Is motorcycle racing safe?
Motorcycle street racing accidents occur as a result of riding motorcycles at very high speeds on public roads. Motorcycle accidents street racing and motorcycle street circuits are two very different concepts. In a street circuit, public roads are temporarily closed off and riders use sports bikes such as the Harley Davidson sportster. Facilities such as grandstands, fences, pit boxes and paddocks are placed temporarily and removed after the race is over.
Many people oppose street racing not only in Hyannis, MA, but everywhere because they consider it an unsafe sporting activity as compared to a sanctioned motorcycle street circuit. In both motorcycle street racing and street circuits, the races take place on track surfaces originally planned for normal speeds. So many riders find the surface to be very bumpy and lacks grip.
A retrospective study was carried out on all motorcycle injuries occurring at Mondelo Park racetrack for the 1983 and 1984 seasons. In this sport there were a total of 57 injuries for the two year period, 27 occurring in 1983 and 30 in 1984. Soft tissue injuries accounted for 66.7%, fractures 22.8% and head injuries 10.5% of the total. In the fracture group, 2 patients suffered spinal fractures which is noteworthy in that neither were wearing back protectors which as yet are not compulsory safety equipment in Eire.
These figures were compared with data from the same two year period on the Ulster road circuit. The incidence of each type of injury was similar and equally low in both groups. Motorcycle racing injuries compared favourably with motor car racing injuries and had a lower incidence of serious head injury. In comparison with road traffic accidents involving motorcyclists the overall number of injuries, the number of serious head, abdominal and chest injuries and the overall fatality rate, are much lower. The two most relevant factors in our lower injury incidence were lack of alcohol and the absence of collision with cars. Experience, medical attention and speed had no direct influence on our injury incidence