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NOVEMBER 2020 • BACKROADS
of the situation dictated that if the rider hadn’t given up on the turn, but simply looked where he wanted to go, leaned the bike and continued, it was possible to complete the turn. MARK ByERS Alcohol. A lot of victims of bike crashes were returning from an evening of socializing at a bar, indulging in what they may have thought was a safe alternative endingS amount of alcohol. The problem is that once one starts down that road, judgement of what constitutes a safe amount is suspect. It slows reactions, takes It happens about once a month away inhibitions, and adversely affects vision, especially night vision. It is between April and October: a news report about a motorcycle mishap in compounded by the fatigue and circadian-rhythm issues discussed above. which the rider was killed. It’s not something about which we like to think, Riding gear. There are an awful lot of lightly-attired riders out there. Forbut we need to. I have not done any scholarly research, but I do see recurring get “all the gear, all the time” and just think of jeans, a leather vest, and a themes. helmet with a fake DOT sticker that is the protective equivalent of a TupperDarkness. A significant number of crashes occur after sunset. There are ware bowl. One study says use of a proper helmet reduces the instance of multiple factors: 1) lighting that illuminates where the bike is pointed versus serious head injury by about 85%. Even if it’s a fraction of that, it’s better where it is going, 2) relatively weak, single lights common to many bikes, than what the average victim appears to be wearing. 3) fatigue and circadian rhythm disruptions from Most motorcycle crash articles I read contain the riding well past the hour at which the rider is norwords “Excessive speed and alcohol were conmotorcycle accident investigator once wrote mally asleep, and 4) poor cultural illumination of tributing factors.” The typical scenario is a person that in the majority of situations at which he objects, hazards, and the road. Riding at night inlooked, the physics of the situation dictated leaving a bar well after dark to ride home, impaired volves riding into a relatively small pool of light, that if the rider hadn’t given up on the turn, but simby alcohol, going at a speed well beyond their abilbeyond which we are blind. “Overdriving your ply looked where he wanted to go, leaned the bike ity and the conditions, and striking an object adjalights” means going fast enough so that the stopping and continued, it was possible to complete the turn. cent to the road and/or being ejected from the distance exceeds the illuminated distance available. motorcycle. Most of them are single-vehicle Speed. Day or night, most bikes add speed much crashes and don’t involve right-of-way violations by cars or impacts with more quickly than most riders can controllably subtract with the brakes. I deer: they are simply the culmination of a chain of rider-controllable events. refer mostly to the front brake because it’s the lion’s share of stopping power Here’s an alternative ending: a person rides to a bar to socialize, but aband the hand is a much better fine motor-skills controller than the foot. The stains from alcohol because he/she is riding. Recognizing that they are tired average rider, when faced with a requirement for maximum braking, will when they leave and that it is dark, they alter their normal behavior to take a stomp the rear-brake pedal, locking the rear wheel. This causes the inevitable better-lighted way home, riding at a much more sedate pace than usual. fishtail, ending in a high-side crash as the bike ejects the rider and both slam They’ve selected good riding gear that’s appropriate for the cool night, with sideways into the pavement. Thankfully, more bikes come with ABS as time a real DOT full-face helmet and a clear visor. Perhaps they’ve installed an passes, but it isn’t a panacea. aftermarket lighting system to augment their bike, one that illuminates turns Target fixation occurs when riders don’t think they can make a turn, abanbetter. Or maybe they dispensed with all that and took an Uber to and from don the attempt, brake, stand the bike up, and go straight off the road. They the bar and partied their asses off. Either way, they probably lived to tell the focus on the point of departure from the road - a common human reaction tale, which is sadly in stark contrast to the articles I read about once a month. instead of looking where they want to go. A motorcycle accident investigator once wrote that in the majority of situations at which he looked, the physics
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