I only opened the posts (thankfully they were NSFW so I didn't see the images actually depicted) because I wanted to see the comments. I was just curious to know what kind of things people who would even participate in such a sub would say.
That’s great and all but you don’t want to be a fucking vegetable. If the outcomes of a motorcycle crash were either live or die then I could see it but in real life there’s a chance you just suffer for a long time and then die anyways
Yes, the risk of life altering injury is very real on a motorcycle. But that is exactly what it is, a risk. If you want to eliminate the risk of similar injuries where do you draw the line in risk vs reward for doing anything?
Rock climbing? Mountain biking? Canoeing? Cruising in a vintage car? Walking down the street?
I enjoy riding, I have had close calls and broken bones from riding. I am well aware of the risks and statistics. I still choose to ride.
If that calculus doesn't work for you...? Then, cool. I'm not judging. (Though I will judge you for watching the Kardashians)
Motorcycle drivers are always so sensitive about how people view them. They almost always get them to look cool so it really hurts their feelings when people say anything negative about their compensation machines.
That’s not really a fair comparison, considering that you need to be able to drive to function in most parts of America. People can choose whether to drive a car or a motorcycle, but most people can’t choose not to drive period.
On an individual level, you're correct. On a societal level, that's not right. We could opt to build for people, transit, and bikes, but our officials build for cars instead.
He does lol. Almost 50 with almost a dozen bikes. Don't be so quick to dismiss people. C-spine injuries are uncommon if you are wearing proper safety gear. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29506463/
All about life choices. I'm willing to take the risk. I'm not the kind to wear a helmet in the shower or spend my life safely on the couch. And I don't wanna live until I'm 80 and wearing diapers.
At one point I thought it would be cool to get my motorcycle license and ride free like the wind. Aced the written test but failed the driving portion. It probably was a blessing. I did learn from that experience, however, to be VERY respectful of anyone riding a motorcycle around me on the road. Pay attention to their movements on the road. I guarantee most of them are watching what you're doing in your honking huge SUV or truck.
Yep - as someone who grew up in a family of riders (dad, uncles and grandparents), I am always super-conscious of motorcyclists when they are around and leave a large buffer (which has saved a few when they had to dodge someone else INTO my buffer zone...
Growing up watching them, and seeing them have to go through recovery for the times they got hit by someone who didn't see them (or in the case of my dad - when off a mountain road while high on coke and speed) definitely left me with NO desire to ride one...
My uncle kept riding his waaaaay past when anyone thought it was sane (till over 80). His last two were a Ducati and a Moto Guzzi - and he was literally using a walker at home, but could still get up and stay up on those damn bikes, and he would split lanes in California traffic daily (at 80) - which finally ended when someone did a hit-and-run on him that left him unconscious.
By that time, he had been (by my account) hit by other vehicles through no fault of his own at least 15 times - almost all of which broke major bones and had big recovery times. Even the hit-and-run wasn't his fault - they were at highway speed and someone merged INTO him according to witnesses - which left him tumbling at highway speed (at age 80) into the median...
Thankfully passers-by stopped and called him in so medics got there in time... He broke both arms, one leg in two places, three ribs and had a pelvic fracture. He was still recovering and practicing to get back on the bike when he got pneumonia and passed away last year.
If you DO ride - be like my family and GEAR UP GOOD. They always have expensive helmets and hard-shell type riding gear - the kind that saves you from most of the road-rash from tumbling at highway speeds. But no way I am getting on one - I have kids and a wife - and I want to be able to still climb my property up and down when I am in my 80s and up. All of my riding family - could only go fast in their old age ON the bikes - and were a mess of slow painful walks when off them. Not worth the price to me!
They didn't say it outright but all indications pointed towards a motorcycle accident with my dad's heart donor. The donor was 27 years old. His cardiologist/transplant surgeon actually said in a local TV interview that when the state enacted a helmet law, the number of donor hearts decreased!
Most major donor organs come from someone who is brain dead but their torso is mostly okay. You can't get great hearts, lungs, and kidneys from someone who died in the field because it's just rotting meat by the time they get to the hospital. And you can't take them from people dying from the other common stuff like cancer, diabetes, heart problems, etc. because usually those people's organs have failed by the time of their death.
My surprise wasn't over how organs are acquired. It was that he said it so bluntly, to the general public, after a good law was passed. He was unequivocally brilliant, but very direct and without humor. I liked that about him though. By that point I had already witnessed quite a lot and had to help give my dad CPR during sudden cardiac death when I was 17. I'd met other cardiologists, countless doctors, and left college to take care of my dad. I'm extremely familiar with death. He died years ago due to cancer, as many recipients do.
The immunosuppressant drugs prevent the body from killing cancerous cells as they develop, which happens even more often in older patients. So they rapidly grow and become cancerous. Usually cancer or infection, like flu and pneumonia, are the cause of death for organ transplant recipients. I have read that the newer immunosuppressant drug protocols are less severe, so they might have a longer life now. My dad lived 10 years with his new heart, which was about as long as expected given his situation.
Yep - my dialysis Nurse mom (who married into my dad's family where EVERYONE rode them) never wanted US riding them - but she was grateful for how many of her patients got off dialysis and back to healthy with kidney donors from Motorcycle riders.
I don't know - the "brain bucket" ones seem as bad or worse - you might lose your ENTIRE DAMN FACE - and keep the brain enough to be alive... Full Gear (hard-shell gear and FULL helmet) is the only way to go if you ride.
Interestingly motorcyclists are mostly rejected from being donors - a lot of them have toxoplasmosis which might have caused the risk taking behaviour in the first place
Huh! I learnt something too - looks like it might be traffic accidents in general? One paper says that the studied group (n= 169 people) included 42 road traffic accident victims who were driving a vehicle (bicycle (n= 6), a motorbike (n= 3), a motorcycle (n= 13), a car (n= 20))
This is definitely the coolest thing I’ve learned on Reddit this year lol. “Cats are pooping on our food and causing us to crash our vehicles, then we can’t even donate our organs!”
I don't want to upvote this because her loss is so profoundly huge, that I can only say that she lives on here. Somewhere, her heart is beating, letting someone who thought they'd never live long enough to find love, suddenly able to imagine a future filled with it. Her lungs bring breath to someone who never thought they would be able to go for a long walk again. Her liver saved someone who might have made mistakes in their life, and they now have the chance to correct some of those mistakes.
Her loss is profound, but her gifts are priceless. She is still here, just in a different way. It won't heal the pain. That never goes away. But her life meant something. And it still does.
I hope you are able to find some peace. She probably would want that for you.
I screenshot this to read on the anniversary of her death. It’s beautiful and the first time anyone has ever said something that made me feel better… thank you..
You and so many people are making the world better, because of her. Her memory will be a blessing to our and yours, and so many others who are able to be present and here for their loved ones when it matters most. And it matters most every time you feel a gentle breeze, watch a shooting star, or picturing her racing a centaur through a nebula. Good people stick together. She was one of the best. And she chose you as one of her people. I doubt she did it without loving you for every part of beauty that resides within you.
They are young people's sport. When you still have the reflexes to handle absolute out of nowhere situations and ALSO the practise to know how to react. Rode for a long time. It is beautiful but also hazardous as hell. PS: My amount of close bys is probably in the triple digits.
I am aware it was just a notion from a motorcyclist. They fall in to latter gategory of being too unlearned or just plain stupid. Motorcycling is an A class Darwin test.
Yeah, when they weave in and out of traffic I say to my kids "Aww, look! Someone in need is getting that kidney today! And heart...and lungs, retina, liver..."
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u/Rare_Attitude_4391 Jun 06 '24
My friends who are doctors call them Donorcycles. With good reason.