Motorcycles

A fine young man who worked at my gym, who was working on his degree at the University of Texas, who had another job at Maggie Mae's, who had a mother and a sister, died early this morning in a motorcycle crash. He was 23. I had only met him once or twice, but the mood at the gym, which closed early today, was despondent, as this man was obviously highly regarded by all who worked with him. He was driving his motorcycle home last night after work, along Lamar Street near 26th Street (close to Pease Park), which makes a sharp turn at that spot. He didn't make the curve tightly enough, wound up in the oncoming traffic lane, and collided with an oncoming car. He was wearing a helmet, but died at the scene.

I've long wondered about motorcycles and whether they should be legal. I won't make that argument here, but at a minimum, one has to question whether their risk may not be excessive. Unlike cars, with airbags, seat belts and plenty of steel between you and the pavement (or the other car), motorcycles offer no such protection. Even if you wear a helmet, nothing else stands between the rest of you and the immovable object you may collide with. Motorcycles are also more difficult for car drivers to see than other larger vehicles. Even if the motorcyclist is driving perfectly, another driver may swerve in front of him because he can't see the motorcycle. Motorcycles also have a lot less wheel contact with the road, and are much more susceptible to skids, slides, and spills, particularly in adverse conditions. Finally, motorcycles are harder to drive than most other vehicles. According to the Insurance Institute of America, motorcycle fatalities have been increasing, with 2007 having the highest amount fatalities since 1975. Motorcycle fatalities have increased every year for the last 10 years. Finally, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the fatality rate per registered vehicle for motorcyclists in 2007 was six times the fatality rate for passenger car occupants.

Every day of our lives, we make numerous decisions to accept some risk of death. Generally, that risk is infinitessimal, but often it is somewhat higher. Every time you cross the street, operate a car, take a plane, get in a taxi (especially there), or perform one of countless mundane acts, you voluntarily accept some risk of death or injury. Its impossible to avoid. Stay in your house long enough, huddled in the basement with one light bulb and a supply of tuna salad and mineral water, and chances are a plane or an asteroid will crash into the house, or radon gas will seep in, or Mormons will break in...you get the picture. You can't avoid risk. But that doesn't mean you should court it either. Clearly there's some line that divides acceptable and unacceptable risk. Everyone must decide for themselves where the line is drawn in their own life.

The lore of motorcycle culture has certainly gripped our nation for some time. Perhaps it owes to some association with vague concepts of "freedom." Movies and books have glorified that association. But like the Marlboro Man or Dean Martin or other pleasant faces put on dangerous activities, the inescapable fact remains that motorcycle riding remains a dangerous activity for reasons I've described.

Millions of Americans ride motorcycles responsibly every day, and I can't conceive of any American government that would ever ban them, at least not in my lifetime. But, just as there's no safe cigarette, there's really no safe motorcycle. Hopefully all of you and all your friends and family will be extremely cautious when it comes to motorcycle riding (and give a wide berth to motorcyclists on the road as well).