This guy wants to ban motorcycles....go get him!! | GTAMotorcycle.com

This guy wants to ban motorcycles....go get him!!

Paul

Paul

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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/citylin...o-ban-the-motorcycle-20110613,0,4414821.story

What if I were to tell you that the fatality rate for those of us who drive a car or truck is 14 out of every 100,000 drivers? That’s a distressing statistic but it’s far below what it once was.
Now, what if I were to tell you that there’s a vehicle on the road today that increases your chances of being killed while driving it by more than 500 percent, producing an average of 72 fatalities for every 100,000 users?

That vehicle would represent a pretty silly and dangerous way to get around, don’t you think? But wait — there’s more. What if this vehicle produced 11 percent of all driving fatalities, effectively erasing gains made from years of declining motor-vehicle deaths? Would you want to drive that vehicle? Would you want your loved ones to drive it?

Surprisingly, registrations for this vehicle increased by more than 63 percent from 1997 to 2005, with the fatalities that resulted rising at a disproportionately high rate.

Add to all that the fact that this vehicle can emit 10 to 20 times the quantity of nitrogen oxide than standard automobiles because so many of these vehicles don’t require a catalytic converter. In some states, they don’t even require insurance.

This deathtrap, of course, is the motorcycle, and it’s time for the grownups to take a stand and say enough is enough.

The above statistics come from a U.S. Department of Transportation study released in October 2007 entitled,“Action Plan To Reduce Motorcycle Fatalities.” Ironically, the welcome page is from then-U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters, who talks about breaking her collarbone while riding one.

I’m not a motorcyclist. What, then, gives me the right to call for the end of what many millions of Americans love to do? Well, first, there is the emotional factor. A friend’s older brother — only in his early 20s — was killed in a head-on collision. Another friend’s father shattered his leg going around a curve. A few weeks ago, a friend was hit by a car and suffered a puncturedlung and a partially collapsed lung, two shattered vertebra, a broken scapula and clavicle, fivebroken ribs — some in multiple places — and has lost feeling in his lower back and left leg. He’s 23.

Then, there’s the economic impact that motorcycle crashes have on you and me. The cost to us all in terms of increased health-insurance costs — if not direct taxpayer costs — to cover those people injured in and by motorcycle accidents who can’t afford to pay. The increased cost of auto insurance from damage inflicted and received, not to mention untold billions in insurance payouts to motorcycle drivers. The court time taken up by accidents involving motorcycle drivers. The cost of accident-scene public services such as police and fire.

It’s good news that motorcycle fatalities dropped 24 percent in Florida in 2009, and yet, the Florida Department of Transportation estimates Floridians will still have to pay $190 million to cover unpaid costs associated with motorcycle crashes this year alone, as reported by WFTV News in Orlando.

Look at the above statistics again. If a certain model of car produced that kind of horrendous increase in deaths — 72 fatalities per 100,000 compared to the car and truck norm of 14 per 100,000 — the public would demand an instant halt to the production and sale of that flawed vehicle.

Driving is not a right — it’s a privilege, granted by us, the American people, to those deemed responsible enough to exercise that privilege. We are doing a disservice to our fellow Americans when we indulge their interests in an inherently unsafe vehicle. Maybe there was a time in the past when cars and trucks drove slowly enough or were small enough to allow the luxury of a vehicle that has no seat belt, no door or hood or metal around it. But no more.

Beyond the actual costs to taxpayers is the realization that we’re losing more than 4,300 motorcycle drivers a year nationally who would have been far more likely to survive with airbags and crumple zones around them.

And I won’t even mention the obvious stupidity of not legally requiring — or wanting — the wearing of helmets.

Perhaps it’s time for those people who have lost a loved one or friend in a motorcycle accident to stand up and ask that, at the very least, these vehicles be restricted to off-road areas and tracks. Friends try to keep friends from engaging in needless risks, and that’s what motorcycles are, even when operated by well-trained, responsible drivers.

Contact Hugh Curran at kanga573@aol.com.
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They should worry more about the alarming rate of diabetes increase in the US. It is a much bigger energy drain and people killer than motorcycles.
 
I think cars and trucks should be banned because they are the leading cause of motorcycle deaths.
 
A friend’s older brother — only in his early 20s — was killed in a head-on collision. Another friend’s father shattered his leg going around a curve. A few weeks ago, a friend was hit by a car and suffered a puncturedlung and a partially collapsed lung, two shattered vertebra, a broken scapula and clavicle, fivebroken ribs — some in multiple places — and has lost feeling in his lower back and left leg. He’s 23.
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Driving is not a right — it’s a privilege, granted by us, the American people, to those deemed responsible enough to exercise that privilege.
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Perhaps, then, make it more difficult to drive a car, seeing how some of the accidents he references sound to be caused if not completely, then in part by drivers of cars and trucks?
 
Metastable said:
They should worry more about the alarming rate of diabetes increase in the US. It is a much bigger energy drain and people killer than motorcycles.
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Seriously... How much drain are overweight and unhealthy people putting on the system? They get ill and don't go into work, they go to hospital and their insurance has to pay for them, they have a heart attack while driving due to their clogged arteries (and kill motorcyclists!!!)... Ban McDonalds!!! :director:

Chaos said:
I think cars and trucks should be banned because they are the leading cause of motorcycle deaths.
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There ya go! Mind you...I'll want to move somewhere warmer so I can ride all year ;)
 
kamper said:
So much for the land of the free and the home of the brave :p
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Because it's the land of the free it allows him to express this opinion. :) While I don't agree with his opinion, he has the right to express it.

His point is wrong though. Blame a flawed insurance system that doesn't cap payouts for the cash problem. Not motorcyclists.
 
I know this will go over like a fart in church, but what about smoking? That kills more people per year than anything else, why not make that illegal? ? ?

I'll tell you why, who 'really' pays politicians ? ? ?
 
His logic is flawed. His argument is to motorcycles and cars, as cars are to transport trucks. i.e. "If I were to tell you that cars are involved in 800% greater fatalities than trucks wouldn't you want to ban cars for the safety of your loved ones? There was a time when trucks were smaller and slower, making these smaller vehicles acceptable, but no more! "

There, now what?
 
Did you know that you were 700% more likely to choke to death while chewing gum than while eating beef jerky? :shock: Ban chewing gum!!!!
 
He's a witch!!
 
"Reports" and opinion pieces (aka troll journalism) that suggest banning motorcycles surface every so often, with no effect. Straight pipes and the occasional evening news blurb are the only reason most people are (vaguely) aware of motorcycles. BICYCLES get more coverage, not to mention actual policy discussion. Many urban centers also have lobby groups similar to the Toronto Cyclists Union. Politicians would also need to spend major $$$ on a non-voting issue, losing tax revenue in the process.
 
Why can't some people simply learn to mind their own business and live their own lives? There is always someone around who wants to ruin something someone else enjoys, it's constant ban this, ban that bs in today's society. Why not live and let live?

It's always for the good and safety of society as a whole, that's the bs excuse you always hear from these "ban" types, and this is precisely why strong property and INDIVIDUAL liberty rights are necessary (so we don't have to worry about donkeys like this), but constantly eroding in Canada and rest of "modern" world.
 
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With all those truthy facts and statistics you would think one of our very own members here could have wrote that. If you can guess who there's a prize waiting for you in the lavatory.
 
Sam, those motorcyclist know what they were doing




It was MURRRR DERRRR Sam!!!!!


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By exrension of this r-tards logic then the max speeding limit s/b 60kmh, and we should all be forced to drive prius's or electrics, and wrap ourselves in protective bubble wrap perhaps before stepping out of doors. This is classic intrusive liberalism at it's finest, chipping away at freedoms until we have none left...something a motorcycle inherently says "f&ck you" to.
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