PERHAPS BEING FAT, DRUNK AND STUPID IS LESS LIKELY TO GET YOU KILLED ON A CRUISER THAN A SPORTBIKE-- BUT THE AUTHOR WOULD SOONER GET A FOLLOW-UP COLONOSCOPY THAN TRADE IN HIS SPORTBIKE FOR A CRUISER
A meme that circulates in the sport biking world is that sport bike riders, with their generally advanced riding skills, and protective gear, rarely die in motorcycle accidents. Sure, a lot of helmet-less young squids (young males in flip-flops, do-rags and Death Metal T-Shirts) get wadded up on the roadways, but the bulk of ex-oxygen addicts and grass root starers are drunk and inexperienced cruiser riders that miss a curve on the way home from their favorite tavern. That is what we sport bike riders think, anyway.
That meme is not refuted, but is certainly challenged, in a recent study released by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. But more importantly, the ratios of fatalities of riders compared with the types of bikes they ride reveal that death more readily awaits sport bikers than cruiser riders.
The Insurance Institute study separates motorcycles into five types, cruiser/standard, sport/unclad sport, supersport, touring and other/unknown. Supersport is a class that generally aligns with sport bikes, so the Author will describe use the appellation “sport bike” in place of supersport.
CRYPT KICKERS ON SPORTBIKES. LESS, AGGREGATLY, BUT MORE, STATISTICALLY (Does this header make sense?)
It is hard to refute the motorcycle death rate per 10,000 registered motorcycles. Overall, in 2000, that death rate was 7.1 per 10,000 motorcycle registrations. But per sport bikers, that death rate was 22.6. Similarly, in 2005, the overall death rate per 10,000 motorcycle registrations was 7.5. Per sports bikers, the death rate was 22.5 per 10,000 registrations.
In both years, sport bike deaths were substantially higher than the overall death rate, and substantially higher than deaths among cruiser riders. In 2000, the cruiser/standard death rate was 5.6 per 10,000 registrations. In 2005, the cruiser/standard death rate was 5.7.
DRUNK AND STUPID MORE COMMON ON CRUISER/STANDARDS THAN SPORTBIKES
The Insurance Institute study states:
Alcohol also is a problem in fatal crashes of motorcyclists, although less so than among passenger vehicle drivers. In 2005 it was a factor in the fatal crashes of 19 percent of supersport riders and 23 percent of sport and unclad sport riders. Alcohol impairment was an even bigger factor in the fatal crashes of cruisers and standard bikes and touring motorcycles, particularly among riders 30-49 years old. Thirty-three percent of cruiser and standard riders and 26 percent of touring motorcycle riders had blood alcohol concentrations above the legal threshold for impairment. By comparison, 33 percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers had blood alcohol concentrations at or above 0.08 percent in 2005.
SPEED AND RIDER ERROR MAJOR FACTORS IN SPORTBIKE DEATHS
Speeding and driver error were bigger factors in fatal crashes of supersport and sport and unclad sport bikes compared with other classes of motorcycles. Speed was cited in 57 percent of supersport riders’ fatal crashes in 2005 and 46 percent of the fatal crashes of sport and unclad sport riders. Speed was a factor in 27 percent of fatal crashes among riders on cruisers and standards and 22 percent on touring motorcycles.
WHERE THERE IS BLOOD AND GUTS, THERE IS USUALLY FINANCIAL LOSS
According to the Insurance Institute study:
Supersport motorcycles had the highest overall collision coverage losses among 2002-06 model bikes, almost 4 times higher than losses for touring motorcycles and more than 6 times higher than cruisers, a HLDI analysis reveals. Nine of the 10 motorcycles with the highest losses were supersports. The Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R, a 1,000 cc supersport, topped the worst list, with collision losses more than 9 times the average. Five of the 10 motorcycles with the highest overall losses had engine displacements of 1,000 cc or larger.
Claim frequency is driving the high overall losses among supersport motorcycles, meaning that supersports are involved in more collisions in relation to their numbers on the road than other motorcycles. Supersports had a claim frequency of 9 claims per 100 insured vehicle years, compared with a frequency of 2.3 for all 2002-06 models.
The issue of higher claims among sport bikes is axiomatic. If they go down more frequently that other types of motorcycles, they will have higher loss rates and concomitantly higher rates. These financial facts can and are addressed by the insurers. The death rates are a different matter.
WHERE ARE ALL THE HELMETS?
The Insurance Institute study states that only 51% of motorcycle riders wear Department of Insurance certified helmets. In 2000, that number was 71%. So much for higher education or higher brain functions.
Predictably, this Insurance Institute study has been roundly condemned in the sport bike world. Condemned, but not well-refuted. Fears, founded and unfounded, have been raised of impending speed restrictions or engine size restrictions.
But in the final analysis, this study is not much of a surprise. (The Author was surprised, however, to see that the rates of cruiser riders were that low, given their propensity to ride helmet less.) Young males, as they are wont to do, ride high-powered motorcycles at high rates of speed. And they crash more frequently. Maybe these young guys never studied physics.
And some middle-aged males ride high-powered motorcycles at high rates of speed. Many of them have more experience and better-refined memories of injury than their younger counterparts. Perhaps that makes all the difference.
LET US ALL RIDE WITH BETTER SENSE, VIGILANCE, AND COMITY IN THE DESERT OF THE REAL!
