Motorcycle accidents

This morning I met up with a ‘young’ man (young means he’s not over 60!) who is in a wheelchair. He ended up in that after he was knocked off his motorbike a few years ago – 2010 – by a trailer set up incorrectly on a car. He ended up in hospital, and now he suffers lower body paralysis, and aphasia.

In 2010 my ex was knocked off his motorcycle. He bounced three times on his helmeted head and lost consciousness. He broke his shoulder and had cuts all over his body. I was rung at home by the hospital, and I provided care for him for months after that. He was over 50 but under 60.

A year ago the husband of a friend of mine was hit off his motorcycle by a driver who didn’t check the situation, and his foot was run over. He spent weeks in hospital in Brisbane. He’s not an ‘oldie’ either.

According to ABC in 2017, the article, titled Motorcyclists over 40 more likely to die on Queensland roads than young men says that men motorcyclists over 40 account for 75% of motor vehicle accident deaths. Their police inspector said that the results were from “speed, inexperience, and loss of control”. I really do wonder how that happens. Certainly, when I joined the Ulysses motorcycle club back in 2006, I knew how to ride a motorbike, but I sometimes wondered if some of those older people had simply gone back to riding after years off a motorbike – or just learned how to do it when they retired. However, some of the accidents which have been reported in the club resulted from car drivers who didn’t understand how a rider will ride.

A report from the government dated 2008 showed that between 1998 and 2007 the age of riders under age 24 only increased 0.3%, those aged 25-44 increased 2.1% and the riders over the age of 45 increased by 12.3%. They don’t explain how that happened, but they say that older riders, in particular, have been involved in fatal accidents. However, they also said that fatal accidents from 1999 – 2003 are predominantly in the mean age of under 44, and that the mean age of those which did not involve fatality are older riders.

The CARRS-Q report prepared by QUT in 2017 said that the registrations of motorcycle had increased in Queensland by 53.6% between 2007 and 2016, and that motorcycles “accounted for only 5% of Queensland vehicle registrations, yet motorcyclists accounted for 24.8% of the state road fatalities.”

The Monash report dated 2018 gave a lot of statistics and I haven’t touch on them here, but there’s info about the riders – increased riders, increased fatalities. That’s on their page 82, if you are interested in the stats.

The Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads have a page which gives stats from 2016 - 2019. If you’re interested, have a look.

I don’t own a motorcycle now – I sold mine a few years ago after my ex said he wouldn’t be riding again (I know he now is riding in NZ, but I’ve very rarely ridden in the last few years in Australia). If you have one, if you know a family member or friend who has one, then please make sure your bikes are insured, are maintained, and you KNOW how to ride. Don’t always think you might have the right of way – just look at the driver approaching where you do have the right of way, and make up your mind…. Just please, don’t ride into an accident!