Modern Buddy

Don't shoot me, I'm just the piano player, but the medical journal, Injury Prevention, did a study that showed that 40 is the magic age for getting injured while riding. The New York Times ran an article about it today. You can buy the Injury Prevention article here.

The New York Times Safe Travel blogger Anahad O'Connor wrote:...older bikers are three times as likely to be severely injured in a crash as younger riders.

Bad news about riding transmits fast, so this is going to be all over the place. Those of you of a certain age may want to read the article for yourself before you hear it misquoted on tv, by your SO, coworkers, concerned relatives, etc.

Sorry, wish this wasn't true, but it's best to be armed with the actual facts straight from the source.

A little greeting from my avatar to the actuaries:

Well, they sort of forgot the other side of the coin, didn't they? Who is more likely to get into a crash to start with? (hint - not the experienced over 40 rider)

Dooglas wrote:Well, they sort of forgot the other side of the coin, didn't they? Who is more likely to get into a crash to start with? (hint - not the experienced over 40 rider)

Excellent point. One of my neighbors (a college student) got a scooter a couple years ago. Despite not having nearly as many miles as mine, and having it a shorter time, his is the one that looks like it's spent the last two years in Fallujah, not mine.

I'm not in denial about the fact that I injure more easily and heal more slowly than I did 20 years ago. That's why the most daredevil stunts I pull are things like riding when it's cold out , or carefully planning a 10-minute ride across a bridge , and racing down hills at 40mph!

Thanks for this. I'm going to email the PI directly to request a copy (she's at Brown, how handy!) to use in the MSF class. Can't thank you enough jrsjr!

Dooglas wrote:Well, they sort of forgot the other side of the coin, didn't they? Who is more likely to get into a crash to start with? (hint - not the experienced over 40 rider)

Exactly. Methinks that chick is about to get sued by older riders
PS I just read the abstract. It says injury. It says nothing about fatalities . The older riders may indeed have more chance of fracture if down but which age group is more likely to suffer more fatal crashes? No distinction is made between type of bikes or years of riding experience in this abstract either.
About the only accurate statement is that older riders take longer to heal. I will even agree with our bones being more brittleand teak more eassily. I will reserve judgement when it comes to the rest until I see a real study that really looks at and accounts for extraneous and intervening variables

40? Nah, at 40 was bulletproof. Two days before the 57th birthday though, that's when you gotta watch out!

Oh Boy!!! I am in big trouble. Guess I had better sell all my scoots and get me a new swing for the front porch. Lets see now--I work out at the gym 4 days a week, run a little side business, and at 77 I am almost twice that
time to quit 40 age. My personal opinion is

This is why I am squeezing in as may adventurous rides now as I possibly can. Because it ain't going to get no easier! I do feel thankful though that I didn't start riding when I was a teenage hothead with more testosterone than I knew what to do with. No doubt it would have been trouble. I am so happy now riding as my mellower more "mature" and somewhat "sensible" self. A little more tortoise and a lot less hare... and hair.

Well said, gentlemen, well said. I did have a Velo Solex and a Whizzer when
I was a kid but Iwas too proud of them to do any thing stupid. Heck, i could
peddle a bike faster than either of those rigs could run!!

Oh, oh, bought my first scooter on my 51st Bday last year!

Skippy, age is a relative thing. It is not when you started to ride it is that
you started to ride.
"Growing old is inevitable, being old is not."

So we no longer bounce. That doesn't mean we're ever going to quit riding. What the article says is this: the older you get the more likely you are to be injured in an accident and recovery time will be longer than when you were 20. No shit.

rsrider wrote:... recovery time will be longer than when you were 20. No shit.

Seriously. The same is true when I drink tequila!

So in 3 years I better just jump off a cliff, eh?

Statistics are always so rough. Statistically, if you ride, your chance of being injured in a 2-wheeled accident goes WAY up! Probably because you use one more often...

Oh well. I guess we might be a biased community .

I'm 46...My one bad wreck was at 32 on the racetrack...So much for statistics.

viney266 wrote:I'm 46...My one bad wreck was at 32 on the racetrack...So much for statistics.

I'm 79. How many on this forum can beat that? My one bad wreck was at 78 on a 2 lane back country road. I now ride VERY defensively.

Bill in Seattle but wintering in AZ
'12 170i Italia "The Olive Pit"
'87 Honda Helix 250
'02 Honda Reflex 250

Meh. Nothing has killed me yet. Apparently I'm still invincible.

good thing ii keep the rubber side down and am almost 50. woo-hoo nothing about being 50 in there, right?

i am not reading it. what i don't know can't hurt me and even if read i cannot be deterred. i don't believe anyone rides with the intent of getting hurt and if we do get hurt.....we do. but hopefully not

i hear at my age LOT's of things are supposed to be more likely, etc. oh well!

Well, at 20-something, I'll happily use this (no matter how off-base the research may be) as ammo against the "YOU'LL SHOOTCHER EYE OUT" folk!

^^^ yeah, you have a decade or more to ride risk free . LOL

Skootz Kabootz wrote:

rsrider wrote:... recovery time will be longer than when you were 20. No shit.

Seriously. The same is true when I drink tequila!

I resemble dat remark!!!! Wise guy!

dakotamouse wrote:

Skootz Kabootz wrote:

rsrider wrote:... recovery time will be longer than when you were 20. No shit.

Seriously. The same is true when I drink tequila!

I resemble dat remark!!!! Wise guy!

Hey dakatomouse! Welcome back to Modern Buddy!

Stormswift wrote:Exactly. Methinks that chick is about to get sued by older riders

You need to be able to show how you were harmed by someone to sue them, and "she made me angry" doesn't qualify.

jrsjr wrote:

dakotamouse wrote:

Skootz Kabootz wrote: Seriously. The same is true when I drink tequila!

I resemble dat remark!!!! Wise guy!

Hey dakatomouse! Welcome back to Modern Buddy!

Thanks, much! I poke my nose in from time to time. Right now I'm just waiting for spring.

I guess it's a good thing that my scooter engine broke down on me! Obviously my Buddy sacrificed itself so as to not see me injured! What a pal!

Skipper, You may hold the record at the moment. I am just a youngster of 77!! My hats off to you.

Wolfhound wrote:Skipper, You may hold the record at the moment. I am just a youngster of 77!! My hats off to you.

Riding scooter keeps you young...........although crashing can take a few years off ya!

What a bunch of junk. Shoot, at my age I stand a better chance or having to go to the hospital from falling out of bed than a 20 year old. Doesn't mean I am going to start sleeping on the floor.

Outstanding piece of Journalism by the New York Times. Did they figure out that a 20 year old is more likely win a 100 yard dash over a 120 year old person?

I see a Pulitzer coming for this guy





Nothing to see here, keep moving.

JHScoot wrote:i hear at my age LOT's of things are supposed to be more likely, etc. oh well!

It's the things that are less likely that get to you!