LSA's are 13 x more dangerous than motorbikes?

[Flightrite]

Sorry I can't connect with that. An unnecessary risk can be no life at all and that IS a waste and often there's others involved too. Fate I don't believe in. How could everything be pre determined? Of course we are ALL going to die sometime, but why rush it and die because of some silly omission? You can never eliminate ALL risk. I'm not suggesting you can.. Does being careful take all the fun out of it.? I hope not and suggest a lot of the fun is getting it right. I could not think of anything worse than my neglect causing some one's death or serious injury.. That's one of the main reasons I'm against dumbing down Pilot training. What you don't teach may cause a catastrophe. Any other approach brings up a duty of care aspect. You don't do half a job and see that as ideal or even acceptable. Nev

 

No need to say sorry, if you can't 'connect' then that's your problem!?

[skippydiesel]

Fatalities can only be one part of a risk analysis - where are the accident (non fatal) injury assessments?

 

Lets not forget that injury can be anything from a bit of a bruise to life long disability. The latter quite possibly bringing far greater cost (both emotional & financial) than a decisive death.

[onetrack]

Every day we indulge in a serious number of calculated risks. Just driving to the shops is a calculated risk, you're reliant on every other single driver to do the right thing.

Then one day, a car thief, or a lousy, careless driver ignores a red light, and you're history.

It's when you indulge in risk-taking without calculating the level of risk, that's when the problems start. Showing off is a classic, carrying out a manoeuvre you don't fully understand, is another.

 

We rely on many components to do their designed job - but occasionally a component with an inbuilt fault slips through.

A mate bought a used Polaris Quad bike, and a few weeks after he'd bought it, he was riding it around the farm, and pulled up at a gate to open it.

As he slowed to a crawl, a front ball joint broke, and the front end gouged into the ground, bringing him to a sudden stop. He'd just been travelling at 90kmh through the paddock on it!

He went white thinking about what would have happened if the ball joint had snapped at 90kmh!

 

90% of aircraft crashes are officially blamed on the pilot. And a very large proportion of those crashes are caused by many basic failures to carry out procedures that they were trained to do.

I don't think the % of component failures in aircraft that have caused crashes is big enough to rate at a serious level on the stats - but I'll wager many of the component failures that led to crashes were caused by showing off, or poor piloting leading to excessive stresses. I consider that arena, Darwins theory of gene-pool cleansing in action.

[pmccarthy]

My wife was walking the dog using her Polaris quad bike. Lead caught in the throttle and she slammed into the farm gate bending bike, gate and hinge post. Neither she nor the dog was hurt.

[Old Koreelah]

My wife was walking the dog using her Polaris quad bike. Lead caught in the throttle and she slammed into the farm gate bending bike, gate and hinge post. Neither she nor the dog was hurt.

Peter that reminds me of one of my many bike prangs. While playing Terry Trials in our run-down back garden, I tried to match old mate's feat of riding under the wreckage of a kid's swing frame. I made it half-way thru and was expecting cheers of admiration from the assembled critics. Unfortunately Yamaha had included an evil design fault on the DT-250. The damned throttle cable sticks up above the handlebars, cleverly designed to catch any waiting hook, such as that which the swing was once suspended from.

 

Instant acceleration is normally a rider's best friend, but not this time. The plurry thing took off across the backyard, dragging the rusty old swing frame and me with it. We ended up tangled in a big old rose bush.

That's when I learned that your mates can sometimes be too paralytic with laughter to help.

 

Bastards!

Edited June 14, 2020 by Old Koreelah

[Bruce Tuncks]

I reckon raytol's thing about the most dangerous thing is the trip to the airfield is true for my club. We have certainly lost more members that way than the ( none) in the air at Gawler. But I have a sneaking doubt that it is true Australia wide. Not that I ever disagree when I hear it said.

[Flightrite]

If you want to see what the human species is capable by way of hurting themselves then go work on the EMS field, trust me Darwin Award recipients are breeding like rats out there!?

[M61A1]

If you want to see what the human species is capable by way of hurting themselves then go work on the EMS field, trust me Darwin Award recipients are breeding like rats out there!?

Can we blame EMS for helping them live to try again, along with our OH&S legislators?

[Jerry_Atrick]

When I did a gig for one of the state's compo authorities, the most statistically dangerous profession was working as a butcher or abottoir worker..

 

Life is not only about taking risks.. it is a risk. Just walking down your stairs at home (if you have them) is a risk. I assess the risk and don't grab the hand-rail; when I am in later years in life, I may will probably grab the hand rail.

 

If we are comparing risks of one activity v another, then, regardless of how much control we individually have, we have to look at the stats. We can do everything in our power to minimise the risk, but that does not alter the overal stats. We use the stats to work out where we should expend our efforts more to minimise the risk. For me personnally, when flying, EFATO is my biggest concern and I pour over google maps satellite images of airfields I don't know and design a plan for an EFATO at different stages of flight. However, as I recall (and I may be wrong), statisically you are more likely to come a cropper from engine failure in the cruise. It doesn't mean I should drop my EFATO planning, because IMHO, it is the least able to be effectively practiced in training and one has a lot less time to react if it does happen. But the stats cyrstallised my thinking, too in terms of risk assessment and I now pay more attention to potential inflight issues enroute.

[Old Koreelah]

No distractions, better the job is done. Taking a phone call is just as big a disconnect if you are in the middle of something that requires concentration...

Too right! People think a hands-free phone in the car won't impair your driving. Wrong.

I know a croppy who took an incoming call just as he lined up a very familiar paddock. When it was almost too late he noticed the big old dry tree leaning right out in his spray run. The phone conversation had significantly narrowed his visual perception, almost fatally. He got out of the industry months later.

[danny_galaga]

I don't remember where I read it but by far the most motorcycle accidents are caused by car drivers. So get rid of cars and motorbikes are infinitely more safe.

 

That used to be the thinking of but some stats that came out a when ago showed that the biggest killer of motorcyclists was speed and or alcohol/drugs and that the most likely to suffer serious injury/death were males in their 20s

[facthunter]

Drugs and alcohol with a motorcycle is a bad combo. I reckon you need everything going for you on a bike. Nev

[facthunter]

On this topic, also I've seen a lot of riders who start late in life, as distinct from those who have ridden all their life and they never seem to quite make up the GAP. of being "one" with the machine. These days kids get them at a very young age and often show great skill and courage when they are really tiny people. Sometimes their Parents push them too hard in a Competitive environment as happens with football also.. Not good really. They rarely fix anything but have all the go fast transfers and best gear and latest bikes and are good at wearing out throttle cables in the pits.. I have 3 sons who are motorbike nut cases. I wonder where they got THAT from? They've had to fund all their bikes themselves though. None have ever been interested in flying. (smarter than their old man)? Nev

[kaz3g]

I took out five roo's at one go. Mitchel hwy at dusk, must have been an extra large mob, two hops from their field to my side of the road (the far side of the road).

Glad I had a good roo-bar, it was pushed slightly into the bonnet, but no bad damage.

spacesailor

 

on your way to a cook-up?