Never seen anything like this before… The sum of all fails
Not sure what happened to this motorcyclist to create such a ruckus on the street. But one thing is damn clear – he/she is not fit to operate a motor vehicle, EVER. Ridiculous!
What does it mean to be a biker and Black? High risk of death among Black bikers than White bikers
The study published in the American Journal of Surgery suggests that safety interventions, like helmet laws, don’t help everyone equally. “Helmet for helmet, African Americans have more lethal injuries.”
Amplify’d from healthland.time.com
Motorcycle accident–related fatalities account for 1 in every 8 deaths on the road. And a new study suggests that blacks are at higher risk than whites: for every two white motorcyclists who die in accidents, three of their African-American counterparts do not survive.
Johns Hopkins researchers analyzed 68,840 motorcycle accidents recorded by the National Trauma Data Bank between 2002 and 2006. The data show that black riders were 50% more likely to die than white riders, despite the fact that African Americans were more likely to be wearing helmets at the time of the crash. The disparity held up even after controlling for the severity of the accident, the biker’s gender and insurance status. White bikers not wearing helmets were still less likely to die in a crash than black bikers wearing helmets; the highest risk group were blacks riding without protective head gear. (More on Time.com: How Kids Get Clobbered by Racial Discrimination)
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Following the national trend, Texas records a18% drop in motorcycle fatalities
This is more good news on top of what we just heard a couple of weeks back about the highway fatality figures. In 2009, Texas saw a 12.1 percent decrease in the rate of traffic deaths, compared to a 9.7 percent drop nationwide, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The number of traffic deaths last year in the U.S. is the lowest since 1950, when there were one-fifth as many cars on the road. But motorcycle fatalities continue to remain high and pose a huge challenge in many states.
Amplify’d from www.dallasnews.com
AUSTIN – The number of fatal motorcycle accidents in Texas took a sharp turn downward in 2009, after nearly a decade of increases.
Last year, the rate of motorcycle deaths decreased by 18 percent in Texas, to 426, the state Department of Transportation said. It was a surprising reversal: From 2000 to 2008, such deaths increased 31 percent, even though motorcycle registrations were up just 13 percent, said Bernie Fette, research specialist at the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University.
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Scooters, motorcycle makers get stimulus shot
Roger Taillon test drives a new at Vespa at Vespa of Newport Beach in Newport Beach, Calif., Saturday, April 18, 2009. Under the federal stimulus package, taxpayers can deduct sales and excise taxes on the purchase of a new motorcycle or scooter, and get a 10 percent federal tax credit if they buy plug-in bikes. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
(Source: AP)
Sales of motorcycles and scooters shifted into high gear last year when gas prices soared. Then recession-wary consumers hit the brakes.
Now, like so many other industries, the makers of two-wheeled, fuel-efficient bikes are relying on tax breaks offered in the federal stimulus package and other incentives to get sales moving again, while easing gas consumption.
“Even before we quote the price, we tell people how much they can get off the bike,” said Jeff Bosco Biafore, a salesman at the San Jose Motorsport Scooter Center in Northern California.
Under the stimulus plan, the same provision that lets taxpayers deduct sales and excise taxes on the purchase of a new car or truck also applies to a motorcycle or scooter. They also can get a 10 percent federal tax credit if they buy plug-in bikes.
Before the federal incentives kicked in Feb. 17, California offered a $1,500 rebate for certain electric scooters, but there were so many applications that funding for the $1.8 million program for alternative fuel vehicles ran out.
Recently, state air quality regulators approved an additional $5 million in grants for plug-in cars and motorcycles.
With a new job that stretched her commute from 10 to 40 miles a day, freelance film and television editor Cindy Parisotto says she is considering an electric scooter to reduce her commuting costs and carbon footprint.
She’s interested in an electric scooter from Vectrix Corp. that has a top speed of 62 mph and a range of at least 35 miles per charge. She would need to charge the bike everyday, but Parisotto says she figures her electricity bill will be lower than what she spends on gas.
The $10,000 bike also comes with a $450 rebate from the company, meaning she could save about $2,000.
One analyst says the tax breaks, especially for non-electric models, aren’t enough to make a difference.
“It’s a bit of a break, but it may not be enough if you lost your job or if there’s a lot of pressure on your paycheck,” says Robin Diedrich, senior consumer analyst for Edward Jones. “You don’t buy a motorcycle because of $300 in tax savings.”
The cost of a new scooter ranges from $1,000 to $10,000, while motorcycles can cost anywhere from $3,000 to more than $10,000, depending on the model.
Trekking the Silk Road, with a green twist – Two BMW riders plan a carbon-neutral motorcycle adventure
(Source: Going Global & BMW Motorrad Blog via AutoblogGreen)
Two enterprising Swiss citizens are riding home along the Silk Route from Beijing to Istanbul, to generate awareness of climate change, promote sustainable motor travel and raise funds to benefit SCCF, a new international foundation focused on finding solutions to combat global warming.
Using BMW F 650 GS bikes, Mark Dembitz and Clarisse Von Wunschheim will journey across eight countries in 80 days, covering almost 17,000 kilometres. Their route will see them leave Beijing on 4 May and journey back to Europe via Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, before ending in Istanbul, Turkey on 25 July.
“We will be keeping an accurate log of daily time and distance travelled as well as fuel usage, and the quantity and quality of petrol,” he said. “Based on this data, we will be able to approximate the quantity of carbon dioxide we emit along the ride. We will then secure credits (one credit is equivalent to one tonne of carbon dioxide) to offset our carbon emissions.
Along the way, the duo will stop at schools and universities to “teach children and students about global warming, motivating them to join us in being aware of their impact on the environment and in making small changes to their lives that will contribute towards a better and cleaner world for everyone.”
Mark and Clarisse plan to start their journey on May 4th. Click here for their official website, which they’ll update during their travels.
Best Buy to Sell $12,000 Electric Motorcycle, Probably with a $4,000 Service Plan
(Source: Gizmodo.com)
Best Buy is set to start selling the Brammo Enertia motorcycle, which is powered by large format lithium-phosphate batteries. Weird!
To read more on this and to view some more pictures of this weird beast, click here.
