LA Times Editorial

[jude]

Read. Discuss.

From the LA Times, but you have to be registered to read the article.

http://www.latimes.com/classified/automoti...way1-yourwheels



YOUR WHEELS
Bikers playing fast and loose
Motorcycle crash fatalities are rising fast -- and it's not just the cyclists who are dying.
By Ralph Vartabedian, Times Staff Writer
November 29, 2006


A distraught husband, three daughters, dozens of friends and hundreds of students are trying to come to grips with the death of Elisa Gigliotti.

A Suzuki racing bike screaming at 80 mph in a 25-mph zone slammed into Gigliotti on Oct. 4 as she was leaving her job at Long Beach City College, igniting a fireball inside her Ford Escort.

Gigliotti, a professor who taught Spanish and Italian at three local community colleges, was pulled from the burning wreckage in front of the college by two fellow instructors. But she was already covered with second- and third-degree burns on her face, chest, arms and legs — more than half her body. After 30 days, she died at the burn unit of the Torrance Memorial Medical Center.

"It is not uncommon to see these kinds of accidents with motorcycles, particularly high-powered super bikes," said Raymond Dennison, the Long Beach detective who investigated the crash. "The whole function is to go as fast as they can."

In the last seven years, motorcycle fatalities have more than doubled nationwide. In 2005 alone, fatalities were up another 13%. The carnage only partly reflects the increasing popularity and growing registration of motorcycles.

In the Long Beach crash, the Suzuki GSX-R 1000 bike was operated by Raj Boren, a 21-year-old student at the college, who died instantly.

According to eye witnesses, Boren accelerated with an open throttle from an intersection near the crash site. Dennison said his estimate of 80 mph at the time of impact was conservative. Boren possibly was exceeding 100 mph. The accident report puts the primary blame on Boren's speed.

The force of the collision lifted Gigliotti's car off the pavement, moved it 15 feet and rotated it 90 degrees. The point of impact was the passenger door, which was pushed in past the centerline of the vehicle. During the crash, the motorcycle's gas tank ruptured, filling the car with atomized fuel that exploded.

"I don't understand how something that unsafe can be on the road," said Lorenzo Gigliotti, who married the Italian-born Elisa 32 years ago when both were teenagers. "I look at how they market these things. That is a racing bike. It doesn't have any purpose to be on the street. It is a land torpedo."

Elisa Gigliotti was a well-liked optimist, full of energy. "We are taking it one day at a time," said her husband, a web designer who since the crash has created http://www.ourlisa.com . "Nothing is the same."

The GSX-R 1000 is one of Suzuki's premier racing bikes, the top of the GSX line widely used in the racing circuit. Long Beach police estimate it has a top speed of 180 mph, about 100 mph faster than the fastest posted speed limit on any highway in the nation. Suzuki does not publicize the bike's top speed.

With a suggested retail price of $11,400, it is much more affordable than any high performance racing car. Therefore, those who like speed, or want the challenge of controlling such power — or have a death wish — can get them.

But the risk is shared with the rest of the public.

"I have seen my fair share of accidents where the motorcycle hits so hard it kills everybody in a car," Dennison said.

According to a recent report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were 4,553 fatalities in motorcycle accidents in 2005. Those deaths include only the operators and passengers on the bikes. Agency officials could not say how many pedestrians or people in other vehicles died in these crashes, though statisticians are trying to get the data at The Times' request.

The National Transportation Safety Board, the federal government's leading accident investigation agency, is looking into another grim motorcycle crash this year in Pennsylvania, in which four people inside a car died, said agency board member Deborah Hersman, who has taken an interest in motorcycle safety.

"People think that the people on the bikes are the only vulnerable ones," Hersman said.

Every motorcycle death and injury, even when limited to the operator, costs society plenty — both in the direct cost of the accident and in the loss of human potential.

"Many times, the crash doesn't kill the motorcyclist," said Jim Champagne, a spokesman for the Governors Highway Safety Assn. and head of the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission. "It leaves them as convalescents of the state."

On average, motorcyclists are 34 times more likely to die per mile traveled than occupants of cars, and it's getting worse. Over the last decade, the fatality rate per motorcycle mile has jumped 76%. That reflects an emerging motorcycle culture that embraces every possible danger factor: extreme speed, reckless behavior, alcohol impairment and many older riders past their prime, says Champagne.

Suzuki spokesman Glenn Hansen disputed that, saying motorcyclists do not embrace speeding or alcohol any more than operators of other vehicles. The company encourages safe behavior, he said. As for the sharp increase in deaths, Hansen said, "I can't say how these accidents happen, why they happen or what the causes are."

But motorcycle culture and even the news media often explicitly sanction the violation of public safety laws.

Take, for example, this recent upbeat review: "As I rocketed toward Angeles Crest Highway on California State Route 2 … I clicked into second, and cracked 100." The speed limit on that highway is 45 mph and lower in some places.

If the current trends persist, it seems reasonable to look for answers. It would be possible to limit the horsepower of motorcycles, but not politically feasible. After all, operators can take their bikes to off-road tracks and legally test their top speeds. So, the focus should be on stopping extreme speeding on public roads.

My suggestion: Instead of fines of a few hundred dollars, how about a $5,000 fine or vehicle forfeiture for exceeding the speed limit by more than 50 mph with any vehicle? It could take such penalties to get the message across that people like Elisa Gigliotti should still be alive.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ralph.vartabedian@latimes.com


My opinion is that LAT has a new cause and is citing fringe examples.

[Jeff N]

A sad and bad situation all around. The rider was an idiot, the widower is expressing his grief and ignorance (and I use that term in the most non-insulting way) and the writer of the editorial is doing his job; namely, getting people to read his stuff and stir up some controversy.
 
We are doing this bad publicity thing to ourselves. When we ride in an aggressive manner at inappropriate times we only incur the wrath of the general public, the media, the law enforcement community, and, most ominously, the government. A few stupid acts will cause somebody to declare that something must be done. Some politician will listen and the result will be some ill-conceived resolution to satisfy those who scream the loudest and placate the rest.
 
Personally, I have no answers other than to ride in a courteous manner as conditions apply and I have serious doubts as to the efffectiveness of that policy. As a rider, the general public will lump me in with the idiots, but what can one do?

[Bodhi]

We need to go after skateboarding scumbags too. I've seen countless instances of skateboarders plowing into Suburbans and Expeditions and turning them into flaming fireballs of death.

[UFO]

The writer is labeling all riders based on one asshat, and the most insane bike you can own.
 
The thing is...the kid killed that woman, not the bike. Rational performance in the hands of the irrational is still dangerous.
 
Generalization and stereotyping is a biatch.
--
Neal

[TalkingHead]

In this case, however, labeling the bike a 'land torpedo' is rather accurate given the results.

[XLR8]

Why does it always have to be some kid on a gixxer?

Open throttle huh? From an intersection. Heh heh heh, I don't think so.

[Brad1445]

The writer is labeling all riders based on one asshat, and the most insane bike you can own.
 
The thing is...the kid killed that woman, not the bike. Rational performance in the hands of the irrational is still dangerous.
 
Generalization and stereotyping is a biatch.
--
Neal

+1

Happens all the time in Cars

[Uncle Bob]

I think the fine for speeding should be....ten MIIILLION dollars.  And then an execution on the spot.  That would show them!

[M.Brane]

Yet another reason to not read the LA Times.

There is nothing inherantly unsafe about a GSXR 1000 any more than any other vehicle on the road. If that dumbass would have been driving a lifted F350 would it have been a news story?

"If you give a gun to a chimp, and the chimp shoots somebody you don't blame the chimp." -Al Bundy

 Or the gun IMHO.

[Schneegz]

There is nothing inherantly unsafe about a GSXR 1000 any more than any other vehicle on the road. If that dumbass would have been driving a lifted F350 would it have been a news story?

It probably would have been.  I've seen countless news articles that begin with the phrase, "An SUV killed..."

[SWriverstone]

I don't know the statistics...but does anyone here dispute the LA Times' assertion that motorcycle fatalities have risen 76% in the past decade? Does anyone simply shrug this off as an inevitable result of more bikes on the road?
 
Whenever this sort of thing happens, there often seems to be an angry reaction here (and in other motorcycle forums as well), with people going on the defensive or writing off statements about dangerous riding as nonsense.
 
In the past two weeks I've seen (no exaggeration) four different instances of riders on sportbikes popping wheelies at 70+mph on 4-lane highways...in traffic. That's just f*cking stupid, period.
 
It's true that a Gixxer 1000 is no more dangerous than most other motorcycles, but isn't that missing the point? Isn't the point that there are a significant number of motorcyclists who are riding in a suicidal manner, and (as the LA Times says) embracing every possible risk factor?
 
This kind of thing will never stop until we—the safe riding community—stop closing ranks in front of these jackasses. We defend them—not vocally—but by just sitting back and remaining quiet when we should be actively slapping them down.
 
Just my opinion, which will likely be slapped down as well.
 
Scott

[SWriverstone]

Older Riders Add to Rise In Motorcycle Fatalities

[SIZE=-1]By Greg Schneider
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 22, 2005; Page A01 [/SIZE]
-----

Margit Showalter's son lost his life in a motorcycle accident. He wasn't a young kid out being reckless; he was a 41-year-old construction worker riding on a suburban Florida street on a sunny day in January.
 
Michael Showalter's age made him part of a deadly trend on U.S. highways, with over-40 riders accounting for a significant increase in motorcycle fatalities nationwide.
 
More than 3,900 people died on motorcycles in the United States in 2004, up 7.3 percent from the year before, according to preliminary highway safety numbers released yesterday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That's the seventh straight year of increases in motorcycle deaths on U.S. roadways, for an 85 percent overall rise since 1997.
The majority of the increase in motorcycle deaths -- 60 percent -- involved riders over age 40, the agency said.
 
More Americans are riding motorcycles than ever as aging, affluent baby boomers recapture the "Easy Rider" dreams of their youth. In 2003, the median age of all motorcyclists in the United States was 41, according to the Motorcycle Industry Council. In 1985, the median age was 27.
 
Total ridership hit 8.8 million in 2003, up from 6.57 million just six years before. The trend has led to the rebirth of the classic American cycle builder Harley-Davidson and spawned a host of imitators out to grab a share of the middle-aged market for full-throated, big-tired cruising bikes. But along with that surge has come an increase in motorcycle casualties among older riders.
 
Tom Lindsay, spokesman for the American Motorcyclist Association, said the increase in the number of older riders overall could explain the increase in the number of fatalities, but that not enough is known about what lies behind the statistics.
 
"Certainly that's a concern to anyone that cares about motorcycling, but what we have here are numbers, data, we don't have research," he said. "What we need to find out is why the crashes are taking place."
He added that his group is lobbying Congress to appropriate $3 million for a comprehensive nationwide study of motorcycle crash data.
 
"It has always been a presumption that young people are the ones most over-involved in motorcycle crashes," said Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen, which advocates safety laws. "A lot of states passed laws saying you have to wear a helmet if you're 18 or younger, assuming that if you're over 18 you'll have good judgment and of course you'll wear a helmet. Well, people don't."
 
In fact, older riders have spearheaded a push to eliminate or weaken mandatory helmet laws in states that have them, which safety groups say has directly led to the increase in motorcycle fatalities.
 
Showalter, the Florida cyclist, was not wearing a helmet when he was killed in a collision with a car. Though his mother says doctors told her a helmet might not have saved her son, Margit Showalter can't help approaching motorcyclists in parking lots to urge them to cover up.
 
Florida repealed its mandatory motorcycle helmet law in 2000 under pressure from cycle enthusiasts, capping a 30-year trend in which most of the states that once required such safety equipment made helmets voluntary. Today only the District and 20 states, including Virginia and Maryland, mandate motorcycle helmets.
 
"When we lived in Maryland [in the 1980s], he wore a helmet," Showalter said. "We tell little kids, when they ride their tricycles, to wear a helmet. But we're letting a motorcycle that drives on a main road with Hummers and trucks go without it? To me, I have a problem with that."
 
But many motorcycle enthusiasts argue that personal freedom is central to their love of cycling and that governments shouldn't tell them how to take care of themselves. "Personal choice is what we want," said Jim Cannon, 45, of Richmond, head of the Virginia Coalition of Motorcyclists.
 
"In my case, I feel a lot more aware without a helmet. I feel unencumbered. Truth be known, I'm probably a safer rider without a helmet."
 
Cannon worked on legislation to repeal Virginia's mandatory helmet law during this year's General Assembly session. Though the effort failed, he said the keys to improving motorcycle safety lie in better training -- both for riders and for car and truck drivers, who sometimes aren't paying enough attention to see cyclists.
 
The reason fatalities rise in states that repeal helmet laws, he said, is that motorcycle ridership increases. With more bikes on the road, there are bound to be more accidents, he said.
 
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a research arm of the auto insurance industry, disagrees. "Motorcyclists are at risk because they don't have the protection that's built into cars, SUVs and pickups," said institute Chief Operating Officer Adrian Lund. "There's one thing that would help all motorcyclists of all ages, and that's to get universal helmet laws in all states."
 
NHTSA's preliminary 2004 statistics, which will be finalized later this year, say that motorcycles accounted for more than 9 percent of the 42,800 total fatalities last year. In 1997, motorcycles accounted for 5 percent of all fatalities.

[Bodhi]

Yet another reason to not read the LA Times.
 
There is nothing inherantly unsafe about a GSXR 1000 any more than any other vehicle on the road. If that dumbass would have been driving a lifted F350 would it have been a news story?
 
"If you give a gun to a chimp, and the chimp shoots somebody you don't blame the chimp." -Al Bundy
 
Or the gun IMHO.

So whatever happened to Al Bundy anyway? Is he still teaching at Yale?

[PhilBiker]

Staged licensing.  It' used all over the world, it's time for it to happen in the good ol' USA, and there's no better place than California.

I'll bet that Gixxer was Raj Boren's first bike.  Wouldn't have happened on a 250.

[NH YZF]

I really wish they (editiors) would focus on the greater good of society:
 
Cigarette smoking is the most important preventable cause of premature death in the United States. It accounts for nearly 440,000 of the more than 2.4 million annual deaths. Cigarette smokers have a higher risk of developing several chronic disorders. These include fatty buildups in arteries, several types of cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (lung problems). Atherosclerosis (buildup of fatty substances in the arteries) is a chief contributor to the high number of deaths from smoking. Many studies detail the evidence that cigarette smoking is a major cause of coronary heart disease, which leads to heart attack
 
Taken from http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4545
 
My life is affected far more greatly by Americans eating poorly and abusing their bodies with "regulated" alcohol and cigarettes than the production of the GSXR 1000. The general public is nothing but a bunch of sheep...

[farmer fred]

Let him have it:
 
ralph.vartabedian@latimes.com[/EMAIL]

[joema]

I don't know the statistics...but does anyone here dispute the LA Times' assertion that motorcycle fatalities have risen 76% in the past decade? Does anyone simply shrug this off as an inevitable result of more bikes on the road?...

U.S. motorcycles sales have TRIPLED in the last decade: http://www.napsnet.com/auto/69638.html
 
Based on this alone, a 76% fatality increase isn't that bad. It might imply the ACCIDENT RATE is decreasing (see below). Accident RATE is the key item, not total # of accidents.
 
Motorcycle fatal accident rate is 27 per 100 million miles, vs about 1.4 for passenger cars.
 
In fact, this graph shows there's been a SMALL increase in motorcycle fatal accident rate in recent years: http://www.bts.gov/publications/transportation_statistics_annual_report/2001/html/chapter_06_figure_01_145.html
 
But that's against a backdrop of steady improvement over the past 30 years. Some of the slight increase might be decreased helmet usage, decreased average rider experience level, etc.
 
If both of the above references are correct, the rapidly increasing sales could imply less experienced riders, who of course are more accident prone. But the main point is this: the increase in motorcycle fatal accident RATE is what counts, not total # of accidents. That rate seems to have slightly increased in recent years, but there are several possible explanations.
 
That LA Times mentioned only the sensationalistic 76% increase in TOTAL accidents is all-too-typical of newspaper reporting.

[06ST1300A]

It doesn't matter what device is used, it could have been a gun, motorcycle, fast car or any number of things. Society is not limited by the majority, it is limited by a the few who can't control themselves and act responsibly.

[XLR8]

It doesn't matter what device is used, it could have been a gun, motorcycle, fast car or any number of things. Society is not limited by the majority, it is limited by a the few who can't control themselves and act responsibly.

Well said.

[nanbil]

"If you give a gun to a chimp, and the chimp shoots somebody you don't blame the chimp." -Al Bundy

 Or the gun IMHO.

This is exactly right.  You blame the idiot that give the chimp the gun.  So whom do we blame here?  The state government that allows kids to buy and then ride a "land torpedo" on wheels?  The motorcycle community for fighting tiered licensing?  The motorcycle manufacturers that build and then sell race ready bombs on wheels?  

I don’t mean to open a can of worms here but I believe that we, the motorcycling community must come to grips with some of these issues.  We don’t really know what happened here; maybe this kid knew how to handle this powerful motorcycle, perhaps the throttle malfunctioned and stuck open, but more likely he was in way over his head.

Why are we, as a community, afraid of stricter licensing requirements?  Why are we afraid of tiered licenses?  I truly believe that if we don’t deal with this soon, we will face government directed restrictions; and that is something I know we all don’t want.