Motorcycle Accidents

[cprted]

Up here we call motorcycle helmets "Brain Buckets" ...

[scubanurse]

That's what in all my hockey helmet

[MariB]

Tis the season. Had my first motorcycle call yesterday . Was wearing a helmet. Sports bike. Will be fine

[systemet]

Statistically, being a pedestrian and driving a car is more dangerous then motorcycles

I don't know how to say this without being rude, but I think you would benefit from taking a statistics course.

[Just Plain Ruff]

Hello,

I don't know if I'm in the right section but hopefully I am. Basically, I'm thinking about a getting a motorcycle but I'm afraid at the same time because I know they're dangerous. I thought, what better place to see just how bad then an EMT forum. What is everyone's take on motorcycles? Out of all of the motorcycle accidents that you've seen, how many riders were dead vs seriously injured vs little to no injury? I would appreciate any help!

Give a shout out to LoneStar on this forum. He will give you a great set of bike accident stories that he's personally been involved in. I believe he still rides but he might give you a fresh perspective.

[Mateo_1387]

While a motorcycle can be dangerous, they are loads of fun ! I own one and enjoy riding. I also took a motorcycle safety course before starting to ride, which I highly recommend. I also recommend you buy a good helmet. Seriously, when buying a good one, think about how much your head is worth.

When riding, defensive driving is always a must. Keeping an eye out for the other driver is a priority, as well as yours is to take it easy and drive safely. For instance, if you are rushing to leave, maybe the motorcycle isn't the best choice. Same thing if you use any substance that may alter your mental and or physical functions ( as in alcohol, drugs, prescriptions, or just being tired).

I have been to some bad motor cycle wrecks, and while it is scary to think that could be me, it makes me try and be all the more safer. Of all the accidents I have been to, the ones where someone died, they were doing stupid stuff like running from the law, racing, and the like. A few others I went to ended up with minor injuries as they were able to have some sort of reaction before an impact to reduce their injuries. Not saying they couldn't have serious injuries, but its been my anecdotal experience that the more serious injuries, leading to death, have been due to stupidity. In North Carolina, where I live, we require helmets, which I hear may be changed. Why, I dunno, but I'd say riding without one is a stupid action. I read ERDoc's post about it, but not all motor cycle crash victims riding without a helmet will die. They may still cost taxpayer's and their families a lot of money.

My 0.02 cents...

Matty

[Arctickat]

I'm a biker too, and I shudder when I see the guy riding in shorts and a t-shirt, even if it is 30+degrees out today. I do have one theory though. As an EMS provider I am well accustomed to driving defensively. We are always hyper vigilant to what other traffic is doing. Regardless if we're driving L/S or with a patient on board, as a group we seem to develop a 6th sense to be able to predict what that car we're looking at is going to do in the next 10 seconds. I think that transitions well to our motorcycle habits. Although I have no facts to back it up, I have a high index of suspicion that emergency responders are likely very low in motorcycle crash statistics.

[dananeal]

Right now car riding is dangerous, and what you are talking about is bike. What I watched till now in accidents with a bike, maximum probablity of death. It's a combination of the balance of both your bike and you. How much protective you are that matters.

[Richard B the EMT]

Over my career, I've only responded to one motorcycle death. He was travelling too fast, on a curved road under an elevated train track, and split open his helmet and head on a support pillar.

I drove a motorcycle only one time, actually before dreaming I'd become an EMT (before I knew what EMT stood for, even). The bike somehow told me to "get off and stay off". I listened, never piloting a motorcycle again. Some years later, in conversation with a biker wearing Hells Angels colors, the biker said, for me, that must have been the correct decision.

As a mention, when a motorcyclist is involved in an accident, the NYC FDNY EMS EMD enters the call as a pedestrian struck.

[Just Plain Ruff]

Multiple cycle accident responses for me.

Worst one other than the fatals was a guy driving down the highway, he got cut off by a innatentive driver and he ended up with his back hitting a stop sign pole. He kind of ended up bent in the middle of his back. Immediate paralysis below the bend. Couldn't fly him because he was bent so badly.

Rush transport to the trauma center an hour away. He's in a wheelchair now(might be dead as that was a long time ago). He was wearing a helmet. He sued the driver of the car, I was called as a witness to his injuries and the statements the car driver made "I thought I could make it onto the road before you got to me" and "it's all my fault" which of course the driver said she never said.

Driver of the cycle was a vietnam vet who said "I made it through the jungles without a single injury only to have this happen to me, I wish I had never left Vietnam"