Comments on: European “Motorcycle Accidents In Depth Study” (MAIDS) Report Updated http://bolty.net/2009/04/23/european-motorcycle-accidents-in-depth-study-maids-report-updated/ a blog about riding motorcycles Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:00:46 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Ruben http://bolty.net/2009/04/23/european-motorcycle-accidents-in-depth-study-maids-report-updated/comment-page-1/#comment-647 Ruben Mon, 11 May 2009 10:37:48 +0000 http://bolty.net/?p=721#comment-647 It boils down to putting your money where your mouth is. Unfortunately there are many willing to sing praises and shout accolades to the safety community, but back it up with funding? This is where the proverbial tire meets the road, is it not? I have had my fill of talking about it. Let's get to the bottom line, how many riders have to die to warrant spending the money? They can make all the speeches they want but without funding, it's all hot air. BTW, other money issues are training police to properly investigate crashes and having a standardized method of reporting. We need to do better. It boils down to putting your money where your mouth is. Unfortunately there are many willing to sing praises and shout accolades to the safety community, but back it up with funding? This is where the proverbial tire meets the road, is it not?

I have had my fill of talking about it. Let's get to the bottom line, how many riders have to die to warrant spending the money?

They can make all the speeches they want but without funding, it's all hot air.

BTW, other money issues are training police to properly investigate crashes and having a standardized method of reporting. We need to do better.

]]> By: Amy http://bolty.net/2009/04/23/european-motorcycle-accidents-in-depth-study-maids-report-updated/comment-page-1/#comment-628 Amy Sat, 25 Apr 2009 11:41:41 +0000 http://bolty.net/?p=721#comment-628 Interesting tidbits! It's nice to see something that backs up the belief that riders do seem to make safer drivers. Every time that approaching car *doesn't* make that last-second left hand turn in front of me I wonder if he's a rider too and has had that heart-stopping maneuver pulled on him.... Reading this made me think back to the last NYS Defensive Driving class I took. I was dismayed to see how little coverage there was of motorcycles. What little mention there was, was only in a couple of videos basically treating them as road hazards. My husband and I (apparently the only two riders in the class of 30+ people) had to basically hijack the class for 15 minutes while we tried to disassociate the words "motorcycle" and "hazard". It was obvious that some of our classmates-especially those approaching their Golden years-were a bit uncomfortable, even annoyed at the topic. How are other drivers supposed to know how to treat a motorcycle in traffic if they don't know what it's capable of? I'm not saying every licensed driver should have to take an MSF class, but there should be some emphasis on the fact that my bike will stop waaaay before that guy's two ton SUV, for instance. That having been said, I agree 100% with you about the need for an updated Hurt-type report in the US. In the meantime, I'm going to go read more of what they've got to say on the other side of the pond. :) Interesting tidbits! It's nice to see something that backs up the belief that riders do seem to make safer drivers. Every time that approaching car *doesn't* make that last-second left hand turn in front of me I wonder if he's a rider too and has had that heart-stopping maneuver pulled on him….

Reading this made me think back to the last NYS Defensive Driving class I took. I was dismayed to see how little coverage there was of motorcycles. What little mention there was, was only in a couple of videos basically treating them as road hazards. My husband and I (apparently the only two riders in the class of 30+ people) had to basically hijack the class for 15 minutes while we tried to disassociate the words "motorcycle" and "hazard". It was obvious that some of our classmates-especially those approaching their Golden years-were a bit uncomfortable, even annoyed at the topic. How are other drivers supposed to know how to treat a motorcycle in traffic if they don't know what it's capable of? I'm not saying every licensed driver should have to take an MSF class, but there should be some emphasis on the fact that my bike will stop waaaay before that guy's two ton SUV, for instance. That having been said, I agree 100% with you about the need for an updated Hurt-type report in the US. In the meantime, I'm going to go read more of what they've got to say on the other side of the pond. :)

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