Look I'm as much "fuck cars" as the next guy but riding a motorcycle on a highway is unironically suicidal. I personally know a guy who got in a bad crash on one but miraculously survived; he had a year long recovery period but will have various pain and dysfunction in his body for the rest of his life. I also know some people who did pathology rotations (state medical examiner office, autopsy basically) and the big three categories of bodies coming in were drug overdoses, suicides, and motorcycle crashes.
One of the facebook comments links to a seventh person who died a few days before these on June 18th: https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/motorcyclist-killed-sr-530-crash.amp
Is it really any more dangerous than cycling?
I think motorbikes are great. Lots of developing countries where everyone drives them, and they are significantly less polluting than cars and a lot more fun.
It’s good to take risks sometimes, so long as they’re not inherently self-destructive.
yes, it is more dangerous than cycling.
In places like southeast asia where the mopeds take over the road in swarms and there are only a couple cars that are not the dominant vehicular life form it is much different.
If I think about my times visiting the Philippines, traffic is so congested in Manila and even the smaller towns, that motorcycles can't really Rev up to higher dangerous speeds.
And your other statement is correct, much fewer cars. Maybe some jeepneys, buses, and cargo trucks but no deranged private citizens zipping around in their Ford F-5000
Bicycle deaths per mile: ~10 per 100M miles Motorcycle deaths per mile: ~20 per 100M miles
IMO this shows that they're more dangerous, but primarily because you can go a lot further on a motorcycle. Basically 100% of the danger from riding a bicycle comes from cars. In contrast, it's quite practical to kill yourself on a motorcycle without external intervention. So, if you have already chosen a mode of transportation, behavioral choices on a motorcycle offer much more control over where you fall within that mode's risk spectrum. Wearing a helmet and taking a class make way more difference on a motorcycle, and that's borne out by the contributing factors to fatal accidents /u/nat_turner_overdrive has posted elsewhere in the thread. Seems quite possible that the per-mile risk of a motorcycle rider doing everything right is comparable to that of the average bicyclist. Biking in cities is stupid dangerous of course, every cyclist I know has been hit, but that's a problem with cars not an intrinsic thing.
Honestly as a cyclist in an area with poor cycling infrastructure, I would feel a lot more comfortable riding a motorcycle than I do on my ebike, highways excluded. Riding in traffic is much safer than riding alongside traffic, you are far more visible and that's the single most important aspect of road safety.
I agree, I used to cycle all over the place on the road and I wouldn't do that any more. Motorcycle gear + moving at the speed of traffic is far safer than spandex, a foam brain bucket, and differential speeds up to 40-50MPH
A cyclist can pull over and shoot a guy who’s trying to run him down. A biker has to hope his motorcycle is faster to outrun the car