Which is safer motorcycles or GA?

[zaitcev]

Remember, you can still pull a bike over at the side of the road.

Funny you should mention that... One day I was flying along, when the engine overheated. I had to land before the engine seized. Fortunately I didn't hit a cow or a fence. I let it cool down, then took off again and proceeded on my way.

The builder on my Carlson was an avid rider. He lives in New York. This spring he hit a deer and suffered a head trauma. It caused him to lose vision in one eye completely, and it's seriously degraded in the other eye. So he can neither fly nor ride anymore.

 

[zaitcev]

I've been in two crashes of GA aircraft.

Were they crash crashes or just gear-up landings in a Mooney? (I only was in 1 crash so far - when I landed the Carlson in 30+ knot crosswind and it was beyond my ability.)

 

[zaitcev]

I was rear-ended by a drunk at a stoplight.

My daughter rear-ended a scooter at a stop light once. She does not drink alcohol and does not text. Says she didn't see him against the sun. And yes, she's in a habit of keeping her windows filthy. I don't know where I went wrong.

 

[steingar]

Were they crash crashes or just gear-up landings in a Mooney? (I only was in 1 crash so far - when I landed the Carlson in 30+ knot crosswind and it was beyond my ability.)

One was a blown tire that resulted in the aircraft in a ditch. The other was the prop strike of my beloved Mooney.

 

[EdFred]

One was a blown tire that resulted in the aircraft in a ditch. The other was the prop strike of my beloved Mooney.

I wouldn't consider either of those a crash. I don't think the NTSB would either.

 

[ScottinIowa]

I have ridden right through a rabbit with hardly a bump... Sounds like a bit of bad luck to be bucked off the bike by a squirrel. When in doubt, throttle out. Lighten up the front end, and power right through the little critter. Has worked for me.

I mowed down a squirrel and hardly felt anything. Ran right out in front me and left with me with no choice. My wife was ****ed as she thought I should of avoided it.

 

[jaymark6655]

I mowed down a squirrel and hardly felt anything. Ran right out in front me and left with me with no choice. My wife was ****ed as she thought I should of avoided it.

Yep, still can't really figure what happened; I have hit a lot larger stuff in the dark, bumper to bumper traffic and not gone down. Of course all those were already dead. I think if the tire had gone over it everything would have been fine, it looked more like it went through the spokes. In this state they say drivers average a deer every three years and I am due for another one, so might switch back to driving a car for awhile. Last deer ruined a Signature Series Monte Carlo I almost missed it, just shattered the headlight, caught the edge of the quarter panel and peeled it back, and took off my side mirror. Thing would have killed me if I hadn't of swerved or had room to swerve.

 

[wayne]

In this state they say drivers average a deer every three years and I am due for another one, so might switch back to driving a car for awhile.

Yikes! Sounds like more hunting is needed.

I've had a few jump out in the road ahead of me, but far enough ahead and on a side street (lower speed) that avoiding them was easy. One kept running down the road, so I was following it for a bit. It started heading to the side so I backed off more as it was a steep drop past the guard rail and I didn't want to spook it so bad it jumped the rail.

 

[Stevea621j]

Statistically they are likely pretty similar overall. However, how and where you fly or ride a motorcycle is really the deciding factor. If you ride a bike without a helmet, doing 90 weaving through traffic and popping wheelies down the interstate, I would say riding a bike is less safe. If you are not current, fly all your flights in a single engine aircraft at night, in IMC over the mountains, without briefing the flight, with minimal fuel, then you would probably be better off riding a motorcycle.

 

[inspectorpacket]

I too have pondered this, but as a previous poster said, risk management, risk mitigation and avoidance are all related.

My first foray into motorcycles was a birthday present from dear old dad - Yamaha 80 in the late 70s at the whopping age of 11, back when shorts, tshirts and whatever shoes you happen to have on was ok. Since then I have had 6 different bikes (mostly adventure related - enduro for you old folks) and am a big proponent of ATGATT (all the gear all the time) and until last October was completely void of accidents personally, but witnessed two accidents, one was my father, and another a good riding buddy who previously raced motorcross. Their accidents were life changing and neither of them ride anymore.

One Sunday in October I jumped on a KTM 250 to take a spin around the back yard and was practicing low speed balance drills and wheelies (not everyone can be Graham Jarvis). Needless to say, I ran out of talent on the wheelie and bike came out from under me. Screwed up 5 different parts of my left knee, and am still in the process of rehabbing the cadaver ACL and miniscus. I LOVE LOVE LOVE motorcycles as there is no better feeling that a nice ride to clear the cobwebs from the old brain. But now I am in the middle (ok, early stages) of getting my PPL, and there are so many tasks like just doing preflight that are complicated by my knee injury. Most people don't consider the unintended consequences, but even checking the tire pressure is a strain on the knee.

Either riding or flying, do it often, and safely !

 

[John Zurich]

Applied for life insurance a long time ago. They asked if I scuba, skydive or fly in other than scheduled commercial flights. My pilot's license disqualified me from a more affordable rate, so I told the agent to go pound sand. Magically, he came back with an exemption for a pilot who had more than 100 hours so I suddenly qualified.

My point is that they did not include motorcycle ownership or usage as a disqualifier. Either they recognized it as less dangerous than GA or there is too large of an insurance market where they cannot afford to turn away riders.