Читать книгу Proficient Motorcycling - David L. Hough - Страница 10

You won’t hear much about motorcycle fatalities from your local motorcycle dealerships or in mainstream motorcycle magazines. Discussing fatalities has long been a motorcycling taboo. If a rider survives the crash, the experience might provide some bragging rights. But talking about the fatalities tends to take all the fun out of the sport for riders, and for those in the industry it has a chilling effect on sales. In general, motorcyclists and motorcycle dealerships don’t understand how to manage the risks of riding, so it’s more comfortable to avoid the topic. Since the motorcycle industry pays big bucks to the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) to solve the problem, the industry attitude is just stay out of their way and let them do whatever it is they do.

Yes, I understand the discomfort of bringing the risks out in the open and talking about them. After all, part of the thrill of motorcycling is challenging the odds. We ride motorcycles partly because they are more dangerous than other vehicles. Perhaps not talking about the risks will hold them at bay. Maybe talking about risks is inviting the odds to strike. Or maybe we just don’t know enough about managing the risks to know how far we’re hanging it out. For instance, all road racers understand the need for crash padding because they intend to ride at 99 percent of their limits, and they know how easy it is to punch through the envelope. But the street rider may also be riding at 99 percent of the risk envelope when entering a busy intersection. If that’s the case, then why don’t all street riders wear quality crash padding?

I believe that if we’re to manage the risks of riding, we need to take it personally. We need to understand what’s happening and figure out what to do to keep our risks in check. So let’s ignore the taboo and talk seriously about what’s happening.