So the Nanny State (England in case you were wondering) is now claiming that airbag jackets should be mandatory for motorcycle riders, because whilst riders account for only 1% of road users, they account for 20% of fatalities.
You know what, they're right. But rather than force everyone to wear a ridiculously cumbersome jacket that hinders your movement and would cause more accidents through loss of control, might it not be better to treat the cause of the problem : car drivers?
TRL323 (a report commissioned by the UK government themselves) indicates that 90% of motorcycle accidents are caused by cars driving into them. In other words, 18% of all road fatalities are caused by car drivers hitting motorcyclists.
Here's an idea - ban cellphones and enforce the ban. Remove air bags, traction control and all the other so-called "safety" devices that are put into cars to eliminate responsibility from the driver. Until motorists realise that they are accountable, and there are consequences of their actions, this statistic isn't going to change. And that won't happen until the car manufacturers stop building ridiculously cocooning living rooms on wheels.
More details on the actual facts (rather than random government conjecture) about accident rates are available on the facts about speeding and accident rates page.
5 comments:
Hi Chris, your post is with out a doubt correct however you are missing one point, neither the Gov. be it U.S or UK or the cage driver really cares about the Motorcycle rider, we are not where the money is, it is far less expensive to regulate the biker than to instill common sense in to the cage driver, as I`m sure you know by now money is god, but please by all means tell me if I`m wrong
Shawn
Hi Chris. You dont' want to say it. I will.
It looks like:
"Let's make the jackets mandatory. After they are, we'll need them to be certified. We'll tell You where to buy them from (at the highest prices)- only if they are certified".
Finally, someone from the Gov. is going to make a lot of money selling those certified damn jackets, holding a monopoly. It is so simple.
To have less accidents, there is need in educated drivers. Educated drivers come from a rich cultural substrate. Reach culture means intelligent people. Intelligent people start asking questions: Why is it compulsory to pay money for something I don't need, something useless?
I had never heard of an airbag jacket , even though I've been riding for some years. It actually seems like a good idea , to be honest. I might look into getting one. I've looked it up and its less bulky as I'dd imagined. But , enforcing its use just isn't fair. Instead , they should just promote its use. But , that goes for any type of motorcycle protection gear.
enforce speed limiter in bikes and hey the accident % will fall...It's a miracle
To Anonymous : incorrect. Look at any published police reports and speed accounts for less than 2% of motorcycle accidents. Speed limiters are dangerous because they are yet another device that removes the driver (or rider) from control of their vehicle.
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