What did we all learn today?
02-22-2006, 10:07 PM
#1
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Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Delano, MN
Age: 40
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What did we all learn today?
I was just bored today and wandering through the internet. I came across this article from The Insurance Information Institute:
http://www.iii.org/media/hottopics/i...ce/motorcycle/
According to this article, people who ride have been dying at an increasing rate. The interesting thing is though, it’s all the old people who are croaking on the account of their Machines/skills/Parkinson’s/empty flask. 46% of the riders who are over 40 were killed in ‘04, that is almost half of the over 40 riding population? Maybe they got their facts screwed up and meant that 46% of all the crashes were people who were 40 and over. Either way, what is that telling us? Do we loose our riding skills when we turn 40? Do we become invisible to other drivers?(Wait we already are invisible to other drivers) Do we all get Harleys and go boozing? (34% of those motorcycle fatalities were because the rider was drinking) The data for the under 30’s shows that we are dying at a less rapid pace then ten years ago. I wonder if all of those fatalities were the 36% that ate it from going to fast.
671 of those people in 2004 put through the meat grinder could have been saved if they would have put their damn case on their head.
Riders die at a more rapid rate between 3 and 6 pm, and the least from 6am-9am. They are also injured more often and less often at these times. From simple deduction I can conclude that this is probably during commute times from work to home and when most people are still sleeping/drunk/hungover/ from the previous night or everyone is just driving at a more careful pace because they are all refreshed and ready for another glorious day at the grind.
What is the point of all this? I don’t know. I was bored and found something interesting to look at. At least I don’t look at dead bodies in my spare time and try to find Jesus in the patterns of their moles.
*Disclaimer – I make fun of people over 40. I am not being serious. I am just afraid to die so I have to make up for it by putting other people down. It makes me feel better. I don’t need any hate comments because I will take them seriously and they will make me feel bad. I will also proceed to cry in my cereal. Good job, you made a girl cry in her cereal, which she was only eating in the first place because she already felt bad about the comments she was making about the elderly folks booze cruising on their dressers.
http://www.iii.org/media/hottopics/i...ce/motorcycle/
According to this article, people who ride have been dying at an increasing rate. The interesting thing is though, it’s all the old people who are croaking on the account of their Machines/skills/Parkinson’s/empty flask. 46% of the riders who are over 40 were killed in ‘04, that is almost half of the over 40 riding population? Maybe they got their facts screwed up and meant that 46% of all the crashes were people who were 40 and over. Either way, what is that telling us? Do we loose our riding skills when we turn 40? Do we become invisible to other drivers?(Wait we already are invisible to other drivers) Do we all get Harleys and go boozing? (34% of those motorcycle fatalities were because the rider was drinking) The data for the under 30’s shows that we are dying at a less rapid pace then ten years ago. I wonder if all of those fatalities were the 36% that ate it from going to fast.
671 of those people in 2004 put through the meat grinder could have been saved if they would have put their damn case on their head.
Riders die at a more rapid rate between 3 and 6 pm, and the least from 6am-9am. They are also injured more often and less often at these times. From simple deduction I can conclude that this is probably during commute times from work to home and when most people are still sleeping/drunk/hungover/ from the previous night or everyone is just driving at a more careful pace because they are all refreshed and ready for another glorious day at the grind.
What is the point of all this? I don’t know. I was bored and found something interesting to look at. At least I don’t look at dead bodies in my spare time and try to find Jesus in the patterns of their moles.
*Disclaimer – I make fun of people over 40. I am not being serious. I am just afraid to die so I have to make up for it by putting other people down. It makes me feel better. I don’t need any hate comments because I will take them seriously and they will make me feel bad. I will also proceed to cry in my cereal. Good job, you made a girl cry in her cereal, which she was only eating in the first place because she already felt bad about the comments she was making about the elderly folks booze cruising on their dressers.
02-23-2006, 12:33 PM
#3
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Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Delano, MN
Age: 40
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Re: What did we all learn today?
Originally Posted by OneUpMoto
I still have time I am not over 40 yet but it looks like I might have to quit riding towards the end of the summer just to be safe. 
Nah, just stick to the parking lots, you can blend in. Statistics won't notice you then.
02-23-2006, 12:35 PM
#4
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: MPLS
Age: 45
Posts: 189
Re: What did we all learn today?
Originally Posted by OneUpMoto
I still have time I am not over 40 yet but it looks like I might have to quit riding towards the end of the summer just to be safe.
SEAN I THOUGHT YOU WERE 50??
02-23-2006, 01:39 PM
#7
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Edina, MN
Age: 41
Posts: 1,606
Re: What did we all learn today?
Originally Posted by OneUpMoto
Please tell me that I do not look that bad. I know I am a little out of shape, but 50.
02-23-2006, 02:19 PM
#8
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: MPLS
Age: 45
Posts: 189
Re: What did we all learn today?
Originally Posted by OneUpMoto
Please tell me that I do not look that bad. I know I am a little out of shape, but 50.
NO MATTER WHAT YOUR AGE IS YOU STILL THE COOLEST DAD I KNOW!!!
02-23-2006, 08:15 PM
#10
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Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: .
Posts: 37,984
Re: What did we all learn today?
It's because middle aged men are hopping on big heavy bikes who never rode or have not ridden in years because of a mid-life crisis. Too macho to take training and they don't have the proper fear of a bike that a 17 year old kid who first hops on a bike has.
02-24-2006, 07:47 AM
#11
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Edina, MN
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Re: What did we all learn today?
I found this elsewhere on SL
Retiree buys, crashes Harley motorcycle
By Associated Press, 10/01/02
SAGINAW, Mich. — Baby boomer Jim Zimmerman's brief fling as a tough biker ended in pain very quickly.
The retiree's misadventure began when, facing 60, he gave into a youthful yen and got a local dealership to deliver a brand-new Harley-Davidson to his door.
"It was a mid-age crisis thing," Zimmerman admitted last week. "I'd see these dudes with women and thought a motorcycle would put me in like Flynn.
"I didn't look at the obvious, that I hadn't been on a bike in 30 years and probably didn't remember much about it."
Ten seconds after he climbed aboard for the first time, he struck a neighbor's utility trailer at 40 mph and broke several ribs. The odometer logged a tenth of a mile.
"It was so fast, and I didn't think fast enough," he said. "I probably panicked and throttled the gas in a death grip.
"Oh my god, I hurt in places I didn't know could hurt. The cops said it's a miracle I'm alive."
After $2,000 in insured repairs on the bike -- and more on the neighbor's trailer -- Zimmerman sold his Harley for an $800 loss. But the experience isn't quite over. Until his complimentary membership in the Harley Owners Group runs out, "I get a mailing every two to three weeks, reminding me of how stupid I was," he said.
By Associated Press, 10/01/02
SAGINAW, Mich. — Baby boomer Jim Zimmerman's brief fling as a tough biker ended in pain very quickly.
The retiree's misadventure began when, facing 60, he gave into a youthful yen and got a local dealership to deliver a brand-new Harley-Davidson to his door.
"It was a mid-age crisis thing," Zimmerman admitted last week. "I'd see these dudes with women and thought a motorcycle would put me in like Flynn.
"I didn't look at the obvious, that I hadn't been on a bike in 30 years and probably didn't remember much about it."
Ten seconds after he climbed aboard for the first time, he struck a neighbor's utility trailer at 40 mph and broke several ribs. The odometer logged a tenth of a mile.
"It was so fast, and I didn't think fast enough," he said. "I probably panicked and throttled the gas in a death grip.
"Oh my god, I hurt in places I didn't know could hurt. The cops said it's a miracle I'm alive."
After $2,000 in insured repairs on the bike -- and more on the neighbor's trailer -- Zimmerman sold his Harley for an $800 loss. But the experience isn't quite over. Until his complimentary membership in the Harley Owners Group runs out, "I get a mailing every two to three weeks, reminding me of how stupid I was," he said.
02-24-2006, 08:20 AM
#12
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Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Delano, MN
Age: 40
Posts: 284
Re: What did we all learn today?
I hear alot of stories about people getting owned right out of the dealerships. I don't care how old ya are. Take the damn rider course. It's simple and they are more relaxed durring the test. I had my visor up durring the whole thing and I still passed. It's supposed to be an automatic fail though. Maybe they didn't notice, or maybe they just didn't care...I dunno.
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