MOTORCYCLISTS are 23% safer behind the wheel of a car

[unfazed]

http://www.visordown.com/motorcycle-news--general-news/motorcyclists-23-better-behind-the-wheel-of-a-car/23971.html?fb_action_ids=10152272475139721&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%5B193061897548439%5D&action_type_map=%5B%22og.likes%22%5D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D


Finally they believe us

[Dead Eye]

Although likely true, its still media statistics... correlation doesn't always prove causality unfortunately

[darrsi]

I beg to differ........i've never driven a car! 

[darrsi]

"Are you the new trainee?
Here you go, i've got a job for you."


"......The insurer examined 200 million policies between 2007 and 2012....."


 

[midden]

I'll expect a reduction in my car insurance this year then

[fazersharp]

Yep I still duck when a pidgeon flys across the road when Im in my car

[Frosties]

Yep I still duck when a pidgeon flys across the road when Im in my car

   Glad it's not just me........

[unfazed]

Yep I still duck when a pidgeon flys across the road when Im in my car

Glad to see I am not the only one 

[Dead Eye]

Yep, guilty of that here as well :P

[ChristoT]

I tried that line when I bought my car insurance. The bastards still wouldn't reduce my insurance!

[Dead Eye]

You've had a license for all of 10 minutes and expect them to treat you like gods gift to motoring... pretty sure they were having a good laugh during their break :P

[ChristoT]

Bitch, please. 10 months +!!

[darrsi]

Bitch, please. 10 months +!!

I heard pigeons take out insurance in case you hit them! 

[cfoley]

More time on bike means less time in car. 23% shows we are, on average, not riding our bikes enough.

[Dead Eye]

Bitch, please. 10 months +!!

Point and case :P

[pilgo]

Bitch, please. 10 months +!!

I heard pigeons take out insurance in case you hit them! 

 
that made me chuckle   

[Arfa]

"Equity Red Star compared car drivers to car users who also have an insured motorcycle, and found the latter 23% less likely on average to make a claim on their car policy."

Dunno about you, but the way I interpreted that was those who also have a motorcycle and more likely to be hooning around on it and leaving their car parked up back at home...  Unless the stats have been normalised for all multi-vehicle owner, multi-car or car+bike(s), it's not particularly conclusive.

"The results showed motorcyclists were 20% less likely to make a bodily injury claim on their car policy."

Oh come on, in an incident with a bike, we all know the biker comes out worst and would typically claim against the other party. It's super unlikely a bike would injure the driver of a car, in fact the few times a biker does cause injury will probably be against pedestrians or cyclists, and these naturally will count for a small fraction of all incidents involving motorcyclists.

All in all, we have a bunch of random stats that have been massaged to produce some nice catchy headlines.

However, I do actually agree with the sentiments that an experienced biker will likely be a better driver as well. We've been through two tests for a start, and we're very used to reading the road ahead well and good at predicting what other idiots on the road are going to do. A lot of bikers also have a strong urge to self improve and be better on the road - a rare trait in car/van drivers.

[BBROWN1664]

I have always said that a requirement to passing your car test should be prrof that you have ridden a bike for 12 months in all weathers to make you appreciate
1 . Bikes exist and to watch out for them
2 . country lanes in the autumn are slippery (less likely to put you car in that ditch!)

[AndyL]

Most of the people I know with bikes only use the bike as a hobby so I doubt the car use it much different for them. Even if the reduced risk is because we use cars less I'm all for getting cheaper car insurance.

[Dead Eye]

I have always said that a requirement to passing your car test should be prrof that you have ridden a bike for 12 months in all weathers to make you appreciate
1 . Bikes exist and to watch out for them
2 . country lanes in the autumn are slippery (less likely to put you car in that ditch!)

I do agree, but conversely, I also believe that bike riders should have some experience behind the wheel of a car as well - it does go both ways

[cfoley]

I bet a lot of youngsters would get a 125 if the CBT was part of the driving test. I passed and then couldn't afford a car but a 125 might have been in the price range...


Probably a good idea to force everyone to experience driving something bigger too.

[ChristoT]

I bet a lot of youngsters would get a 125 if the CBT was part of the driving test. I passed and then couldn't afford a car but a 125 might have been in the price range...


Probably a good idea to force everyone to experience driving something bigger too.

That was my rationale for getting into bikes. I rode for over a year before even thinking of passing a car test because insurance was so high for me. Still is: that Peugeot you miserable piss-taking Foccers mock (for good reason, admittedly!  ) costs me over £1000 p/a in insurance!!  And they don't count the bike crash either!

Since my crash, bikes have become ludicrous to insure. I started by paying about £600 for my ZX-4, by the time I'd added mileage, changed the address and added business use, I must have been skirting the £1000 mark on that too! How anyone expects the youth to get mobile is a mystery to me. 

[cfoley]

I think they expect the youth to grow old and keep you off the roads until then.


At 18 I was quoted £1500 -- £2500 for a 10 year old Ford Fiesta. I'm sure they just take the average claim for that age group, double it and that's your premium.

[Dead Eye]

My 106 was £1700 my first year of driving, prices will eventually drop providing you keep yourself out of trouble.

Going back to the OP though, I do find myself using my mirrors more often in the car (left hand mostly) than I used to before I got my motorcycle license. I was never bad and only once had a slight bottom clenching moment when I was joining the M32 for the first time in my 306 and there happened to be a car sat in my blind spot... that car was a nightmare for its damn blind-spot...

Thinking about it, I actually check my mirrors and do a shoulder check in the car now whenever I'm joining the motorway / dual carriageway from a slip-road and quite often when I'm changing lanes as well... this is likely an influence from doing life-savers on the bike

[cfoley]

Lifesaver in the car has saved me more than once.