June 21st, 2008 by R.J.

The Los Angeles Times ran an article about the rise in motorcycle fatalities recently. It’s not really a surprise to me; I post about them every day; and I’ve lost some really good friends to bike accidents. But the numbers are still pretty shocking…

Over the last ten years, the CHP has tracked a 140% increase in motorcycle fatalities in the state.  In 2006 alone, there were 433 riders killed and 10,188 motorcyclists injured in California.

The 4 months between June and September result in nearly 50% of deadly collisions for the entire year.

“On nice weekends, when the weatherman says it’s going to be sunny, we get the copter gassed up and ready to go. Because you can just predict that someone’s going to do something that started out fun and ends up a disaster,” said Shane Matthews, weekend crew chief of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department’s air rescue squad.

Fran Clader, a CHP spokesperson, implied that the reason for the rise in fatalities is because more baby-boomers are hitting the road with “bigger and more powerful” engines. I don’t necessarily agree with that.

I think that’s just a political agenda someone is going to bring up to limit the power of motorcycles for “safety reasons.” I believe speed, not engine size, is the biggest contributing factor to the majority of these wrecks.

It’s just as easy to kill yourself on a 600cc sportbike as it is on a 1000cc. They’re both going to reach speeds in excess of 170mph. If you crash on either one, you’re probably going to die. But you don’t need to be going 170mph to kill yourself on a bike. People are killed on mopeds all the time. Are their engines too big, too?

Inattention is the other big factor. A lot of people get on bikes to show off and their mindset is “looking cool” in front of other people on the road. Not safety.  And who’s to blame them? Bikes are cool. But at some point that has to take a backseat to preserving your own life.

There’s too many people dying out there as a result of this “biker boyz” mindset. We, as motorcyclists, need to put a stop to it. We need to educate more riders on how to properly handle their bikes. I suggest everyone who rides a bike take an MSF Course. Not only will they teach you how to operate your bike safely and avoid accidents, they’ll teach you what you need to do to survive mishaps that would otherwise result in accidents with real hands-on training.