Maybe it's a biker bar and a bi bar as well!
Posted on 07/15/2007 7:30:18 AM PDT by BraveMan
It's been a year since Jeffrey and Christine Konrath of Slinger died in a motorcycle crash in Dodge County.
Except for the fact that they weren't drinking, the Konraths could be the face of motorcycle fatalities today: older riders - he was 45, she was 48 - on a larger bike, killed on a rural road. And neither was wearing a helmet.
It's that last point that most frustrates Christine's daughter Angeline Schreiber. She has little tolerance these days for motorcyclists who forgo protective gear.
"I would never tell people not to ride bikes," said Schreiber, who is raising her 12-year-old half sister since her mother and stepfather were killed.
"I would just like people to think about safety precautions before they do it."
Jeffrey and Christine Konrath were among 93 motorcyclists who died on Wisconsin roads in 2006, up 79% from a decade ago. Over that same time, motorcycle fatalities have more than doubled nationwide.
Much of that can be attributed to the rising number of bikes on the road. In fact, in Wisconsin, the death rate dropped in 2005 to the lowest level since 1996, when factoring in the number of motorcycles registered, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The death rate nationally rose 30% during that period.
Riders and safety officials say they are troubled by the rising death toll and some of the trends they see reflected in the numbers.
"What stands out to me is the significant increase in those killed that are 45 and older," said Dennis Hughes, who as chief of safety programs for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation is implementing new programs to target those riders.
Last year in Wisconsin, 43% of motorcyclists killed were 45 and older, up from around 10% in 1995 and under 2% in '91, according to the state.
"It's that baby boomer generation coming on board," said Hughes.
"Many of them had experience riding bikes. But they're going back to a bike that's a lot different from what they learned on. They're bigger, they're heavier and the maneuvering is a lot different."
Hughes' observations are reflected in the national data as well. Riders 40 and older made up nearly half of the fatalities in 2005, the latest year for which those numbers are available, according to NHTSA, up from 24% in 1995.
Among the other trends in Wisconsin and the nation:
• A growing number of fatalities involve larger bikes with more powerful engines (1,001 to 1,500 cubic centimeters).
• Alcohol consumption and failure to wear a helmet continue to be factors. In Wisconsin last year, 75% of those killed weren't wearing helmets and 47% had been drinking. Nationally in 2005, the latest year available, 35% had been drinking and 43% were not wearing a helmet.
• Of those killed, older riders were more likely than their younger counterparts to have been intoxicated and less likely - at least to age 60 - to wear a helmet. Younger riders were more apt to be speeding.
Brookfield motorcyclists Catherine and Peter Dhein, both in their 50s, aim to defy the statistics. He's taken the Harley Rider's Edge training course, and they always wear helmets, said Catherine, as they readied their Ultra Classic for an overnight trek from Milwaukee's House of Harley to western Wisconsin on Friday.
"We don't drink when we're riding, and we don't drive at night," she said.
Aside from the trends and the growing number of bikes on the road, it's difficult to explain the rising death toll. However, that could change in the coming years.
The Motorcycle Safety Foundation in Irvine, Calif., said this month that it would commit $2.8 million to match federal funds set aside to conduct the first comprehensive study of motorcycle crash causes since the 1970s.
The findings could have long-term implications for riders, manufacturers and policy-makers.
"When that's done, we'll understand why this is happening and what we can do to reduce these numbers, said NHTSA spokesman Ray Tyson.
"We know, for example, that increased helmet use helps, that impaired riding is a factor," he said. "But we don't know what else, for example, things we could be doing to make motorcycles safer."
Wisconsin, in the meantime, has been expanding its rider education programs, adding classes to accommodate the growing demand and targeting some to older or returning riders.
In addition to the standard safety program available through technical schools around the state, the DOT offers a refresher course for returning riders and a new Seasoned Rider program that addresses the effects of aging - for example, declining vision and reaction time. And it is launching a pilot program in the Fox Valley that pairs new or returning riders with experienced mentors.
The state is looking to expand a program tested by a motorcycle coalition in Jefferson, Dane and Waukesha counties that lets riders lock up their bikes in secure storage crates at local bars if they are intoxicated, and federal officials are interested in rolling that out nationally.
In every program, regardless of the age or expertise of the rider, safety instructors stress two recurring themes: the importance of riding sober and proper equipment, most importantly a helmet, said Ron Thompson, who manages the motorcycle safety programs for the state.
"We tell people, if you don't wear it for yourselves, wear it for your family and friends - so you can ride again," Thompson said.
Understood.
Why ride if adrenaline is undesirable?
Just glad to see someone a a few years senior to me with those views and still riding.
These posts are downright inspirational. Makes it worth dropping by!
It’s all made in China, that Harley gear.
You can be killed in a car with a seat belt too.
I don’t think they even notice... It’s the Harley symbol they idolize.
Thanks
Thanks....but I’ve already defied death and have a certificate from the Wyoming state patrol for being a seatbelt survivor!
So since I’ve been living on borrowed time since 1991...
Look it is the better quality leather, design and construction.
I doubt either of you have ever been in a real biker bar dressed as a man.
I blame wives for this.From the time the guy gets married, his wife refuses to let him get the bike he wanted...a 250 Enduro.
So when he finally dumps her and get the blond bimbo wife, he buys a bike...to big and too heavy for his inexperience.
I’ve been in biker bars before but as far as a real biker bar I could not say. One of my local haunts about 15 years ago was basically turned into a biker clubhouse for one of the local biker gangs. Within a year they drove it out of business. That is about a close as I have come.
I don’t have a bike so no need for me to wear leather other than a belt, shoes and a wallet. I don’t pass for a biker by any stretch of the imagination.
Maybe it's a biker bar and a bi bar as well!
I’m sorry for your accident, I know of this one guy who everyone said was accident prone; this is a bit like the kind of stuff he’d tell me. This was very serious. Hope you’ve come out okay; but a lot of stuff broken.
There are plenty of bold riders.
And there are plenty of old riders.
But there are very few riders who are BOTH old and bold.
- John (91,000 miles on my FXR, and 92,500 on my FLTR, plus about 20,000 on previous bikes)
Accident prone eh? drop dead u scum. I don’t need that crap from you or anyone. In case you misunderstand me, I’m sayin shut your stupid yap.
Same to you sorehead!
Please be sure to be declared dead at the scene so you don’t clutter up a busy emergency room with your mutilated corpse. SNAP!!! Some sanctimonious ass in an ER or an OR might save your life some day.
Enjoy your afterlife, sir. If your organs are healthy enough to be donated it would be a shame to waste them
And don’t call me an a-hole. We don’t know each other and hopefully we never will.
You know, I try always to help the folks that come into my emergency room. This is whether or not they have serious problems. Many don’t, being on the government dole and all.
I have never been flamed so much as I have in this thread. That’s OK. I’ve been flamed by ER nurses. You guys are amateurs compared to them.
A lot of you motorcyclists seem to have the attitude that you are somehow superior to “cagers” who drive vehicles with 4 wheels and that they are the source of your problems.
Tell that to the guy I treated 2 weeks ago who was riding drunk with his teenage daughter on the back of his HD and sideswiped a truck. He lost his leg. Fortunately his daughter is OK - she was the one wearing the helmet - not that it made any difference.
The simple fact is, you choose your own poisons. If you want to ride a motorcycle in a sea of 4 wheeled vehicles, that is your choice. If you get in a wreck and it maims or cripples or kills you, that is YOUR consequence. I don’t give a rat’s hiney if you wear a helmet because most of the time it doesn’t make a difference. You CHOSE to put yourself in danger. Of course, I’ve seen some riders who survived amazing crashes with minor injuries but they did not strike anything but the pavement and they were wearing helmets and full leathers so there is SOME protection available. You strike an object with more mass than you, you lose. Simple physics.
A lot of you seem to be whining endlessly about what could happen to you or has already happened to your buddies because of the bad drivers on the road. Too bad. You chose to ride, now accept the consequences.
My job is:
1.) Try to minimize your chances of killing yourself by trying to educate you, whether you like it or not, and
2.) Should #1 fail, try to put you back together so you will live and hopefully learn by your unfortunate experience.
I have no interest in ANYONE becoming an organ donor.
At the end of my shift I want to go home feeling good about what I’ve done in that 12 hour period. If someone kills themself out of stupidity or just plain old bad luck I have to deal with their family and it just does not feel good. I have to take that home with me. Do you think that anyone would enjoy that?
Life is a sexually transmitted condition that is inevitably fatal. Why make choices that are going to increase your chances of checking out early?
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