A PROFOUND STORY

Motorcyclists are an unusual lot. Many are just regular folks that like to feel the wind and the open road. Some have risk-taking personalities and enjoy other adventures. A few have sociopathic tendencies and a small number are downright masochistic.

And then there is the Author, who shall remain undiagnosed.

DRESS FOR THE SLIDE, NOT THE RIDE

This little platitude above encapsulates the need to wear protective equipment when you ride. The reasons to wear protective gear bear no need for explanation. Yet many motorcyclists fail to don the most basic of safety gear, a helmet.

Two posts from May, Law, Economics, Seat Belts and Motorcyclists Skulls,and Law, Economics, Seat Belts and Motorcyclist Skulls-Redux addressed some legal and economics concepts regarding negligence, the incurrance of risk, and measures to properly allocate risk.

The link below puts a human face and a human experience upon the failure to wear protective riding equipment. Please note that the woman was wearing a helmet and might have been killed instantly had she not worn a helmet.

Let her tell her story:

THE ACCIDENT

It was a beautiful Sunday morning even through my blurred vision. I was on the back of my friend Shaun’s GSXR 750 and was excited to be on a sport bike, even if it was as a passenger, after a long streak of no riding whatsoever. I had shed my prescription glasses for a pair of sunglasses, my cowboy hat for an oversized helmet, and quickly thrown on a pair of capri jeans, tennis shoes, and a sweatshirt over my bikini. I thought nothing of the fact that I had practically no protection against the asphalt if anything were to happen. I figured that we couldn’t get into a wreck, it simply wouldn’t happen to me. It’s amazing how fast life came at me that day.

http://www.speedfreakinc.com/content/articles/riding/roadrashqueen.html

SOMETIMES IT PAYS TO SHUT UP AND LISTEN IN THE DESERT OF THE REAL!