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Motorcycle Safety Tips
Countersteering: What is it? Check out this
article from the U.K. site "Survival Skills" | Can
you steer a bike by leaning rather than countersteering? Keith Code says no in
his "Twist
of the Wrist" book series
Mechanical Safety: Keep your motorcycle in
good running order with maintenance and repair
information on the
wBW
Motorcycle Maintenance and Repair page with links to
many articles; also see the complete index of
wBW
motorcycle maintenance and repair articles
Motorcycle Accident Scene Management - Removing Motorcycle Helmets from Crash Victims:
Motorcycle Accident Scene
Management - this page has some detailed information on what to do in
case of a motorcycle accident | The basic rule is: don't do it
unless you have been specifically trained; the Motorcycle
Association of New York State has a video available to professional
rescue personnel on these techniques (not available on their website, email hwymedic@aol.com)
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Motorcycle accident scene reconstruction - interesting detailed case
study of a motorcycle accident
More Motorcycle Safety Links: The Maryland MVA Motorcycle
Safety home page | Motorcycle scare statistics
from the Brain Injury Association |
Yet more scary
statistics (Note: .pdf file) from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety; also several
tables of useful accident statistics | Interesting tips on
"High
Performance Street Riding" | The
Road Safety Index has some interesting articles about the effect of
lighting sources and colors on visibility and other information about road
safety in Australia | The National Association of Black Bikers
website has a section on motorcycle safety
and training |
U.K. laws,
regulations and tips on motorcycle safety
Proof That Cell Phones Distract Drivers: Read
this
interesting article about a Carnegie Mellon study that claims to prove
humans cannot converse on cell phones without becoming distracted from driving
Motorcycle Brakes - Braking: Interesting
study by George Soodoo, U.S. DOT, Team
Leader, Vehicle Dynamics Division, Office of Crash Avoidance Standards
comparing motorcycle braking for several different models with/without ABS
Motorcycle Riding Skills: The
wBW
Book Review page
has information on many books related to improving your
motorcycle riding skills | See also the
wBW
Motorcycle Training and Track Days page |
The Motor Cop Survival Video is a riding video
used by law enforcement agencies for training in street survival skills;
available from Canyon Press (Los Angles, CA); no website - call 323-656-9801
Motorcycle Safety Studies: The Hurt Study
Summary - The Hurt study, published in
1981, was a ground-breaking report on the causes and effects of motorcycle
accidents | The NHTSA Helmet
Study
- This study assessed the
effects of motorcycle helmets upon seeing and hearing by having 50 riders
operate over a test route, changing lanes in response to an audible signal
under three helmet conditions: none, partial coverage, and full coverage
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Goldstein
Helmet Study - This study evaluates the effectiveness of motorcycle
helmets in accident situations. It is concluded that (1) motorcycle helmets
have no statistically significant effect on the probability of fatality; (2)
helmets reduce the severity of head injuries; and (3) past a critical impact
speed [13 MPH], helmets increase the severity of neck injuries |
National
Agenda For Motorcycle Safety -
Published in December of 2000; download a complete copy for free here |
Older
Motorcyclists by Dr. Frank Glamser, an
IBMWR President |
Motorcycle
Crash Countermeasures - a
study from the U.K. available for purchase | From the European
Cooperation in the Field of Scientific and Technical Research (COST) here is
the COST Project
327 page on "Motorcycle Safety Helmets" with a description of
the project and links to two downloadable files, one describing helmet testing
procedures and the other is a report on accident descriptions and analysis of
helmets | A different take on daytime
running lights (DRL's) and other safety issues for motorcycles; from the
U.K. | A list of studies for and against daytime
running lights for motorcycles | The
Benefits of Motorcycle Conspicuity Measures from Road Safety Committee of
the Australian government of Victoria |
Motorcycle
Helmet Use Laws from the Insurance Institute for Highway
Safety | "Motorcyclists who are conspicuous are
under-represented in crashes"; read
more from NHTSA | The Snell
Foundation has information comparing Snell and DOT standards; helmet
FAQ's; testing requirements; lists of certified helmets and more
►Your Comments and
Feedback
Please send comments to
Comments are ordered from most recent to oldest.
Not all comments will be published ( details). Comments may be edited for
clarity prior to publication.
Flip-Up Helmet Safety
From "D.L." (10/09): "I just
finished reading your review of the Caberg Sintesi and I
want to make a general comment as to this entire
category of helmet. I purchased my first flip up,
a Schuberth, in the late eighties and have continued to
purchase the same or similar helmets since then.
The bulk of my miles are done two up in two or three big
trips every year.
In the name of yuppie fashion, my wife wears the same
helmet. Last year, in an effort to control noise
on my R1200GS, we switched to full face helmets.
This year we did a three week tour in Italy and I
dropped the bike in 0 mph off camber, uphill turn.
We were on, what I would describe as a paved goat path.
Very steep, narrow and very off camber.
As we made the turn, uphill to the right, a large
dump truck was coming down. I was way out into his
path and tried to slow to move to the right side.
I put my foot down and there was nothing there. We
were virtually stopped, I lost balance and over we went.
The truck stopped and helped us up and we continued
on. It was a hot day and we were traveling slowly.
Normally, in our flip-ups, we would have had our shields
up. Luckily we had full face helmets on.
When we fell my wife flopped face first directly onto
the pavement, hard enough to crack the chin of her
helmet. It rang her bell hard enough that we
needed a break for her to recoup. I don't want to
think what would have happened without a chin bar.
Bottom line is we wear these contraptions for a good
reason. It now seems foolish to me to purposely
lessen that protection. Caveat emptor."
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