Lesson for Motorcyclists

[Tyler]

I know the head is fragile, but it was hard for me to accept that she fell on the BUNNY slope and had that bad an injury.

I've heard stories of people moving their motorcycles in their driveway, losing balance, and falling over hitting their head on the ground. Snow can be hard... and a fall, if done just in the right way, can do any sort of damage... who knows? It's life.

 

[exskibum]

Also a good reminder if your with someone that falls to keep an eye on them for unusual behavior which can be a sign of a brain injury.

I'm afraid that wouldn't work with MadMike. How could you tell?

Er...uhm...Hans, a mere 19 months ago I was air lifted from this same basic position and I'm still recovering.

******** -- you were on your back when we got there. But you scared the living **** outta us both. I'm damn glad that you have a world class hard head and are still with us. And that Motoport Kevlar suit still is too. You won't need to crash test it again, ok?

 

[Beamer Reamer]

Also a good reminder if your with someone that falls to keep an eye on them for unusual behavior which can be a sign of a brain injury.

I'm afraid that wouldn't work with MadMike. How could you tell?

Ya can't. And from experience, I can tell ya that he'll sometimes decide in the middle of a ride to dive off and head butt a 12x12 guardrail support (with a helmet, but still).

Natasha Richardson's accident has had me befuddled since I first read about it. My Dad was a ski patrolman and I've been skiing since I was 2 (religiously and fanatically for a lot of years). Only last year did I finally buy and begin wearing a helmet -- mostly because it was on sale and I was in a ski shop needing nothing else. I've beaten the literal crap outta myself over the years crashing high speed runs in bumps, landing jumps less than perfectly and even hitting trees twice. I've had my share of spectacular crashes and even knocked myself out very briefly once as a kid. Never ever thought I was in any real danger.

I know the head is fragile, but it was hard for me to accept that she fell on the BUNNY slope and had that bad an injury. Bunny slopes have the slope of a ballroom floor, so speed is almost nonexistent. I've long maintained that falls in the flats hurt more because you don't glance off like you do on steeper stuff. But I was always referring to a transition where I was taking speed into the flats, got complacent as the challenge abated and caught an edge to body slam myself on the flat. Reading that she had this severe an injury on the bunny slope at negligible speed makes me reevaluate my good fortune. I've always been kinda cocky at seldom falling and (so far) having the ability to protect my head when I did (there's an art to falling on skis that gets to be intuitive). But you never know about the next time, the two tree incidents were both close calls at speed, and the helmet is seeming like a better buy all the time.

Still, I'm stunned -- I wouldn't have ever believed this severe an injury could have occurred in a single skier fall on a bunny slope without some uniquely fragile condition in the victim. I've read every article I can find on her accident, but have read nothing to say it was anything other than losing her balance and hitting her head (on the snow, it seems).

Very very sad for her family.

I'm glad to say that the wisdom of wearing a helmet on a motorcycle has been more obvious to me, though I didn't in my late teens and early 20s when it was still legal here to do that.

It's physics. It is the falling height that does it in a case like this, not the speed. Same thing with helmets for kids on a bike. The distance falling to the concrete is what gets them.

 

[Bearly Flying]

Very Tragic story,,,,, But what it tells me is,,,,,,

Everyone walking should wear a helmet..... If a fall from a " Bunny Slope" will kill you....

As soon as you get out of bed in the morning.... You HAVE to don ATGATT...... You could slip in the Hallway, or bathroom.....

My God Think of the Children!!!!!!!

We have to Pass Law's to protect Us from that...!!!!!! Immediately.....

 

[Patriot]

Astronaut Pete Conrad Dies in Motorcycle Accident

Former astronaut Charles P. "Pete'' Conrad, who in 1969 became the third man to walk on the moon, uttering an exuberant "Whoopie!'' as he stepped on the lunar surface, died in a motorcycle accident. He was 69.

Conrad, who also flew two Gemini missions in the 1960s and commanded first Skylab mission in 1973, crashed on a turn yesterday (July 8, 1999) on Highway 150 near Ojai and died five hours later at Ojai Valley Community Hospital.

Conrad, who lived in Huntington Beach near Los Angeles, was on a trip to Monterey with his wife, Nancy, and friends, Ventura County Deputy Coroner James Baroni said.

Baroni said Conrad's injuries didn't initially appear to be severe, but he got worse after arriving at the hospital. He had some chest pain and had more trouble breathing.

"He showed that he had some type of internal bleeding and they needed to do exploratory surgery,'' Baroni said. But doctors were unable to revive him.

Just this spring, Conrad joked that he was looking forward to the day he would turn 77.

 

[Fred W]

Very Tragic story,,,,, But what it tells me is,,,,,,
Everyone walking should wear a helmet..... If a fall from a " Bunny Slope" will kill you....

As soon as you get out of bed in the morning.... You HAVE to don ATGATT...... You could slip in the Hallway, or bathroom.....

My God Think of the Children!!!!!!!

We have to Pass Law's to protect Us from that...!!!!!! Immediately.....

+1

I know (and agree) that wearing all the gear on the bike is the right thing to do to improve your chances, but sometimes all the precautions in the word aren't enough.

When your time is, it's up.

 

[dcarver]

Great post, Burleigh. I took a hard handlebar shot to the ribs when a rider behind didn't notice I'd stopped. Hurt like hell for 3 weeks. About 18 months later I'm in OR getting a rib removed to allow a nice viewing window and a brand new to me 18" scar due to a calcified hematoma every doc thought was cancer....

 

[k7lvo]

Also a good reminder if your with someone that falls to keep an eye on them for unusual behavior which can be a sign of a brain injury.

I'm afraid that wouldn't work with MadMike. How could you tell?

Er...uhm...Hans, a mere 19 months ago I was air lifted from this same basic position and I'm still recovering.

I'd say your post was appropriate and timely as we approach the main riding season. If one is going to err, to do so on the side of caution is best.

MM, is the side with caution up or down in this picture? :dntknw:

 

[k7lvo]

Some of you may remember this back in 2006:

"VALENCIA - A motorcycle safety instructor died Sunday attempting to help a student during a class in a parking lot at College of the Canyons.

Leo Baseggio, 62, of California City was attempting to stop or gain control of a motorcycle driven by a student of the Nelson Motorcycle Training School when he lost his footing and hit his head on the pavement, sheriff's Detective Robert Smoldt said.

The incident occurred about 12:30 p.m. in the west corner of Lot 7, at Valencia Boulevard and Rockwell Canyon Road. About a dozen students were participating in the class - which rents space from the college for the program - at the time of the accident.

"The instructor was on foot and fell backward," college spokesman Bruce Battle said. "We have been told he was conscious and wanted to get up, but the people there told him to stay down and wait for help."

Baseggio was taken by ambulance to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, where he died. "

https://www.beginnerbikers.org/forum/showthread.php?p=69895

As an aside, I found this out after reading an article that Leo wrote. I think you'll find it worth reading.

https://www.gwta.org/touringnews/touringn.htm

 

[Bustanut joker]

Makes everyone think (I hope). We have great powerful computers at home and work and we go to great lengths to protect them from damage, ESD, virus, etc. Yet we have the most powerful and fragile super computer, our brains, that many who ride motorcycles, bicycles, skate boards, etc do nothing to protect that irreplaceable piece of equipment. Something to think about...

Why the "inclusive" we?

You surely don't apply to this group :dribble:

:****:

:jester:

 

[madmike2]

MM, is the side with caution up or down in this picture? :dntknw:

Caution????

I throw caution to the wind! Ah hah...ah hah! :lol:

Caution, I speet on yew! :angry2:

After that incident I've been seen kicking ant hills, taking candy from babies, picking on barb, teasing Tyler, generally tempting fate..... :yahoo:

Besides, we don't need no steenking caution.......we ride FJRs (even Sacramento Mike...finally...) :blink:

 

[user 6393]

MM, is the side with caution up or down in this picture? :dntknw:

Caution????

I throw caution to the wind! Ah hah...ah hah! :lol:

Caution, I speet on yew! :angry2:

After that incident I've been seen kicking ant hills, taking candy from babies, picking on barb, teasing Tyler, generally tempting fate..... :yahoo:

Besides, we don't need no steenking caution.......we ride FJRs (even Sacramento Mike...finally...) :blink:

..am guessing the caution to the wind side was 'up'

I pity those down wind of where he was "throwing". Whateveryoudo? don't pull his finger!

 

[Fred W]

So Infuriated Miguel, does that Motoport mesh gear have added phallus padding or sumthing? Is that what you were testing out while humping the sidewalk in that picture? Jes wonderin'

(your big fan, FredW)

 

[madmike2]

So Infuriated Miguel, does that Motoport mesh gear have added phallus padding or sumthing? Is that what you were testing out while humping the sidewalk in that picture? Jes wonderin'
(your big fan, FredW)

El Loco Miguel dice, "El interior de los pantalones es suave como la seda (smooth as silk)".

..am guessing the caution to the wind side was 'up'
I pity those down wind of where he was "throwing". Whateveryoudo? don't pull his finger!

Can't y00u see the arrows..."This side up"?

Uhm...er...the restaurant was down wind. :huh:

And that "finger pulling" trick USED to work.

 

[Thug]

As a Paramedic and now Psych Nurse I can tell you it only takes a small bump.....Google Head Injury and how the can occur..the info is relative an it can happen so easily....if you ever come off your bike at any speed hitting your head or not go to hospital and wait there for a few hours and get some baseline obs done, if things go south from there you are in the right place for treatment. I've lost count of the amount of people who have died from simple little accidents who have struck their heads....Had a friend I was sweet on when I was about 14-15 yo, she was playing with some friends one day and was hit in the head casually ( not of any great force) with a basket ball...she was dead the next day. It's not scare mongering folks... it happens.

Demand your friend goes to hospital just in case.....

 

[painman]

Good post JB and have to echo what Thug said, get to a hospital! My brother is an admin nurse at John Muir Trauma Center and he has said more than once biggest reason for someone to die from injury was their decession to not come to the hospital in a timely manner. Once things/symptoms get worse and they decide to go it can be too late.

Also if you have a medical condition get a medical bracelett or id card that is permantly affixed/laminated to your helmet for medical personal so that they can contact the proper personal to id your condition and or medications you take. Some medications can mask a head injury and is important for these people know about if they are considering removing your helmet. PM. <><

 

[James Burleigh]

Good post, Hans.

Thanks, Pig.

Jb

P.S. I just like saying "pig." (Sorry I won't get to see you and the rest of the Portland crew at WFO, since I an't goin' an' all.... )