There’s an interestingh thread going on over @ Ducati.ms about managing risks while riding.

A member named migz123 wrote what I thought this was a rather worthy excerpt to pull out;

There is a way to segregate many of the high-risk aspects of motorcycling, in order to DRASTICALLY MINIMIZE the overall safety RISK in motorcycling. For example: (Most of these are well known…. but just bear with me. )

- People who ride their motorcycles on Friday, Saturday and Holiday nights are MUCH MORE LIKELY to get hit by a drunk driver than riders who only ride in the day time.

- Riders who stunt their motorcycles have close to 100% CHANCE of crashing. Just count the number of riders you know that wheelie, stoppie or otherwise just STUNT in any way, and if you know enough of them, you will get 8 to 10 out 10 of them that have at some point crashed.

- Riders who go 2, 3 or 4 times the speed limit, especially on the twisties are MUCH MORE LIKELY to crash than those that have a lower risk tolerance by not deviating too far from the speed limit.

- Riders who FREQUENTY commute during rush hour traffic/riding in HIGH TRAFFIC area are MUCH MORE LIKELY to encounter collision than those who infrequently or flat-out do not commute during rush hour, or ride at High Traffic areas/times.

- Inexperienced riders that do not go through a safety course and cannot wait to test their bikes/their own limits are MORE LIKELY to encounter an accident than inexperienced riders who are more disciplined or safety oriented.

- Frequent speeders and riders who ride at higher speeds for longer durations are at a HIGHER RISK LEVEL than riders who are very selective about when, where and how frequent they will ride at higher speeds (;’about’ more than 15mph above speed limit).

- Track Riders who make cutting LAP TIME as high priority are MUCH MORE LIKELY to crash on the track than riders who elect not to be pressured by lap time.

- Riding in the rain increases risk to MUCH HIGHER LEVELS than due to reduced traction, visibility of not just you and your bike, but also the motorists around you. So the guy who flaunts his rain-riding ability will only ‘usually’ flaunt an assumption of higher risk, rather than a higher level of skill or ability. You cannot meaningfully minimize the risk of getting hit by skidding car, no matter how experienced you are in the rain.

- Riding in a community that is well-populated by elderly people is an ELEVATED RISK for motorcyclists in general, as they are LESS LIKELY to see you or anticipate your speed.

- Riding without a helmet increases the risk to MULTIPLE TIMES that a rider will die or get seriously injured in the event of an accident.

- Back to drunk drivers — for example here in California, the bars close at 1:30am. So riding on a Friday night between 1:30 and 3am carries a MUCH HIGHER level of collision risk with a drunk driver than say, 9 pm .on Friday night.. just ask the cops. The same goes for Big-Game-on-TV ending times …

- Riding at 2:30 to 3:00pm at or near a High School, filled with new-driver, hormone-crazed kids when they get out of school is an ELEVATED RISK as opposed to riding in the EXACT SAME AREA only 30 minutes before…