The Hurt Report

Two weekends ago, I had an opportunity to ride my father-in-law’s four-wheeler around the ruins of the Teton Dam. It was an incredibly good time, and now I realize the appeal that these types of tiny vehicles provide. It’s a totally different experience from riding a car.

Two weekends ago, I had an opportunity to ride my father-in-law’s four-wheeler around the ruins of the Teton Dam. It was an incredibly good time, and now I realize the appeal that these types of tiny vehicles provide. It’s a totally different experience from riding a car.

So, in typical Matthew style, I read up on the sport. An overriding interest of mine is “how do I avoid getting hurt?”, since I have heard and read all kinds of horror stories about people new to motorcycles or four-wheelers really hurting themselves. To that end, I found The Hurt Report. I came to the following conclusions:

  1. Take a safety course. Fully 92% of all motorcycle accident victims did not take a safety course. That’s a pretty staggering statistic to me. If you are self-taught or had a family member or friend teach you, you’re eleven times more likely to be in an accident.
  2. Don’t ride a motorbike if you’re between ages 16 and 24. No, seriously, statistics indicate that you’re judgment-impaired. You’re safest if you’re between 30 and 50.
  3. If you’re a manual laborer, student, or unemployed, you may want to hold off on buying that cool motorcycle until you change careers.
  4. Put fairings and windshields on your motorcycle.
  5. Ride with your lights on.
  6. Wear brightly-colored clothing in orange, red, or yellow.
  7. Over half of all fatal motorcycle accidents involve alcohol consumption. Don’t ride your motorcycle late at night when there are likely to be drunk drivers on the road, and of course, don’t drink and drive.
  8. Wear a helmet. Those who wear helmets are less likely to get into an accident. Almost all motorcycle accidents occur within a 45 degree field of vision in front of the rider, so complaints about lost peripheral vision when wearing a helmet are irrelevant to safety; you’re much safer with a helmet than without.
  9. A bigger motorcycle is less likely to be involved in a crash, but is more likely to hurt you severely if you do crash.
  10. Intersections are the most dangerous for motorcycles; be extra-careful there.
  11. If you have had a moving violation in the past three years, don’t ride a motorcycle.

Now, admittedly, some of these statistics are kind of funny, like “rule yourself out if you’re aged 16 through 24”. But according to the demographics represented, I’m a perfect candidate to be a safe motorcycle rider.

I do hate wearing orange, though.