concience as "his damage" totally without me saying a word. I thought that worked out pretty well for me. But I was 25.
D...
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Supertopo is getting very weird. Late this afternoon I responded to this thread, and a couple of hours later I've got some first-hand evidence to report
I left work at 5.30, got on my bike and started riding to the gym. A few blocks and I start hearing sirens. A few more blocks and there were flashing lights everywhere. Street blocked off and more police cars, ambulances, and fire department emergency trucks than I could count. Then I saw the bicycle on the road. Smashed up. And fifteen or twenty feet away was a motorcycle, partly under a stopped car. And a taxi, sideways across the road.
Sick-making. Just a few months before, I'd seen another bicycle like that, and the rider hadn't survived. Judging by the state of this bicycle I doubted this rider had survived either.
Now, a few hours later, I've checked the web and it looks like this time there are no deaths.
For whatever it's worth, here are the picture and news report (http://www.komonews.com/news/local/2-injured-when-taxi-bike-motorcycle-and-car-collide-194419461.html);. Be careful out there.
2 injured when taxi, bike, motorcycle and car collide
SEATTLE -- Two people were injured in a Friday evening crash that involved at taxicab, a motorcycle, a parked car and a bicyclist.
Details are still sketchy, but police say the crash happened just before 5:30 p.m. at Alaskan Way and Broad Street near Belltown.
Police say a woman was riding her bike northbound on Alaskan Way when a motorcyclist came up behind her at a high rate of speed.
The cyclist went around a taxi that was stopped on the east side of the street, and at the same time the motorcyclist lost control of his bike and clipped the cab.
The biker then crashed into the cyclist and sideswiped another car before coming to a stop, according to police.
The end result was that the bicyclist, who is in her 30s, and the male motorcyclist in his 20s were both injured and taken to Harborview Medical Center.
Medics say the injuries are not life threatening.
Police are still investigating the crash.
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pud
climber
Sportbikeville & Yucca brevifolia
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Back in the 70s I had a girlfriend who was a nurse in the Stanford heart transplant unit. She said that they got 75% of the hearts from motorcyclists.
Back in the 70's I had a girlfriend that said she got 95% of her orgasms from a motorcyclist.
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Snowmassguy
Trad climber
Calirado
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Distracted drivers are really a problem these days. Far and away the majority of the time the jack ass that cut me off or almost hit has a phone to their ear or looks as thought they are texting or at least reading their phone. Have to admit road biking scares me on narrow roads or on roads with limited or no shoulders. Seems like most of my friends are recreational tri-athletes with many miles logged weekly. Hear about many close calls. Hoping that is all that it ever is.
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Captain...or Skully
climber
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Dude, yer gonna die. Go ahead, make the dive, already.
The only defense is a good offense.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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These guys can't decide it, neither. Both ride BMWs. Neither bicycles.
The Ghost with the post! Good photo, lousy experience. Bleagh!
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weezy
climber
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donorcycles
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drljefe
climber
El Presidio San Augustin del Tucson
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Squid or salsa?
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TGT
Social climber
So Cal
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Yes, if you try to use a motorcycle as a sedan.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=271054
4 on a bike killed in road crash
Our Correspondent, Kushtia
Four people riding on a motorbike were killed in a road accident at Khankhanapur in sadar upazila of Rajbari yesterday morning.
The dead were identified as Nazrul Islam, 22, Al Amin, 24, Saidul Islam, 19, and Shafiqul Islam, 22, of Kalimohor in Pangsha upazila of Rajbari.
They were returning to Pangsha from Daulatdia when a Dhaka-bound truck rammed the motorcycle on Daulatdia-Khulna highway near Khakhanapur bridge at about 6.30am, said Masudur Rahman, in-charge of highway police in Ahladipur of the district.
Nazrul, Al Amin and Saidul died on the spot while Shafiqul on the way to Faridpur Medical College Hospital around 9.30am.
The driver and helper of the truck fled the scene.
The bodies were sent to Rajbari Sadar Hospital for autopsy.
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pud
climber
Sportbikeville & Yucca brevifolia
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Rockclimbers scared of motorcycles.
Too funny!
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Urizen
Ice climber
Berkeley, CA
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Mouse, could that possibly be a late-model Velo Promo van in the background?
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ELM !
climber
Near Boston
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I haven't ridden a motorcycle in 20 years...but I cycle around 2000 miles a year on my road bike. I have had way too many close calls to count but I have never been in an accident (on the road). I do, however, follow the rule of the road when I ride. I do it all...stop for lights, signal etc. I will say that sometimes I can hear trouble behind me and adjust. Landscaping trailers are my biggest fear...I have been hit with enough trimmer line! I really pay attention to where I am going. There are some areas that bicyclists are not safe and to ride there is foolish. Some riders have a real attitude when they cycle and they feel like the can do no wrong; they are usually the ones I hear detailing their latest incident to others. I tell people to ride as if no-one can see you. You'll still have fun and you'll be way safer.
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Nohea
Trad climber
Living Outside the Statist Quo
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Always thought a good blog title for me would be lifeon2wheels.com
The only time I take the truck is when I paddle and I choose between the bianchi commuter or the HD. I've dumped bikes many times broke plenty bones and dumped the cycle once, glad I had the helmet on only collapsing a lung.
The adrenalin is more intense on the HD but more plentiful on the bike.The bike does make me immune to traffic and for that I love it!
Aloha,
Will
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weezy
climber
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you guys want to talk dangerous bikes...behold the penny farthing, aka THE MAN SLICER.
An important and unfortunate attribute of the penny-farthing is that the rider sits high and nearly over the front axle. When the wheel strikes rocks and ruts, or under hard braking, the rider can be pitched forward off the bicycle head-first, called "taking a header" or simply "a header". Headers were relatively common, and a significant hazard: riders sometimes died from headers. Riders coasting down hills often took their feet off the pedals and put them over the tops of the handlebars, so they would be pitched off feet-first instead of head-first.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny-farthing
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