About a week ago, I came $1 away from winning this 1975 BMW R75/6 motorcycle on eBay. I didn't know much about the old "airheads", as they are known, so I did some digging around online and came across Jeff Dean's website. Beyond having loads of information on classic and newer Beemers, he also has lots of interesting statistical data on rider safety.

The following is taken from Jeff's site:

The diagrams above show the impact areas on crash-involved motorcycle helmets. (Source: Dietmar Otte, Hannover Medical University, Dept. of Traffic Accident Research, Germany.) Note that 35% of all crashes showed major impact on the chin-bar area. This means that if you ride with an open-face helmet, you are accepting only 65% of the protection that could be available to your head.

If you ride with a shorty or half helmet, you are accepting only 39% of the protection you could obtain. You are literally throwing away 61% of the protection you would have had had you chosen a full-face helmet.

And, of course, if you ride wearing a novelty helmet or no helmet at all then you have none of the protection you could have chosen.

Here are a couple of other interesting statistics in see-if-you-can-guess-the-answer format...

QUESTION:

1) What simple thing can many motorcyclists do to reduce their collision chances by 24%?

2) What can a rider do to lower his risk of crash-related injuries by 37% over other motorcyclists?

ANSWER: (use your mouse to highlight the answers below)

1) Always wear a WHITE helmet when riding!

2) Always wear reflective or fluorescent clothing when riding!

Labels: accident, gear, helmets, safety

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posted by MarkR @ 8:58 PM