I LOVE motorycles. But I also know many people see them as death traps. Including my mother. My father owns a motorcycle. Heck he's been riding since before I was born. But that doesn't change her view of them lol
Either way, I was wondering since a lot of you work in hospitals, if it has changed your view of motorcycles. In a more negative way.
Which is funny because I was going down the road once and I saw this male nurse on a sports bike, and not only was he not wearing boots, but he was wearing crocs! Those things will fly right off if you crash. And how did I know he was a nurse? He was wearing scrubs! lol at least he had a helmet.
. There are two types of bikers, those that have been down and those that are going down.
I don't agree, my family are bikers and most have had extra advanced training. There are factors you can't account for but that's true of everything, but riding using the system of bike control which is how I have been taught significantly reduces the risk.
I don't believe that just because you ride means it is inevitable that you will crash, forward observation, Reading the road and traffic conditions and anticipating other motorists goes a very long way.
The police riders who taught me had all been riding and teaching for years only one had a serious accident during a pursuit where the criminal reversed his vehicle over his bike.
I am 55 yrs young and I have a motorcycle and yes I work in ER a times and it doesn't change my mind. I normlly get mad because the other person the one that hit the bike says I never saw the motorcycle. I've even had a person say they never saw the train that hit the back end of there car. Most of the time it is the drivers of cars and trucks that cause the accident none to bikers as 4 wheelers.Granted there are some bikers that don't care and they really screw up and cause big problems and get the other bikers a bad name. For the most bikers are great people I have several friends that are in the medical field that ride there is a whole famle of RN's that ride and even a surgeon the funny part about the surgeon he might be out riding and be on call he will come into ER and see what the problem is go talk to the pt with his leathers on and just as he is leaving he will say oh by the way my name is ----- and I will by your surgeon. The look on the pt face priceless.
My hubby ride also we go to bike rallies and have a great time bikers are great people they really give a lot back to the public and a lot of people don't know that we all have a big heart for others that goes unseen a lot of the time.
Specializes in Peds Cardiology,Peds Neuro,Pedi ER,PICU, IV Jedi.
Yes, I would...and I did. I began riding a motorcycle in 1990 after riding my bicycle to and from work for about a year and a half. 18 miles a day, three to four times a week got old, but I had to do it after wrecking my poor Honda Civic (1975 - the old yellow one in the Honda commercials!) Convincing my parents that I had to have better transportation to and from work and school, they reluctantly agreed to help the then 19 year old purchase his first bike. Took quite a bit of convincing to get them to agree to having their teenage hydrocephalic child on a motorcycle, but I am blessed with parents who understood.
It was love at first ride. My 83 KZ550 took me over 200 miles on 3 gallons of gas, which meant I could ride what seemed like forever and not have to fill up. I put almost 70,000 miles on it in my first year. By 1992 I was headed 220 miles west to go to college and my motorcycle came with me. Turns out some ladies really like motorcycles, and my college girlfriend (now my wife of 16 years) was no exception. She would rather us ride the bike anywhere than take her car.
I made mistakes on the bike but learned from them. I took an MSF Rider course and was the only one in the basic class who actually owned a motorcycle. Sadly, that motorcycle was wrecked on a cool, bright day in the fall of 1992 while following a delivery/landscaping truck down Route 5 in Virginia. I had been following him for miles when all of a sudden he stopped dead. I stopped a few feet behind but not far enough to maintain a safe distance, and when his backup lights came on I knew I was in trouble. He ended up backing over my motorcycle with me still astride, knocking both me and the bike over and pinning me between the hot bike and the bumper of the truck. Luckily he heard my headlight breaking as the rear wheels of the truck ran over it and he stopped to see what was going on. I went to the hospital no worse for wear, just a burned right leg and the possibility of compartment syndrome...oh, and the embarrasment of wrecking my motorcycle over something so stupid. Turns out the guy driving the truck saw his boss headed the other way and decided to turn around and follow him. The company was very accommodating, paying for a rental car for me during what was a terrible winter in Western Virginia, as well as paying to completely replace my old motorcycle with a newer used motorcycle.
I rode for another 12 years and sold that motorcycle for about $200.
There's not a day that goes by that I don't miss climbing on the saddle and cracking the throttle open to get wind in my face. Having said that, it is far too dangerous for me as a nearly 40 year old man with children to get back on the road here in the DFW area. Some riders here don't respect traffic, and nearly all drivers are oblivious to the presence of motorcyclists. I always rode with a helmet because I learned early on what happens even when you DO wear one. As an EMT and a paramedic I got to see firsthand the devastation that could be left in the wake of an accident...with or without head protection.
I always knew I loved motorcycles, from the time I was little and always wanted to get on my father's old Honda. Many people never try them because of the fear of injury, and that's a tragedy. You are more likely to be injured on a bicycle on a public road than you are on a motorcycle. And riding defensively, with training, well within your abilities and not acting like an idiot are some of the keys to staying safe.
Wow, can't believe some of your states in the US don't require you to wear a helmet! It is law here in Australia.
I miss riding a bike a lot - it gives such a sense of freedom I have not felt before or since. And cars in accidents are so, so dangerous - I often think of all that metal grinding down on my legs, crushing them, or crushing my head/neck, but of course, all injuries are horrific when all is said and done.
The worse motorbike story I heard was from a burns nurse. She told me this guy was riding a harley or something - a big, heavy bike anyway. I don't remember all the details but he crashed somehow, got trapped under the bike and was burned very badly. He lost either his hands or fingertips, feet and genitals. He was screaming in pain everyday in the Burns Unit asking for the nurses to kill him. He didn't want to live without feet, hands or genitals. He eventually died from massive infection and complications. She showed me some photos and I visibly blanched. Poor bloke - I often think of him and hope he's in a better place now.
I used to own a Yamaha Virago 1000cc. A friend of mine let me borrow his Harley for a couple weeks last summer and I loved it! Although I cannot bring myself to owning one. I just cannot make my family suffer if I were to crash and end up mangled over something that could have been preventable.
I rode for 10 years and loved it! My husband sold his last year and then I traded mine off because it was so lonely riding without him...and seldom rode an longer anyway...into our 50s awhile now and not as agile so it's not safe.....but sure miss it.
lol.. yeah.. but.. i wouldn't be hitting jumps that sent me 15 feet in the air.. not on purpose anyways.. but i do enjoy riding on trails, climbing hills, etc. i haven't had one since i was a kid though. there is risk, but as risky? i'd disagree with that. i'd rather skid down a dirt trail at 30mph then tar at 60 any day.. plus, i ain't gonna get hit by a car..
wiped out pretty good several times as a kid.. i think i'll wear a helmet if i ever do decide to get another dirtbike.. lol
Would never ride a motorcyle or ATV. Good friend of mine got hit while riding an ATV was helecoptered from my grandma's house to the hospital with a severed leg.
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plus, i ain't gonna get hit by a car..
XB9S, BSN, MSN, EdD, RN, APN
1 Article; 3,020 Posts
I don't agree, my family are bikers and most have had extra advanced training. There are factors you can't account for but that's true of everything, but riding using the system of bike control which is how I have been taught significantly reduces the risk.
I don't believe that just because you ride means it is inevitable that you will crash, forward observation, Reading the road and traffic conditions and anticipating other motorists goes a very long way.
The police riders who taught me had all been riding and teaching for years only one had a serious accident during a pursuit where the criminal reversed his vehicle over his bike.