"Charles Talleyrand" wrote:
Don Tuite wrote:
"Charles Talleyrand" wrote:

I fly a small airplane (a Cessna 150) that is well
maintained. I fly over forests in good weather and
typically during the day. My biggest fear is the engine
quits over the forest and I have no place to make a
deadstick landing except the tops of large trees.

I drive a moderate motorcycle (a Honda Nighthawk 750) at
moderate speeds through my small town and through the
surrounding forests. My biggest fears are either that I
will slide on a patch of dirt on the road and crash or
someone will hit me with their car through inattention.

I've been asked several times which of these things is
more dangerous. Can anyone provide some statistics on
this?

Per mile, per hour, per year? What kind of gear do you
wear? We know you do a BFR every other year; when was the
last time you took the MSF experienced rider course? How
old are you?

Here's the NHTSA's "Recent Trends in Fatal Motorcycle
Crashes: An Update," from June of this year:

http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd...Rpts/2006/8106
06.pdf

And here's the 2005 Nall Report on General Aviation
accidents.:

http://www.aopa.org/asf/publications/05nall.pdf

My guess is that personal factors even out and the risk
for any one of us is about the same.

And an awful lot of GA ;pilots are/have been bikers. I
wish there were statistics on how many.

Excellent post. Much Thanks

Here is another interesting article. Data is a little older,
but the factors contributing to accidents and death are
interesting.

http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs...nium/00075.pdf

or user friendly http://tinyurl.com/sydlc

| IMPAIRED RIDER, Recent Findings. Motorcycle operators
| involved in fatal crashes have higher intoxication rates
| than operators of all other motor vehicles. In 1997 almost
| 30 percent of all fatally injured motorcycle operators were
| intoxicated, with a blood alcohol concentration of .10.
| An additional 11 percent had lower alcohol levels. Almost
| half of the motorcycle operators who died in single-vehicle
| crashes were intoxicated (1). These data have changed very
| little during the past 10 years.

| LICENSING, Key Issues. Most states require riders to obtain
| a special operator’s license before driving a motorcycle on
| public streets and highways. There is, however, ample
| evidence that many motorcyclists ignore these requirements.
| NHTSA statistics show that, during a 10-year period ending
| in the mid-1990s, 42 percent of the motorcyclists involved
| in fatal accidents in the United States were either
| unlicensed or improperly licensed.

IMHO, these 2 items can be mitigated by the rider, decreasing
statistical likelihood of becoming a motorcycle fatality or
gaining serious injury.

There are always risks to any activity. An appropriate risk
assessment will help mitigate the risk and gain greater
likelihood of success.

One cannot avoid all accidents, but there are many that can be
avoided. It is best to avoid those that are caused by one's
own foolishness and be on the lookout for those caused by
others.

--
HPT