Accidents happen, and if you’re in an accident on a motorcycle you’re generally in more danger than you would be in a car. You’ve got to accept those risks to be a motorcycle rider.
An acquaintance of mine used to love small, light cars. A Honda Del Sol, Mazda Miata, a VW “New” Bug, and then a Mini Cooper. One day he was severely injured when he was T-boned in the Mini by a guy in a huge SUV who ran a stop sign going almost 50 MPH.
So, should I “distrust” Minis?
What about bicycles? Should one never ride a bicycle on a city street? All the most dangerous aspects of riding a motorcycle in the city, where most accidents happen – cars turning left or going into an intersection who “didn’t see the rider” – apply equally to a bicyclist, and more so because bicycles are even smaller and slower than motorcycles, and don’t have headlights or engine exhausts. Yet riding a bicycle is somehow the Holy Grail of Environmental Greenness, while riding a motorcycle is a suicidal risk.
In any case, should your choice on deciding on the risk level of riding a bicycle, driving a Mini, or riding a motorcycle be reflected in a judgment of “trustworthiness” of those vehicles in general?
No need to jump on lobotomyboy63. Motorcycles are higher risk than cars, and if his personal risk assessment says it’s too high a risk for him to want to ride one, that’s his business. The thread title asks if folks are considering a motorcycle or scooter, and he answered no. Fair enough.
Personally, I see the risks not being much different. Collisions caused by other drivers aren’t influenced by whether you’re in a car or a motorcycle, except where visibility is concerned (and there’s ways to fix that). In those situations defensive driving will be what saves you, and that’s no different no matter what vehicle you’re in. To the extent that a motorcycle rider is more likely to cause a collision, that’s fully controllable; if you think being on a sportsbike gives you license to go 60 in a 30 zone, then yeah, it’s going to be more unsafe.
In the event a collision happens that you can’t prevent, true, you’re not as protected by a bike as a car, but you’re also not as trapped. In my personal opinion, in the end it’s a wash as to which is the more dangerous.
I’m looking.
I’m just continuing with the textual diarrhea in this thread. Statistics-wise, motorcycles are higher risk, insurance companies consider them higher risk. But IMO, it’s a bit of a wash, because it’s mostly in how responsibly you ride.