Speed limits should be higher for motorcycles

The issue of stopping distance is debatable. Motorcycles are much lighter than cars, but also have a significantly smaller contact patch, which is exacerbated by the fact that since they are so much shorter than cars, under heavy braking, the rear brake is completely useless - ALL of a road motorcycle's braking power is in the front brake. This is why you see modern sportbikes with massive dual-rotor six-piston disk brakes up front, and a single pathetic two-piston platter on the rear. Also, handling a motorcycle under heavy braking is an art; not many people can do it well.

So with skilled operators, we'll assume that braking distances are equal.

Still, I am a far safer motorist at 55 MPH on a motorcycle than in a car going 35. Why? Because in the car, I'm insulated, separated from the environment. My mind can wander, I can have music playing, whatever. A motorcycle demands my attention, and is not very forgiving of flights of fancy. So I am less likely to get in an accident in the first place on a motorcycle, which makes it inherently safer.

Secondly, I'm less likely to hurt anybody besides myself on a motorcycle, assuming I'm not carrying a passenger. If I t-bone a car with my mom and brothers in it, the car's going to shake a bit, while I go over the handlebars and on to certain death, or at least certain months of physical therapy.

All in all, considering that motorcyclists are less likely to get in accidents (the smart ones, anyway) and that we implicitly take responsibility for such accidents by riding a motorcycling in the first place, I think speed limits should be 10 to 15 miles per hour higher for motorcyclists.

Although, if a high-speed bike-car collision can actually cause injury to the occupants of the car (I've never heard of this, but now that I think about it, I guess it might) then my whole argument is fully invalid.

All of the above nodes seem to support the premise of the title. I disagree with the title of this node. I think that motorcycles should not have a higher speed limit. Speeding accounted for 41% of all fatal motorcycle crashes as opposed to 30% for all vehicles. Speed correlates with higher death rates.

Both Starrynight and Wedge.net tell us that a motorcycle rider is less likely to get in an accident than a car driver. This is false. For every 100 milion miles traveled, 1.9 car drivers died, but 36.5 motorcycle riders died. That's 19.2 times more likely. If you break it down by vehicle numbers, rather than by distance, there were 57 motorcycle deaths per 100,000 registered vehicles in 1999, compared to 17 for cars. That's 3.4 times as many.

By the way, the most common type of motorcycle death was caused by the motorcycle leaving the road (41%), followed by the motorcycle or other vehicle running a red light (18%). Motorcycle deaths are almost evenly divided between rural and urban settings (switching in recent years to rural being the more common). Also, 91% of motorcycle deaths were male.

Where does he get all these crazy numbers?! They come from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, who keeps tabs on all fatal accidents in the United States down to the minute detail.

My significant other used to work in an emergency room, where they had a name for motorcycle riders: organ donors.

She always claimed that a disproportionate number of organ donors were post-accident motorcyclists. Think about it: they tend to be young men in fairly good physical condition with head trauma - just about the perfect donor.

Interestingly enough, there was a brief article related to this topic at Wired News today...

Motorcycle fatalities are on the rise, prompting federal officials to push for better training programs, tougher enforcement of mandatory helmet laws and making car and truck drivers more aware of motorcyclists. The statistics are sobering: 2,472 bikers were killed in 1999, the largest number of fatalities since 1991. For every 100 million miles traveled, an average of 36.5 motorcyclists were killed, compared to a mere 1.9 drivers on four wheels. The two biggest causes of motorcycle-related deaths remain unchanged: speeding and drinking.

I would agree with shokwave, but also agree with the title of this node. Given the small number of donated organs and generally good viability of the motorcycle community to be donors, I believe that the speed limit should be raised for those who ride and are donors.

Perhaps there would be the additional requirement that such donors have a sticker on their license plate that indicates their donor status.

There is the issue of the donorcycle rider killing others with their increased speed, this is a palpable concern, but it is mitigated by the fact that bikes are smaller and ligher, and less likely to alter the path of an SUV.

Apparently, none of you have ever witnessed or seen the aftermath of a car-motorcycle collision. Believe me - you are fooling yourself if you think a 500 lb (or more!) motorcycle presents no threat to an auto, even an SUV. Rest assured that a 70 MPH bike is a very dangerous projectile, capable of splitting a car nearly in two, particularly in a broadside collision.

Besides - why bother raising the speed limit for motorcycles? From what I can see, most motorcyclists who wish to speed already do so with wild abandon.