The Hurt Report

[MendoDave]

25. More than half of the accident- involved motorcycle riders had less than 5 months experience
on the accident motorcycle, although the total street riding experience was almost 3 years.
Motorcycle riders with dirt bike experience are significantly underrepresented in the accident
data.

I thought that was interesting. I agree with that. But then.

48. Safety helmet use caused no attenuation of critical traffic sounds, no limitation of precrash
visual field, and no fatigue or loss of attention; no element of accident causation was related to
helmet use.

I'm not sure if the helmet was at fault, or if with out a helmet the wind would be equally as noisy. I have failed to hear sirens coming from cross streets before and been left wondering why everybody is suddenly braking.

[ryandalling]

48. Safety helmet use caused no attenuation of critical traffic sounds, no limitation of precrash
visual field, and no fatigue or loss of attention; no element of accident causation was related to
helmet use.

I'm not sure if the helmet was at fault, or if with out a helmet the wind would be equally as noisy. I have failed to hear sirens coming from cross streets before and been left wondering why everybody is suddenly braking.

I wonder if helmet technology has gotten better since the report to the point where it does drown out some sound... either that or you had ear plugs in?  lol... I know in WA riding with mp3 or ear plugs is illegal... people do it anyway... seems an odd thing to make illegal... as its no worse than a radio in your car....

[MendoDave]

I sure that the V twin noises had nothing to do with the hearing problem. 

[CapnCrunch]

That is a common misconception.

Answer this.... Have you ever heard a police motorcycle creeping up on you?

Probably not, i'm guessing. You usually don't notice until the lights and siren go off. Given your statistics. Motocops would be in accidents everyday. Yet, amazingly enough  they get into less accidents, not to mention that they are on the road significantly more often than the average motorcyclist.

Situational Awareness is key...


From the report:

14. Conspicuity of the motorcycle is a critical factor in the multiple vehicle accidents, and
accident involvement is significantly reduced by the use of motorcycle headlamps (on in
daylight) and the wearing of high visibility yellow, orange or bright red jackets.

A logical extension would be to say that anything that makes a moto more conspicuous can help reduce the incidence of accident involvement with other vehicles.

ie: loud pipes.

also I bet this has shifted quite a bit to the older end of the scale.

20. Motorcycle riders between the ages of 16 and 24 are significantly overrepresented in
accidents; motorcycle riders between the ages of 30 and 50 are significantly underrepresented.
Although the majority of the accident- involved motorcycle riders are male (96%), the female
motorcycles riders are significantly overrepresented in the accident data.

[Loyalizer]

Too bad, no one does a report on the number of accidents involving Modified Pipes vs. Stock.