Motorcycle use increases as gas prices rise

  by Andy - July 21st, 2008 - 2:15 pm| Uncategorized | 5 comments

Higher gas prices don’t only hurt at the pump, they hurt in the emergency room as well.

According to Vandy Trauma doctors, “It is very clear that in the last 3 months we have seen significant increases in the volume of motorcycle crashes.”

If this were 1865, Doctor John Morris would be standing in a saloon, his six shooter at the ready.

But it is 2008 and the rough and tumble doctor runs Vanderbilt’s Trauma Center with a six shooter’s mentality. He says with confidence that more motorcyclists are riding more miles.

“The weekend warrior is in deed the commuter going to work,” the cock sure medicine man says.

He looks around the Vandy Trauma Unit. Beeps and hushed whispers float out of each alcove where life is hanging by a thread.

Some of the people here are crash victims.

While on the floor, I will talk to 2 motorcycle riders who didn’t do anything wrong, except ride a motorcycle in Nashville rush hour traffic.

That was the situation for Gary and Susan Russell July 15th, when cars suddenly and unexpectedly came to a screeching stop. Mr. Russell mashed the brakes. The back end got squirrely and the bike went down. He suffered broken bones. His wife, Susan, was thrown and was banged up more severely.

Doctors say this couple is the emerging norm. People in their fifties and sixties are now riding many more miles, people who might have ridden primarily on the weekends, and now, because of rising gas prices, are riding full time.

Some experts say they are more experienced, but longer in the tooth, they also have slower reflexes that we all encounter as we grow older.

“We have seen over three to four month period a doubling of motorcycle crashes we care for at Vanderbilt,” Morris says, acknowledging more motorcycling miles is leading to more traumas.

According to the Dept. of Revenue…8,000 more people have registered motorcycle and scooters compared to this time last year.

The good news, according to the Tennessee Department of Safety, is more riders are also taking motorcycle safety courses.

“In 2 days you gain 2 years worth of riding experience what you would teach yourself.” Safety Instructor James Schultheis tells me.

New rider Hayes Washington says the course helped him become more comfortable.

“I stayed in my sub division for 3 months I was not comfortable with the bike at first.”

Over at Boswell’s Harley Davidson on Fesslers Lane, Bubba Boswell has many thoughts on the growing trend.

Boswell acknowledges more people are riding bikes, but he says cars and trucks are the problem.

“Bike sale have gone up dramatically the last three months. With gas at four dollars it changed every ones idea of how to travel and how far to go.”

Bubba doesn’t dispute Vanderbilt’s findings, but he says motorcycle wrecks, more times than not, are the fault of car and truck drivers.

Whomever is to blame, Dr. Morris summarizes it this way:

“The economics of higher gas is driving more people to take more risks and that risk is actually going to turn out to be more expensive than driving in the safer environment of a car.”

Here’s the twist: the Dept. of Safety says thru the first half of this year - fatalities across the state are down compared to this time last year.

Motorcycle fatalities in 2008 are actually down (-30) from 83 this time last year (2007) to 53 at this time in 2008.

Helmets and safety equipment make a difference, and hospitals like Vandy are saving more lives.

For more detailed information, go to the links below: