Matt Whiting wrote:
2) Scrambled brains from no helmet

Easily remedied as I always wear a helmet.


South Carolina doesn't require it. I always look hard at the motorcyclist if he
doesn't have a helmet so I can recognize him when he's assigned to me later.
G

Is the suffering any less than for people injured in airplane accidents,
car accidents, fires, falls, skiing accidents, etc.?


I got broken up pretty bad in an airplane accident and it hurt like hell.
However, I did not have road rash. Nor were my brains scrambled... I've always
been this way. G


The reality is that many people simply have an irrational bias against
motorcycles. I'm not sure why, but I come across it all the time. And
the really strange part is that many of these folks fly, downhill ski,
rock climb, chain smoke, drink like fiends, etc. I consider downhill
skiing much more risky than motorcycling. I personally know many more
people who have incurred severe injuries from skiing than from
motorcycle. And these injuries often never heal well (knees in particular).



I don't have a bias against motorcyclists but I'll share the lecture I give to
those who get hurt badly (from any cause): Now you know lightning doesn't
always strike the other guy. This doesn't mean you have to become afraid to
come out from under the covers or stop living. What it should mean is that you
should evaluate your risk with more thought than you have in the past. I know
every man, particularly young man, is afflicted with the sense of his own
invulnerbility. But now you know you can be hurt and hurt badly. So, after you
heal, just give some thought to what you want to do. I'll be willing to bet
there will be some things that no longer seem worth taking the chance. Five
years from now this experience won't seem like it was so bad. But I really
doubt you'd want to repeat it.

That's my philosophy, anyway. I gave up banging other men's wives, I no longer
skydive, I don't dive deep or fly low any more. But I didn't stop having fun.
I just stopped the suicidal stuff.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

VE