The Weather is Warming Up

Bombardier · The Weather is Warming Up

It never ceases to amaze me how warm weather seems to make some motorcyclist more imune to road rash!

Perhaps the hotter temperatures affect the skin in such a way to toughen its exterior to a leather like consistency.

Or, maybe its the warm weather playing havoc with the brains thought patterns.

Riding without thought is one of my pet peeves, made more important by the fact that my wife is a registered nurse at the local emergency centre.

She gets first hand experience of these dimwits in singlets,shorts,thongs,no gloves but wait....they have a helmet on!

Firstly its the crash fix up. Mostly just keeping them alive or giving them morphine because they no longer have any skin left on most of their parts and the bones have started to grind away or their guts has come out of what used to be the skin on their stomach.

Then its the months of dressing changes and the wingeing about how it hurts and how they have lost their job and also, and this is the best part, how tired their legs are from standing up because they no longer have any skin on their arse. Mostly because this is the only place left for the surgeon to take it from to fix their face, hands etc.

Sadly its these same idiots who through all this are looking forward to their next road rocket because their first one was less than a year old so the insurance paid out in full despite the fact they were squiding around.

No wonder we are despised by some when we have people of this calibre amongst our ranks.

Makes me want to choke the bastards.

Bueller

I helpd a guy up who came off on the highway. His girlfriend had a broken arm and he had worn a hole through into his abdominal cavity. He had a leather jacket, but it wasn't a good fit. It pushed up when he slid.

Accidents happen.

Bombardier

At least he made the effort to wear the gear.

The doobs I am on about simply do not and expect us to help them out.

Murdoch

Its the scooter riders wearing thongs/shorts (or any light gear)
Cruising happily in the traffic with me doing speeds of 60-80 KMH
What makes them think they are going to be any better off than me in an accident

Bombardier

The secretaries in the mini skirts, high heels and silk blouses are going to look REAL different after an off.

The sooner there is a requirement to look after your own arse on a bike the better.

I am not talking look-a-like drones either.

A minimum standard of protective clothing should be mandatory in my humble opinion.

The standard reply I get from the Squiddlys is ' I don't fall off'

Fuzz

While I whole heartedly agree that riding without safety gear is stupidity run rampant,
I can't quite get behind legislating "intelligence".
People need to be responsible for their own actions, and need to be held accountable
for their mistakes. Even a parking lot tip over with lightweight clothing is going to hurt,
and those who learn this the hard way are going to learn it better and remember it
longer. I simply try to shame the squids into reality whenever I get the chance, by being blunt
and asking them if they think scars are attractive, and if they have good life insurance...
I was talking to a kid at a local coffee house one evening, who was wearing a t-shirt, some kind
of lightweight trousers, $500 boots and a new high tech helmet. Anyway, he was bragging
about how fast his R1 was, and all I said was "Wow! 180 mph on public roads sounds like a really cool
way to die.....Can I have your boots when they scrape the rest of you off the highway??"

Bueller

I don't disagree with minimum standards, but I hate the thought of one more thing you can get booked for.

One of the only squids I've done was an impromptue 1125R test ride, and I wasn't comfortable because of it. Riding without gloves particularly.

twoguns

its a simple fix, and i have said it before.

people have hte right to choose how they live, how they die. it shouldnt be up to society to legislate this. your own body is your own.

i reckon if someone wants to go squid let them, after they have paid top medical cover. this way they are no burden to the rest. simple.

as for the medics, i feel that it must be hard. i have seen the hole in my arm ( and i was wearing full gear) and the attention they give, and while waiting, the trauma that walks in. even a push bike rider with severe road rash... afterall i think 45ks on a push bike in licra nd a bit of foam is as good as squid!

it shouldnt be legislated to save idiots!

darwins theory works fine.

Bueller

Bombardier

Whilst I do agree that all should be accountable for their own safety.

The reality here in Australia as opposed to America or other countries is we the Taxpayer have to pay for the idiots because of our free public health system.

Old people who have been on a waiting list for ages to get a new lease on life (from various surgeries) are put on hold again because of morons who do not gear up or wear seat belts.

These mental midgets basically cut to the front of the line because they think of no one but themselves.

Not only do they tie up the free surgical areas, more often than not the relatives of the soon to be deceased/hospitalised require counselling and other services and not to mention the emotional toll on the medical staff.

Just pisses me off!

twoguns

but like i said. they pay top private health cover. they get a stamp to display on their plate. no stamp. no bike or license.

if they bin it, then there is no burden on the public system. they have no choice,but their private cover. and honestly some of them probably wont get that far. afterall no need to wear gear... then i am sure a few would forgo teh helmet too.

Fuzz

I didn't realize the medical coverage was "free" for everyone in Oz,
that puts things in a different light. I still feel people should be accountable
for their own actions, but when those actions affect so many others, it clouds
the issue. Is there a way to purchase "extra" med insurance? Can folks be fined for
lack of safety gear? Who decides what "minimum" means? How would such legislation
affect the rest of the riders? How would a cop know if you had "permission" to be stupid?
Can the person at fault be charged with the med expenses of someone they injure, say for
example, a cager pulls in front of a rider? Then, who pays for the mental anguish of those who
treat the injured??

No wonder this issue pisses you off, Bombadier, it all seems rather overwhelming.

buellbabe

I cringe when I see people riding with no gloves... but shorts and jandals/thongs??? Farkin idiots. And yep the hot weather brings them out of the woodwork in NZ too.
We also have a free public health system (ACC) and its employers, taxpayers and vehicle owners that fund it.

Legislation for a minimum safety gear requirement? No, I don't agree with that ...people are responsible for their own actions and choices. Personally I don't like sweltering in full leather during summer so wear draggin jeans , does that make me irresponsible?

You could also argue that open faced helmets offer little protection, should they be banned? I have seen what someones face looks like after sliding down the road in an open-face...not pretty and LOTS of skin grafts...

Bit of a knarly issue...

Bombardier

Not sure what stamp you are referring to Twoguns but here in Qld all emergencies go to the Hospital via Ambulance and are treated according to their triage(level of priority) regardless of medical cover.

If you are hurtin' your gettin' fixed is about what happens here.

twoguns

the stamp example i saw was while i was in loiuseville kentucky.

to ride helmet less there, you needed to show that you had top private cover.

i think here. it could be applied and adapted to our laws. give the option back to the rider. pay the premium and you can do what you like.

better than penalising everybody for the actions of some, that our govt so enjoys doing now.

buellbabe

I think that idea has some merit. Makes the responsibility lie squarely with the rider.

Wonder what the premiums would be ???

Fuzz

That stamp idea does seem like a good first step, but like BB,
I wonder how much the premiums would be...

DMNTD

Bueller

A friend came off at 200kph and slid face down in his full-face. It was a Bell and he was lucky. If you hold it up you can see light through the chin piece.

I always go for full face helmets with a wide chin piece so that there is no possibility of it rising up of pushing down and allowing my face to contact.

Bombardier

Goes against the Aussie way of every one being equal.

Not sure how it would work for example if the private hospital was busy and like we have here- it has no Emergency Centre to speak of.

They would still go to the public hospital first which takes up badly needed resources.

Cannot see our Ambulance Officers refusing to transport someone because they do not have a sticker.

At the end of the day people need to think before they act or at least think of others.

Education is the key - a key that used to be administered by the local Sergeant of police and reinforced by a shiny black boot up the arse.

I reckon many a young scamp has seen the error of his ways via the bootpolish limp.

Should be more of it but the bloody do gooders have stuffed it up.

People are either too afraid or too willing to find the magic loophole that will get them off facing their responsibility.

Pissweak I reckon.