Passes & Canyons Blog

The opening slide of the naturalistic study slide deck.

About six years ago I wrote quite a lot about a new motorcycle crash study that was being conducted by the University of Oklahoma. It was to be an update to the old Hurt Report of 1981. The Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) was to chip in to cover the cost.

Then things got a little crazy. The MSF announced it would not help fund the study, but instead would fund its own “naturalistic” study of factors contributing to motorcycle crashes. Later on, Dr. Samir Ahmed, the researcher heading up the Oklahoma study, left the group and had some harsh words for it all. Honestly, I lost track and don’t even know if a report was ever issued.

But now the MSF has completed its study and it recently issued its findings. I’ll do a quick recap here and then follow up in more detail in follow-up posts.

The difference between the two types of studies are that the one looks at police reports and interviews those involved after a crash occurs. The “naturalistic” study equipped 100 motorcycles with a considerable array of cameras and other sensors and tracked riders at all times. The thinking, of course, was that at least some of these riders would experience “incidents” along the way. Then the data collected by the sensors could be studied to develop a deep understanding of what happened, which in turn would make it possible to devise methods for avoidance of such events in the future. And as a purveyor of a motorcycle rider training curriculum, the MSF would presumably revise its curriculum and work these new findings into its training.

A number of the tracked riders did indeed crash, although most of the crashes appear to be been cases of dropping the bike in a parking lot. I say that with some caution, however, because the wording used is not totally clear and that is my interpretation.

The 100 riders covered more than 366,000 miles during the course of the study. There were 78 male and 22 female riders, ages 21 to 79. Bikes included 41 cruisers, 38 touring bikes, and 21 sport bikes. Participants live in California, Virginia, Arizona, and Florida. The study ran over the course of one year.

Altogether, there were 30 crashes and 122 near-crashes, summed up under the term of “crashes and near-crashes” and abbreviated as CNC.

Beyond the 17 incidents of “ground impact – low speed,” which I presume to be dropping the bike, there were 3 incidents where the rider ran off the road, 3 where another vehicle turned in front of them, 2 where the rider rear-ended someone, 1 crash at speed, 1 poor curve negotiation, 1 rider who was rear-ended, and two I’m not sure I understand, but 1 “other vehicle straight crossing path” and 1 “subject vehicle turn into path (same direction).”

Enough for now. I’ll get into the details next time.

Biker Quote for Today

A motorcycle is really a miniature automobile with full sized noise, smell and dirt output.

Getting ready to ride.

ABATE of Colorado is a motorcycle rights organization, and one of the strongest voices on motorcycle-related issues that we have down at the state capitol.

Of course a lot of what ABATE deals with at the capitol is dictated by what bills are introduced each session. Nevertheless, it is useful to also set priorities as to which issues we want to push to have addressed. Stump is our legislative liaison down there and he has asked the group what we think the priorities should be for the next session, which will start in January. He offered six and would like to hear how we would rank them, plus I’m sure if someone offered another one that made everyone say, “Well, of course!”, then that would be welcome, too.

So I figured, why not throw this out there for anyone I can reach to offer their thoughts, too. I’m going to list the six, with a bit of explanation, and would love it if you would leave a comment with your thoughts. Thanks.

Lane-splitting: Although it has been allowed there for years, California just became the first state to officially make lane-splitting legal. This allows you to go up the middle between cars when traffic is either stopped or going extremely slow. I don’t really need to explain this further, do I?

The MOST program: The Motorcycle Operator Safety Training program was originally set up as a way to encourage riders, or especially prospective riders, to take training courses so they can become better, more competent, and presumably safer motorcyclist. The idea is that we all pay a couple bucks extra when we renew our plates and licenses each year and that money goes to reduce the cost for the trainee.

The Colorado Department of Transportation, which administers MOST, may argue differently among riders it is generally considered that MOST has strayed far from its mission and needs to either be revamped or eliminated. This is especially pertinent this year because it is up for sunset review. Is the riding community going to support keeping the program alive or will we push our elected representatives to kill it?

Autocycles: These are this proliferating group of three-wheeled vehicles that, because legislation does not keep up with society, are now classified as motorcycles. This classification creates a number of problems. When crashes occur, even though the factors involved may be completely unique to the three-wheelers, they get counted in motorcycling statistics. Plus, to ride one you might need a motorcycle rider designation on your driver’s license, which hardly seems appropriate if you’re riding one of those little Polaris Slingshot things.

There is movement all across the country to create a new classification of vehicle, the autocycle. Certainly this is something we should support here, but how much of a legislative priority is it considering that so far none of our legislators seems to be pushing it on their own.

Red light bill: Not all traffic signals that require triggering by vehicles to make the light turn are capable of detecting motorcycles. You can sit there for a long time waiting for it to turn. At some point you really ought to be able to go through the red without fear of being ticketed.

Right-of-way enhanced penalties: I posted on Monday about this Michigan legislator who was killed on his motorcycle when a car turned in front of him. He had the right-of-way and that driver violated his right-of-way. We all know this happens to us way too often, and it is often due to inattention or distraction. Should those people face extra harsh penalties for their negligence that led to a rider being killed? As it is, reports are all too common about these drivers getting fined $50 or some other such minor slap on the wrist.

Motorcycle-only checkpoints: Some states like to set up checkpoints where all they do is pull over motorcyclists to see if they have a valid motorcycle operator’s license and perhaps to do equipment safety checks on the bikes. They only pull over bikers. And they don’t always take motorcyclists’ special needs for stable footing and such when they select the places they’re going to do this. There is pressure to have these profiling events banned; some states have already done so.

That’s the list. What are your priorities?

Biker Quote for Today

It’s not a phase, it’s my life. It’s not a hobby, it’s my passion. It’s not for everyone, it is for me.

Some people just don't want to share the trails with you.

I remember reading about this some time ago but it seems to be a concern that is ongoing.

I got an email from the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) about booby traps on public trails. Apparently some hikers don’t like the idea of motorcyclists using the same backcountry trails they use, and they apparently don’t care if their measures to discourage it results in serious injury or even death.

The report was about deliberately planted devices in Idaho, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. And the piece noted that in recent years similar devices have been found in Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico.

Off-highway riders in Massachusetts found cables strung across trails in four state parks, according to the Massachusetts Environmental Police and the state Department of Conservation and Recreation. Authorities are asking anyone who notices suspicious activity to call the 24-hour Environmental Police line at (800) 632-8075 or the DCR Park Watch Hotline at (866) 759-2824. The New England Trail Riders Association is offering a $500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrators.
Members of the Mount Moosilauke ATV Club Riders near Warren, N.H., discovered boards with nails in several places along the multi-use trail system. Before anyone was injured, club members removed the boards, along with scattered nails and broken glass. The ATV club is offering a $1,350 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrators.
In Custer County, Idaho, riders found a piece of barbed wire strung across a trail about 4 feet from the ground, endangering off-highway-vehicle riders and mountain bikers, according to Sharetrails.org.

Let’s get the disclaimer out: Of course this is only a tiny minority; most hikers (we only assume it’s hikers) are just as appalled as we are that someone would do this. But that minority seems to be spreading. Funny how the “Land of Many Uses” concept seems to be dying.

Of course the really absurd story, one I read so long ago I don’t remember any details, was a time when a group of dirt riders got together and built a trail so they could ride it. And being generous and sharing they said that sure, hikers could use it, too. And a lot of hikers did. So many, in fact, that after awhile they started putting political pressure on to get the motorcycles banned from this trail they liked so much. That is just so, so wrong.

So what’s my point in all this? I really don’t have one, it just seemed like some good information to pass along to anyone who might be going trail riding. But then maybe this is my point: next time you start thinking in us vs. them terms, maybe you could talk yourself back with the idea that we all live here–let’s get along. Otherwise it can get pretty ugly.

Biker Quote for Today

Motorcyclists should be seen and not hurt.

A beginning rider course.

This is another story I did for Examiner.com that has been deleted due to incompatible technology. I think it’s worth republishing here.

“Are you crazy?!”

It wasn’t hostile, but it was clear what he thought the answer to the question was.

I’m going to keep you in suspense for a moment while I set the stage for this encounter.

*****************************************************

Do you know how to ride a motorcycle? I mean, do you REALLY know how to ride a motorcycle? Are you such a good rider that it would be beneath you to even consider taking a Basic Rider Course? You might want to think again.

I took the Basic Rider Course this past weekend, courtesy of T3RG Motorcycle Schools, and I’m pleased to say I passed. Granted, I expected to pass. After all, I’ve been riding for more than 20 years and I make my living writing about motorcycles and motorcycling.

So would it surprise you if I told you I found parts of the course extremely challenging?

OK, let’s see a show of hands. How many of you have dropped your bike going about two miles an hour in a parking lot? Quite a few of you I see. I certainly have. Sure, it’s easy to stay upright going down the road when you have the force of momentum and the gyroscopic force of the wheels keeping you up. But can you crank the bars all the way left or right and just go around in circles at walking speed?

Here’s the proposition: If you can maintain confident control of your bike at slow speeds, how much easier is it to do so at higher speeds? And unless you’re out there competing in some Top Gun competition and winning, you could probably benefit from getting some rider training, even taking a Basic Rider Course.

And if that’s something you can’t quite go for, how about an Experienced Rider Course? I did them backward. I took an Experienced Rider Course about 12 years ago. I had been riding about 10 years at the time and I definitely came out of that a better rider.

This is not an academic question. The fact is that a very large percentage of motorcycle fatalities occur in single-vehicle accidents. In Colorado last year, 39 percent of all fatalities involved riders who did not even have a motorcycle validation on their drivers’ license. Do you suppose some of those people would be alive today if they had taken and passed a Basic Rider Course? Plus, you have the added benefit that if you pass the course you can take your card down to the DMV and they’ll issue you your validation. At least that’s how it works here in Colorado.

So here was my double lesson in humility last Sunday. First off, in the testing that completed the course, another student who had never ridden a motorcycle before, but did have a lot of experience on BMX and mountain bikes, scored better than me on the skills test.

Then, as I headed home on my bike, I came to where I wanted to turn left onto the highway. There was a fender bender that had just occurred in the turning lane and they were waving people around. I checked the next lane and there was a car there, but he was stopped to allow us to pull out and around. I did, intending to make the turn but when I got even with the front car in the fender bender the turn signal was red.

Momentarily perplexed as to what to do, I stopped dead in the traffic lane. Then I decided I’d have to go forward and turn around to get on the highway. I did, and as I then pulled into the next left turn lane the driver behind me pulled up and yelled at me, “Are you crazy?!”

It dawned on me then that he probably came close to rear-ending me when I unexpectedly (to him) stopped to consider what to do.

Which only goes to show that rider training classes can teach you the skills to operate your machine, and they can even teach you procedures that will help you ride safely. But in the end it comes down to you. If you don’t constantly stay on your guard and make smart riding decisions, the rest of it doesn’t matter. I got lucky this time.

Biker Quote for Today

The reason the front tire lasts so much longer is that it spends less time on the ground.

You do NOT want to hit one of these guys.

Oh my god that was close!

Yeah, we’ve all said that one time or another. So of course there’s a thread on Adventure Rider where folks tell their tales. Here once again I dip into the thread to pass along some other people’s oh-my-god-that-was-close stories.

• I was riding over 8700′ Ebbett’s Pass on Highway 4 in the California Sierras. Came around this corner and there was a big brown cow standing on the steep hillside on my right, and as I approached the corner she lost her footing, slipped and rolled sideways down the hill and ended up in my path. I was able to brake hard and swerve and miss her. Man did she look scared, poor thing! She got up and staggered off to the other side of the road, none the worse for wear.
• Chickens. Crossing the road. True story.
• Coming out of New Mexico on 550 just crossed into Colorado ,came around a curve ,there was three portapotties laying in the road. just had room to go in between two of them.
• I destroyed a barbecue grill with my first bike. I pulled into the garage, put the stand down and as I stepped off I planted my foot in a fresh spot of oil. I fell forward onto the tank, pushing the bike forward, somehow folding the stand again, and falling over. Fortunately it was 1980 and I had a tall sissy bar than folded my dad’s barbecue grill into a neat V shape. I had been riding for approximately one month at that point.
• Dragon fly; not strange at all, but he was still alive and crawling around inside my helmet. He was still distracting me when I nearly struck the moose.
• One dark stormy night in the early 70’s I’d nipped out on my old mans Honda C50 step thru. On the way home there was a queue of cars in front of me so I did what any impatient 17 year old would do and rode slowly past them. Suddenly I was off the bike and sitting on my arse in the middle of the road. Unknown to me, the storm had brought a tree down which in turn brought down some phone lines which were hanging just at neck height. Due to it being dark and raining I hadn’t seen them but luckily I’d been going slowly when I was almost garotted. No harm done apart from a black line on my neck from ear to ear.
• I was riding a ’79 KZ650 (fantastic bike by the way) down I-40 toward Knoxville out of Strawberry Plains, Tennessee when I had to lay on the tank to let a huge goose fly over me from the right. The bird continued on about 6 feet above the road across the median to the east-bound lanes and directly into the path of a semi in the fast lane. The collision occurred behind me so I didn’t see it, but I looked over my shoulder and saw thousands of feathers streaming off the sides and top of the truck as it drove on.
• About two years ago, Hwy 20 between Boise and Idaho City. Came around a left sweeper and the road was brownish and looked like it was moving. Crickets! About a 1/2 mile path, across all lanes. Slippery and gross! Didn’t crash but was a great reason to wash the KLR.
• …..the sun was low and behind me…….a woman was on the ‘sidewalk’ to my side and was looking directly at me, she’s seen me……I got closer and she stepped straight into my path……I hit her at 30mph……..she was ok…….but !!!.. It turned out she suffered badly from a sight defect and was trying to cross the road to a meeting for the ‘blind’ and she didn’t see me for the low sun……..I was riding a police bike at the time……I felt bad……….judge me.
• That was nothing, though, compared to the infamous Chicken Guts Ride, as it came to be known. Myself and a couple buddies were riding bicycles and going pretty hard. We were all in shape back then, just past our road racing primes. Pete and I had dropped our friend Jon on a climb and were out of the saddles pumping hard up the hill when, suddenly, we found ourselves riding through rotted chicken innards spread all across the roadway–the stench in the sun was ungodly. Chicken guts on hot asphalt make for an extraordinarily slick riding surface, and so we were forced to sit back down in our saddles–otherwise, our rear wheels just spun when we pedaled. Even in the saddles, our wheels spun a fair amount and, so we slowed to a bare crawl, struggling to stay upright and hoping we’d get through it before the incline and gravity did their work and we fell into the mess. We made it–the worst of it was 50-75 feet long or so, but it seemed an eternity. We probably should have warned Jon, but we figured it would be more fun to watch and so we did. He made it, too, with plenty of loud curses.

Yes, there are totally unexpected adventures awaiting you out there. Stay alert.

Biker Quote for Today

If you can still hear your fears, shift a gear.

The article in question.

I ran across an article on the Huffington Post titled “7 Myths About Motorcycle Safety That Need To Go Away” and of course I had to read it and see what myths they were talking about. And I guess you have to take into account that the Huffington Post is a general audience publication, not something focused on motorcycling. Because I had to laugh at a few of them. Here they are, with my comments.

1. Bikers Only Wear Leather Because It Looks Cool
Do I need to say anything here? We know this is absurd; totally aimed at non-riders.

2. Full-Faced Helmets Restrict Your Visibility
Now, this one really is aimed at riders because I’m sure non-riders never even think about it. But I have to object to the statement because I know for a fact that full-face helmets do restrict my vision. I have extremely wide peripheral vision and I can look straight ahead and still see my helmet on both sides. It may not be a major restriction, but by my definition it is a restriction, so that statement–at least for people with very wide peripheral vision–is in fact true. And by the way, that word should be “vision” and not “visibility.” Visibility means being seen by others.

3. Big Bikes Are Great For Beginners
Oh really? Who in the world ever said that was true?

4. Loud Pipes Save Lives
Not even gonna go there. I have my opinions, you have yours, and neither of us is going to change the other’s mind.

5. Drivers Will See You
Again, nobody who has ridden for more than a few weeks would ever make a statement like that.

6. Roads And Streets Are Safer Than The Interstate
Oh, heck no! Roads and streets are where people and animals and stuff can come at you from any direction at any time. The interstate is a more controlled environment and at the very least you can see things farther away. This one is true and is a myth that definitely needs to be done away with.

7. If You’re About To Crash, Lay It Down
OK, here is one that really is a myth, and it does need to go away. Motorcycles are fantastically agile and the chances are that the bike has more capability than you have the skill to extract from it. But if you’re in a life or death situation, your chances are much better if you push the bike to its limits–and beyond your own–than if you deliberately lay it down.

So overall it’s a fair piece with some validity. My only question is who it is really intended for. Those of us who ride already know these things and those who don’t probably don’t care.

Biker Quote for Today

We rode out, we rode back, nobody died. It’s a good day.