For the most part, it's about attitude. You can put a 20 year old on a bike and if he has the maturity to 'keep his head', he may just keep his head. You can put a 40 year old on a bike with years of experience, who thinks he is Gods gift to motorcyclists, and guess who I would put my money on to stay safe........Skip.
Skip I think you it it on the head. After nearly 20 years on the road picking up dead bodies from crashes and investigating why they occurred I believe that the experience issue is not one that is properly represented in too many discussions.
I have been very vocal in the last 10 years about motorcycle licence testing methods being too lenient and easy to pass after seeing some of the products in various towns throughout the State. Before somebody jumps down my throat, I am
NOT saying that every school in the State has low standards, but there are a number of known schools that are attached to various sales outlets which pass 'suspect' riders. This to me is the first issue that needs to be corrected, because if you walk in and purchase a new bike on the basis that you need a licence. Is that person going to walk away with no licence and no bike, just because his cornering may be a little off?
On the other hand a person that hasn't ridden for 10-15 years, and has a mid life crisis going out to buy a new bike, when his last one was a CX550 that he courted his current wife of 20 years on, and rode to and from his apprenticeship whilst he rebuilt his Cortina in the shed. All he remembers is being able to run around and have fun, and now he's older he is a lot better so he can still ride, without doing a refresher course. This type of rider can't be policed too well, even if looking at new registered owners. I would have had something to say after not owning a bike for 10 years, however having ridden more miles than a lot of riders by ducking and weaving around wide loads, and high speed responses to emergencies in city traffic, not everybody does this whilst they don't have one registered in their name. A lot of these blokes probably got his licence something like me, in a small town riding down to the shop and getting morning tea and bringing it back to the Police Station because they had already seen me ride around numerous times on backroads, and sometimes the main street.
They still seem to think that it has to be the motorcyclists fault and therefore can be solved by educating the motorcyclist.
Whizz whilst a lot of crashes are not the motorcyclists 'fault', a little more attention about their surroundings could stop a greater percentage of the crashes involving motorbikes. A majority of the fatal crashes in this State result from single vehicle crashes, and when you look at speed analysis this contributes to a lot, not all, as they go into corners and intersections too hot.
With a majority of the crashes that involve other vehicles v bike I have found that riders expecting that cars have seen them and will follow the rules has a high incident in resulting in the crash. Most people will see this as a redundant thought process, however I believe we need to teach some riders to take more responsibility for their own action/safety when riding. Yes I agree that car drivers need to be educated, and enforcement action taken where appropriate, however lets look after our own safety to reduce our involvement in crashes so we return to flying under the radar, and the shift takes place to educating the drivers, and not riders.
Playing devil's advocate for a while - riders need to make sure they are able to safely travel amongst the larger number of vehicles on the road. The way some people ride, I look at them and express distain that they are drawing the crabs on me as a rider from their actions, when every other rider is bunched in as a possible lout because of a few bad apples. This is human nature, and almost everybody here could think of a situation where they would have done the same thing, until they found out more info later. I also haven't been afraid of 'educating' some riders on how their habits effect me on my own bike when I get the chance to talk with them "
mano a mano"
Education can only ever be a good thing no matter what experience you have.
