Safest bike on the Road?

[longride]

I guess we all heard for years from a particular poster here that sportbikes were 'the safest bikes on the road'. Well, I guess according to this article, it isn't quite true:

'Supersport' motorcyclists have highest death rate : Top Stories : News : Sympatico / MSN

[seruzawa]

Well, like with helmet laws, I guess we'll have to force the owners of these bikes to act more responsibly because they are causing me to have to pay more money to cover their medical bills. 85hp top limits and speed regulation down to 85mph must be enforced.

[sarnali2]

About the 5th paragraph down says it all, this class is "especially popular with those younger than 30"

[pushrod]

Heck, my bike couldn't be safer! Only way I could get hurt on it is if I fall off and hit my workbench on the way down.

But seriously, has anyone looked at the IIHS study? I'm curious what defines "Supersport", "Sport" and "Sport-unclad". And does the non-DOT helmet number include no hat at all?

[Cheesebeast]

Read it for yourselves:
http://www.iihs.org/sr/pdfs/sr4209.pdf

The IIHS stands for the Insurance Institute For Highway Robbery..err..Safety.

This piece of glossy tough love is titled:
THESE MACHINES ARE DESIGNED FOR THE RACETRACK

Helmet law fans get a special treat with "Helmets are key to reversing growing trend of rider deaths."

[longride]

Originally Posted by Cheesebeast

Read it for yourselves:
http://www.iihs.org/sr/pdfs/sr4209.pdf
Helmet law fans get a special treat with "Helmets are key to reversing growing trend of rider deaths."

I'll bet them everything I own that that it won't reverse the 'trend'. When you pit stupidity against a helmet, stupidity wins 100% of the time.

[Cheesebeast]

Actually, this gem from the article raises a few eyebrows:
"Seventy-one percent of supersport riders who died in crashes in 2005 wore helmets, compared with 52 percent of touring bike riders."
Pg. 6, Status Report, Vol.42, No. 9, Sept. 11, 2007

Those unfortunate supersport riders died much more safely.

[Kenneth_Moore]

This is the most biased, unethical, illogical, and absurd report I have ever read! While slandering the sportbike community (of which I am NOT a member, BTW), this report's own statistics reveal their propagandaist lies:

Sport bike deaths in 2000: 10.8% per 10,000
Sport bike deaths in 2005: 10.8% per 10,000 - a NET DECREASE!

Supersport bike deaths in 2000: 22.6% per 10.000
Supersport bike deaths in 2005: 22.5% per 10,000 - a NET DECREASE!

Total deaths 2000: 7.1% 2005: 7.5%, AN INCREASE OF LESS THAN 1/2 A PERCENT, EVEN THOUGH TOTAL REGISTRATIONS ROSE BY 3.2 MILLION BIKES!

Adding to this outrage is their contention that sportbikes are 4X more dangerous than all other bikes. Yet, where is the largest single increase in deaths by motorcycle catagory?

Touring bike deaths in 2000: 5.3% per 10,000
Touring bike deaths in 2005: 6.5% per 10,000

While every other catagory either went down or rose only a fraction of a percent, TOURING BIKE deaths rose over 1%!!

Motorcycle.com, if you're reading this, I urge you to get in front of this pack of liars and challenge them. No research required, their own statistics show this is just a propaganda move. You need to represent us!

Motorcycle manufacturers: HEY STUPID, how about dropping the ads showing the guy dragging his knee pucks through the neighborhood, stopping just before he hits the kid's toy in the driveway. How about dropping the stupid race references so notably pointed out in this study? Talk about shooting yourself in the foot...it's like Absolute Vodka running a campaign for a new "Car Friendly Sippy Bottle - Easy to Stash Under the Seat at DUI Checkpoints - No Spills."

[Kenneth_Moore]

PS: Typo on the Sportbike percentage: 2005 was 10.7 - thus the .1% decrease.

[seruzawa]

Originally Posted by Kenneth_Moore

This is the most biased, unethical, illogical, and absurd report I have ever read!

Just say that the IIHS is behind it.