# Older Riders Add to Rise In Motorcycle Fatalities



## MMiz (Apr 24, 2005)

*Older Riders Add to Rise In Motorcycle Fatalities*

 Margit Showalter's son lost his life in a motorcycle accident. He wasn't a young kid out being reckless; he was a 41-year-old construction worker riding on a suburban Florida street on a sunny day in January.

Michael Showalter's age made him part of a deadly trend on U.S. highways, with over-40 riders accounting for a significant increase in motorcycle fatalities nationwide.

More than 3,900 people died on motorcycles in the United States in 2004, up 7.3 percent from the year before, according to preliminary highway safety numbers released yesterday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That's the seventh straight year of increases in motorcycle deaths on U.S. roadways, for an 85 percent overall rise since 1997

*[Read More!]*


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## Jon (Jun 18, 2005)

> _Originally posted by MMiz_@Apr 24 2005, 10:19 PM
> * Older Riders Add to Rise In Motorcycle Fatalities
> 
> Margit Showalter's son lost his life in a motorcycle accident. He wasn't a young kid out being reckless; he was a 41-year-old construction worker riding on a suburban Florida street on a sunny day in January.
> ...


 Ok....

I just found this.


Is it that the bikers are not as resiliant as the young kids? or just that there are more bikes on the road?


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## Stevo (Jun 18, 2005)

welp, i'd be one of those catagorized in the article.  I will mention that i recently attended a state sponsored course on proper biking, great course for those whom respect the concept of training and all....

guess i'm just _born to be mild_  

~S~


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## CodeSurfer (Jun 19, 2005)

I'd rather be mild than wild and in a level 1 trauma center strapped to a backboard.


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## Stevo (Jun 19, 2005)

2nd that CodeSurfer , 
and while one might catch a bit more air w/o a helmet  i think i'll keep mine on...

in fact, many states that require dot helmets don't pull over and check those paper thin jobs, just like many states that require seatbelts won't pull you over

~S~


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## rescuecpt (Jun 19, 2005)

The guy I'm seeing wants a motorcyle... but being a paramedic every time he decides to go to the dealer and look, he ends up working a motorcycle accident right around then and reconsiders.


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## TTLWHKR (Jun 19, 2005)

> _Originally posted by Stevo_@Jun 19 2005, 05:43 AM
> * 2nd that CodeSurfer ,
> and while one might catch a bit more air w/o a helmet  i think i'll keep mine on...
> 
> ...


 PA doesn't require helmets, or any protective clothing. I categorize them like so; Smart - Stupid. Some are killed in each category. Always been older people.. 40's-60's.


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## CodeSurfer (Jun 20, 2005)

> _Originally posted by TTLWHKR+Jun 19 2005, 10:44 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>*QUOTE* (TTLWHKR @ Jun 19 2005, 10:44 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Stevo_@Jun 19 2005, 05:43 AM
> * 2nd that CodeSurfer ,
> and while one might catch a bit more air w/o a helmet i think i'll keep mine on...
> 
> ...


PA doesn't require helmets, or any protective clothing. I categorize them like so; Smart - Stupid. Some are killed in each category. Always been older people.. 40's-60's. [/b][/quote]
 Natural selection at it's finest.


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## Stevo (Jun 22, 2005)

a darwinian CodeSurfer ?

well ok, no skin....  

of course the thread begs the Q, does one believe big bro should _impose_ oversight for all potential gene pool contestants , or should it be personal _choice_? ie.~ helmets, seatbelts, innoculations, national ID cards, and all manner of safety/security measures

i mention this because there's always someone whom would insist on extreemes (_like microchips in our friggin' heads.... _h34r: ) to be the goverments job

and my reply would be that one can't have security _and_ freedom...

~S~


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## rescuemedic7306 (Jun 22, 2005)

Bikers without Helmets = Organ Donors

'nuff said 

h34r:


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## TTLWHKR (Jun 22, 2005)

All motorcycle riders should see what I did on the west bound PA T-pike one afternoon about four years ago. Nice hot sunny day, motorcycle club out for a ride. Ya know what a deer looks like when it gets hit by a semi @ 70mph?

Well, it started in the front. The fire three riders were fatally injured. One slammed down and skidded 175 yards w/ no helmet or protective gear on. The bike behind him  went over the median at hit a semi head on. They estimate both going around 80+. The third hit the bike of the other and was thrown about 100'. The one who skidded along the road had no skin on the right side of his body, organs, blood and brain matter were draining still when we arrived. The guy who hit the semi, literally splattered. There as a cone shape on the road, blood that is, from the point of impact. At it's end, it was 36' wide. The body parts were founds hundreds of feet away. The last guy broke every bone in his body and his head was crushed inward to the thorax. It was nasty. Probably nothing would have saved any of them. But it would give cycle riders something to think about. 

Yummy, eh?


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