Posts filed under 'Motorcycle Safety'
A quick update on my brother-in-law, Jack. Since his seizure, we have had him going through some testing ordered by a neurologist here. Suspecting pressure buildup from his brain trauma, the neurologist has already put him on some medication. Today, Jack was scheduled for an MRI. A good friend of mine agreed to take him so I could go to work. About lunch time, I got a message from my wife, who was somewhere in Tennessee, saying to call her immediately. It was Jack. About an hour after my friend had dropped off the film from the MRI to the neurologist, the neurologist office had called my house and said to bring Jack in as soon as possible. Well, that gave both my wife and me a huge scare.
But it was not quite as bad as we imagined. The MRI did show that pressure buildup was indeed occurring, but the doctor only wanted to increase his medication levels to treat the swelling, not surgery as we feared. Jack will have some additional testing, but for now it appears that we caught the problem in time to avoid more serious consequences.
Jack has severe internal brain trauma, and it is obvious from the MRI films I saw, but the films also showed evidence of a lot of healing that has already taken place. So again our hopes are elevated.
If Jack ever rides his motorcycle again, and he says he will, it will be with a helmet (by his choice, not our politicians). He has also asked me to tell his story as we go along to help others who have the freedom to choose to at least make an informed decision on helmet usage. He will not say that the helmet would have prevented his problems, but he feels it may have.
In related news, I talked with the people at Social Security about his SSI. It has been temporarily suspended while they determine if he is still disabled. (Somehow they can do this without even coming to see him, but I am not quite sure how) They have said that the process takes about 120 days, and until then, no payments. Now me and the wife have vowed that we would see this through no matter what, but I don’t mind telling you that the $600 a month we just lost, while a small portion of the expenses of caring for Jack, was a much appreciated aid, and we will miss it sorely. But we will deal with it, and watch Jack as he grows stronger. If anyone wants to help us help Jack, we also will very much appreciate that.
I will keep everyone up to date using this blog as important news springs. Until then, Ride safe, and consider Jack’s suggestion on motorcycles and helmets.
May 1st, 2007
For 22 years, the Bi-State Motorcycle Awareness Council has held a motorcycle awareness parade that travels between Iowa and Illinois. For 22 years, the cities that were visited treated the event as a parade, closing the route and escorting the motorcycles through town. This year will be different. While the remaining cities on the parade route have already voted to continue with the non-stop parade format, the aldermen and mayor of Moline have voted to decline the police services requested. The motorcycle riders will be required to obey all traffic signs on their route through Moline.
Apparently, this decision, a close one that had to have the Mayor do the tie breaker, is based on the recommendations of the police chief:
Police Chief Gary Francque suggested Moline change how it handles the motorcycle ride this year because of concerns about traffic and public safety. At observation points along the ride last year, police officers noticed the number of riders has increased and the delay at closed intersections is “becoming extensive,” Chief Francque said.
“Extensive” is later clarified to be “20 to 40 minutes”. The good citizens of Moline were getting too impatient to wait, according to the police chief.
The purpose of the parade, according to the Bi-State Motorcycle Awareness Council, is to “join together the states of Iowa and Illinois in promoting motorcycle awareness among motorists”. From their website:
Proclamations are received from Governors, Senators and Mayors of the bi-state area, proclaiming May as Motorcycle Awareness Month. By doing this, the Council is able to attract media attention that reminds the public that another riding season has started and that they should be alert to the presence of motorcycles on the streets and highways. These proclamations are presented at the annual Motorcycle Awareness Proclamation Ride, which is held every year on the first Saturday in May.
The comments to the article referenced are split almost exactly in half, for and against the decision of Moline. Unfortunately, those who are agreeing with the decision are typically doing it in a stereotypical way. Reading through the pro comments, I see references to “jelly bellied, middle aged easy rider wannabes”, “hoard of loud motorcycles”, and comments like “If you don’t like it motorcyclists….then do your dumb parade somewhere else”, and “Grow up and drive on four wheels like the rest of us!”. The posts against the decision seem a bit more tame, and at least don’t resort to stereotyping cagers, they again point out the reasons for the parade and why it is a bad decision not to provide the parade style routing…rightly, in my opinion, stating that the delay will expand dramatically if the parade has to be broken up and staggered due to traffic lights.
The delay caused in Moline will not just be in Moline, though. Since Moline will successfully break the parade into several smaller groups, the time to traverse the remainder of the route will also be increased. Fortunately, this will only affect the ending point in East Moline.
As some of the comments pointed out, this event is well publicized, and should take none of the residents by surprise, while other parades that result in the same delay are not publicized nearly as well. It was also equated to waiting for a train that has stopped at a railroad crossing, again with no warning.
The decision made by the elected body of Moline is unfortunate to say the least. It heightens the belief that bikers are just second class citizens, not worthy of the cities help in promoting a good cause. This decision will most likely result in unnecessary “accidents” causing needless injury in an effort to promote awareness and avoid that injury. I hope the decision does not come back to bite the aldermen and mayor, but it most likely will.
One final note on this. The Bi-State Motorcycle Awareness Council also uses this event to raise money for the Childrens Therapy Center of the Quad Cities, through donations and sales of commemorative items to the participants. So this is not “all about the motorcyclists”, but for the entire community. Surely the community should take this into account, rather than continuing to stereotyp the bikers who give.
April 11th, 2007
Two recent articles I read: one about Missouri coming closer to a helmet law repeal and the other about 8 states considering reinstating helmet laws, gave me occasion to express my views on the helmet law debate.
Let’s examine first some of the reasons there may be an increased drive to mandate helmet usage for motorcyclists. From the article cited above:
“States are beginning to be concerned about the number of people killed in motorcycle crashes,” said Barbara Harsha, head of the Governors Highway Safety Association, which supports helmet laws.
Motorcycle fatalities soared from 2,116 in 1997 to 4,553 in 2005 as other roadway deaths declined. Motorcycle riding also grew, but the fatality rate nearly doubled from 1997 to 2004, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
The agency says helmets are “the most effective safety gear” for motorcyclists. But helmet use dropped from 71% in 2000 to 51% in 2006, NHTSA says, adding that helmets saved 1,546 lives in 2005.
My first question here is “How can NHTSA determine that [exactly] 1,546 lives were saved in 2005?” Sounds more like throwing out numbers to support a point of view to me. Which, of course is what statistics are all about, isn’t it? Two groups taking the same raw data, and coming to two exactly opposite conclusions, of course both saying it is backed by factual statistics!
And of course, media’s use of appropriate terminology helps whichever side stress their side more also. Note that the motorcycle fatalities “soared”? Also, notice that the years compared always seem to change? From 1997 to 2005 for the first point, then 1997 to 2004 for the second point (which by the way just gleans on a very good reason for motorcycle fatalities and accidents to ’soar’ – the number of people actually riding a motorcycle has expanded greatly, perhaps even enough to fully explain the rise in motorcycle fatalities… but then NHTSA is not trying to keep people from buying motorcycles, they are trying to force them to buy motorcycle helmets). And then finally, when discussing decline in usage, a new year span, 2000 to 2006, is used. So here we are, putting all the data together by comparing apples to oranges to grapefruit… but the numbers don’t lie, do they? Per the NHTSA logic, there is a direct correlation between the rising number of motorcycle deaths and the decrease in helmet usage. Are you convinced? Sorry, not me, I need more relevant data.
The American Bikers Aimed Towards Education (ABATE) makes an attempt to more accurately portray motorcycle fatality statistics in a meaningful way, by comparing the death rate state by state and correlating the raw numbers to the number of motorcycles registered in each state. The problem with their data is it is dated now, based on statistics over 10 years ago. I would definitely be interested in seeing these statistics updated into this century, and urge ABATE to do so. Since ABATE is the spearhead for most states fights about singling the biker out for laws, it would be in all bikers interest to do this.
Finally, while on statistics and use of them to pass helmet laws, it is interesting to note that while head injuries are a very common injury in car accidents, there is no drive by the NHTSA to get states to pass a helmet law for automobiles! Could it be that, while bikers do not have the total numbers strength to vote out their entire legislative body, car owners do? Laws that are deemed safe for a politicians career seem to be in flavor now.
April 7th, 2007
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