Motorcycle Driving Tips And Safety

There are 52 replies in this Thread which has previously been viewed 8,394 times. The latest Post (March 20, 2024 at 3:44 PM) was by UK Man.

    Early this morning was a stark reminder, when, from outside our house, I heard the unmistakable screeching and grinding of a motorcycle crash, rushed out to find a young girl unconscious with blood pouring from her head. Her helmet was yards away, she was wearing shorts, tee shirt and trainers. Fortunately, she was still breathing, so I put a towel over her and with the help of passing cyclists, we called the ambulance and police. She was taken away, but not before her mother turned up in hysterics.

    I only mention this because of the amount of motorcyclists here that either ride with the helmet under their arm or simply perch it on the crown of their heads with the chin rim just above the eyebrows, which is something I simply cannot compute. In fact, a neighbour of the girl turned up on his bike, looked at the scene in shock and then sped off with his helmet under his arm even after seeing the aftermath of the accident with he girl bleeding on the ground.

    It was a shocking sight and later, we will be going to the humble shanty town/villa where she lives in order to find out how she is.

    The other day while driving about town with the missus I counted the percentage of helmet wearers to non wearers. The non helmet wearers as usual won easily. As you say, even those who wear a helmet rarely have it fastened properly which renders it next to useless.

    This must have been very hard to witness, Splinter . Bravo for going there to assist her while the ambulance come. What about the other vehicle? Did they stop to help her?

    Was the ambulance quick to get to the scene?

    Quote from serafina

    This must have been very hard to witness, Splinter . Bravo for going there to assist her while the ambulance come. What about the other vehicle? Did they stop to help her?

    Was the ambulance quick to get to the scene?

    No other vehicle was involved and it appears that she lost control after going over a traffic hump too fast. From the marks on the road, I would estimate that she had been doing about 50-60kmh at the time and probably flew/slid about 5-8 meters before making impact.

    The good news is that we've just got back from the villa and were told that she's being transferred from Vicente Lopez to CABA for surgery because she has shattered her jaw. They also told me that she didn't have any head injuries, which is a relief.

    When I put the towel over her, she tried to move and to talk but we told he not to. The amount of blood coming from her head area made me think the worst, so hopefully she will recover in time.

    Off topic, but equally important, is the question of a deadly combination practiced by many motorbike riders: running red lights and lane filtering.

    Last week we were crossing a major street at the light, when we were nearly run over by a motorbike who was totally running the light while also obscured from vision because he was sneaking up in a lane of his own making, between two cars.

    Had he hit us, we would have been lying in the intersection bleeding; had he hit a car instead of pedestrians, he would have been the one lying there. Neither would have been a good outcome.

    Are you confidant that other riders are as careful about that as you are, Splinter ? Or is it more likely that they’re as safety-conscious about lane filtering as they are about their helmets?