<p>Meanwhile, many people who think that motorcycles and bicycles are so dangerous get into their cars and drive places without paying full attention to driving…</p>
<p>I started riding at age 17, and I still ride (though I did put the motorcycle away while we raised our family). I did not encourage my kids to ride, and they chose not to. I do understand the trepidation parents feel on the subject.</p>
<p>IMHO the best thing you can do for your new motorcyclist is the same thing you did for your teenaged driver. Just say “Drive Safe” whenever they leave.</p>
<p>My worst fear, and I have a kid who likes jumping out of planes! It doesn’t matter how old they get, we’re just horrified moms!</p>
<p>There are two distinct faction of motorcycle riders (I am a mom and I am rider 
Shocking…but true) Intereseted Dad is right. The motorcycle safety courses, IMO should be required of all persons regardless if they ever intend to get on a bike or not. By far the most intense, educational driving experience. I am a 150% better car driver because of it.</p>
<p>I think most people are reactionary toward motorcyclist because of the “bad eggs” that give bikes a bad name. I am referring to the folks that ride sans helmet, weaving in and out of traffic at high speeds and begging to be an organ donor. There are groups of avid motorcyclists (typically Harley riders or BMW groups, or Honda Gold Wing riders) that do have a great deal of respect for the bike, the road and the rules. In Texas, BMW riders typically are “All the Gear, All the Time” riders even when it is 100 degrees outside. Harley riders can be in just shorts and tee shirts and will at times go without helmets (and I think that is beyond crazy) and are “cruising” the backroads, not being rockets on the open freeway. </p>
<p>I have had a few close calls on my bike, but assure you I have had closer and scarier calls in my car. Each time my motorcycle training saved my skin. One of the best things the course teaches you is to scan the road ahead of you at all times and play in your mind all the possible scenarios. (i.e., what will I do if that car waiting to turn onto the road way turns in front of me, what will I do if the car in front of me goes off the road, etc) It is probably why I take a 3 hours nap after I ride…lol.</p>
<p>Cyber hugs! Deep cleansing breath. Before we had kids, I told DH that I would never say a word to them about my feelings re:motorcycles, because they would have to become racers in response to my negativity. That said, your son sounds responsible. I will keep a good thought for him; he seems determined to do this right. I know several people who carefully ride motorcycles and get a lot of pleasure out of it. It’s just hard for me to trust the other drivers enough to be on one.</p>
<p>When we did have kids, one chose to ride horses- a dangerous sport. Very passionate and determined kid. We decided to make it as safe as possible and not defeat her spirit by disallowing it. Yes, there were injuries, but there was also a lot gained. She also been on motorbikes on some of the most dangerous roads in the world as it was “necessary”. We were told upon her return, for which I was grateful. I didn’t want my kids to live in trepidation as I am cautious to a fault. Sometimes I wish there was a bit more fear! We are all there for these moments, cpn55. One way or another, kids arrive to take us out of our own comfort zone.</p>
<p>Agreed- a mother’s worst nightmare. I have seen too many bad outcomes for motorcyclists… even those with good helmets. I swore that no one I cared about would ever own a morotcycle. My DH apparently had one in college, but no more. Alternatively, my BIL owns 2. This is fine by me :)</p>
<p>I have told both my sons that they are welcome to get a motorcycle – after I’m dead.</p>
<p>Just want you to know that there is hope in the future. He will eventually meet someone. It probably won’t take too much longer. At 24, he is at a good age for meeting the girl that he will eventually marry, no matter what he thinks about it. </p>
<p>The point is that while girls might think guys on motorcycles are cute or hot, they don’t actually want to ride the bike with them. It might happen a few times but the fun wears off really quickly once they have to deal with the messy and very badly tangled hair.</p>
<p>If he wears a helmet, which i am guessing he does, and he does most of his driving in the city, then he has very good chances for surviving this moment in life. It is the high speed driving out on the interstate that you need to be very careful with. </p>
<p>I spent some time on the back of a bike with a few different boyfriends when i was younger. I really hope that my kid does not have the same urge. Hang in there, it will not last forever and he will go the route of four wheels again.</p>
<p>I put my foot down on motorcycles with my spouse. Wish I could do the same with my son. Luckily, so far he has shown no interest in them. </p>
<p>Hugs from Texas.</p>
<p>Too many close calls and a friend of mine lost her son (who had two small children) in a motorcycle accident.
An older friend (in his 70’s) has a motorcycle but told his kids they would have to be at least 60 before they could own one. they are only for people who think they’ve lived long enough.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I disagree. I avoided city traffic on a motorcycle like the plague. First of all, stop and go on bike, in leather and a helmet, is miserably hot. Also, cars are your enemy. The more of them, boxing you into close quarters, the worse. I much prefer riding out in the country. Fast interstate riding, assuming it’s not stop and go rush hour traffic, is actually very safe. Nobody turning left in front of you and you can always position yourself with an escape. Plus, the acceleration on a bike means never having to linger in someone’s blind spot.</p>
<p>Just about to say that. I have rode for many years and interstate driving is the safest and most predictable place for a motorcycle on the road. City driving and 2 lane highways are the most dangerous.</p>
<p>Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk 2</p>
<p>OP I’ll pray for you–seriously. I know of too many horrible accidents.
H and 3 sons aren’t thrill seekers–doubt they’ll ever want a “donor cycle.”</p>
<p>People are “wired” differently–I don’t understand why anyone would want to ride a motorcycle or jump out of a plane, etc. Cars are dangerous enough.</p>
<p>
I don’t know about where you live, id, but around here we have way too many motorcycle accidents, numerous of which have been the result of bikers traveling at speeds in excess of 100 mph on the interstate. In March a young woman whose boyfriend works with H and who had been in our home last fall for H’s birthday party was killed in one of those accidents when the guy whose bike she was on clipped a pickup at 120 and lost control of the bike.</p>
<p>
I did both of those things when I was young and foolish ;)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That’s not the motorcycle’s fault or anything inherently more dangerous about a motorcycle. If you are going to go out and drive 120 mph in a car on the interstate, you are asking for trouble, too.</p>
<p>I tended to ride slower on the interstate on a motorcycle than in my car, simply because the buffeting and noise from the wind starts be pretty tiring above 65 or 70 mph.</p>
<p>Motorcycles are more dangerous than cars because of the exposure to cars. But, there are ways to mitigate the danger through very aggressive defensive driving. There’s no law that you have become an idiot on the road just because you bought a motorcycle. </p>
<p>The fact that the young man took the MSF course tells me that he probably doesn’t plan to ride like an idiot.</p>
<hr>
<p>My closest call on the interstate was seeing a moose walking the shoulder of the highway up in far northern New Hampshire. Thinking through the potentials, it occurred to me that I definitely did not want to collide with a moose on my motorcycle. So, I pulled over and stopped until the moose sauntered away into the woods.</p>
<p>Here’s something <em>not</em> to say to your 16 year old who says “Hey Mom, when can I get a motorcycle?”. Do not say “When you are like 30 something and have your own garage to park it in and your own health insurance to cover you if you crash and your own long-term disability insurance so that I don’t have to spend my retirement years spooning gruel into your lips - then if you are still that stupid, go ahead!”
Yep, son bought himself a motorcycle for his 32nd birthday. Checked off all the boxes, including the training classes and super helmet and full leathers. I still worry obsessively
OTOH, his sisters bike commute daily in dark wet cities and are small.<br>
We do a lot of deep breathing. (good side - the motorcycle seems to have lots of mechanical issues and spends time torn apart in the garage for weeks at a time!)</p>
<p>I feel your pain! My advice is to simply remember that vast majority of motorcycle riders do not get killed. Despite all the stories, the odds are in his favor.</p>
<p>Now, if you want a sinking feeling in your gut, here’s mine. During her semester abroad, my daughter e-mailed me from a hostel in Mendoza, Argentina as follows:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>So, I’m thousands of miles away and my baby is going paragliding in the Andes foothills (one of my college roommates was killled hang gliding shortly after college). All I could do was take a very deep breath and tell myself that most of the people who go paragliding in Medoza, Argentina don’t get killed.</p>
<p>I e-mailed her back:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>When it is not raining or it is not a “suit” day, my H rides his motorcycle to work in metro DC 50 miles round trip. Going to work on his on his bike as he describes it is a “ride” not a “commute”. My two sons 22 and 25 also have motorcycles and I don’t worry anymore about them on their bikes than I do in their cars. At least I know they are not talking on the phone or texting while on the bikes! Of course I should be insanely worried about those drivers of cars who are texting and talking on the phone and aren’t paying enough attention to my guys on the road!
A lot of men who chat up my H about riding say they would love to buy a motorcycle but their wife won’t let them. I’m willing to bet if you see couple riding together on a bike, they are a pretty happy couple!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Actually, interstates are among the safer places to drive (car or motorcycle), with wide lanes and shoulders, good sight lines, no cross traffic, and few relatively simple points of conflict between different traffic streams.</p>
<p>City driving is generally more dangerous because drivers must contend with frequent complex intersections where conflicting traffic (including pedestrians) can come from many possible directions (including from the side, where a car’s crumple zone is minimal compared to the front and rear), frequent stop and go makes rear end crashes more likely, and narrow lanes, poor sight lines, and other road features can impede the driver’s ability to scan ahead.</p>
<p>Here’s an interesting report:
<a href=“http://motorcycleminds.org/virtuallibrary/riskandmotorcycling/TRL607-Summary.pdf[/url]”>http://motorcycleminds.org/virtuallibrary/riskandmotorcycling/TRL607-Summary.pdf</a>
and
[Motorcycle</a> Training Does Not Reduce Crash Risk, Study Says - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/05/motorcycle-training-does-not-reduce-crash-risk-study-says/]Motorcycle”>Motorcycle Training Does Not Reduce Crash Risk, Study Says - The New York Times)
and
[III</a> - Motorcycle Crashes](<a href=“http://www.iii.org/issues_updates/motorcycle-crashes.html]III”>Background on: Motorcycle crashes | III)</p>