Motorcycle Safety

Statistics place motorcycling amongst the most dangerous sports or hobbies in the World and truth be told, that happens for a good reason. If you’ve ever rode a motorcycle in your life, you know that feeling of power of being mounted on a roaring beast that can get to high speeds in a matter of seconds. Too often motorcycle riders go by the “it won’t happen to me” principle and combined with the above mentioned feeling of power and control, this can unfortunately lead to their death. Motorcycle safety is a key issue in many states of today and newer and improved technologies are used to make riding a motorcycle safer than ever before.

The motorcycle helmet

The helmet is undoubtedly the most important motorcycle safety accessory that money can buy. The helmet has two purposes, namely protecting your head’s exterior in case of an impact as well as protecting the skull and brain. Modern motorcycle helmets are built using a special technology that allows for a high amount of damage absorption on impact, but don’t think that it can offer 100% protection. Obviously, after a certain level of speed, an accident can be deadly with or without a helmet. Wearing a helmet can save your life in 8 out of 10 accidents that could have been fatal if you hadn’t have worn one, hence the importance of the helmet in motorcycle safety.

The motorcycle jacket

Motorcycle jackets usually don’t offer that much protection during accidents, but at the same time, they can make the difference between death and a simple wound. A motorcycle jacket will protect your body from scratches and wounds caused by direct impact but they can also provide protection against puncturing. In addition, some motorcycle jackets are fire proof, although if you were involved in a crash that severe as to produce a fire, this will be the last of your problems. An additional safety measure that a motorcycle jacket can provide is having additional reflecting stripes that can warn drivers of your presence during night time or bad weather.

Other motorcycle safety accessories and measures

A pair of solid motorcycling gloves and boots can also offer you some limited protection against impact, but they are obviously less important than the helmet and jacket safety-wise. But all the equipment in the world won’t protect you if you don’t start protecting yourself, so start obeying the rules of the road. It’s very easy to get caught in the speed feeling while riding a motorcycle and although it can be extremely fun, take into consideration that it can also be extremely dangerous. Don’t live by the “it won’t happen to me” principle, since there are so many examples in which it went wrong.

1 Comment »

  1. Dave Dragon Said,

    November 24, 2006 @ 12:22 pm

    ATGATT is the Mantra that can protect you to a certain degree when riding. It can’t protect you from others and their unwillingness to actually take the extra second or two LOOK for Motorcyclist before pulling into our paths which kills on average sixty (60) Motorcyclist/Passengers a year in the Tampa Bay MSA. However, the protection it can provide can dramatically reduce the healing time of having to grow back skin thats been ground off, help to prevent the loss of ones fingers, hands, feet and help prevent broken bones and traumatic head wounds.

    Check out this for a little eye opener:
    http://davedragon.blogspot.com/2006/09/if-you-drive-and-auto-please-view-this.html

    Keep the Shiny side up, and your skin!

    Dave Dragon
    http://davedragon.blogspot.com

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