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.
