Trauma Nurse Here - Please Don't Drink and Ride!

[iamalaskagrown]

Hey Gang,

I'm a nurse at an Emergency Department with a level 1 trauma center. (Trauma Centers in the United States are rated levels 1 through 4, with 1 being the "highest" rating that is prepared 24/7/365 for the most seriously injured/unwell patients.) Yesterday we had four traumas on my 12 hour shift. Two of them were single motorcycle accidents. No cars involved. Alcohol and lack of safety gear (including helmets) were significant factors in both of them.

I know you know...BUT -

Please don't drink and ride. And wearing ATGATT isn't uncool...its super intelligent. Human bodies are not built to take the abuse that flying off a bike at highway speeds involves. You need to armor up. And better yet, you need to keep yourself on the bike by being sober.

Apologies for the lecture. I don't mean to be a schoolmarm. But we see the mess first hand, and see the families come in and shriek when they see their intubated/unresponsive husband or father. I fill out a tag and put it on their big toe and help put them in a large white bag when they don't make it. I love my job...it's just that yesterday was hard.

Ride smart and safe!
-iamalaskagrown

 

[DirtFlier]

I don't think NC riders are the drink & ride type where a large percentage of Harley riders do that as part of their macho culture.

 

[drdubb]

I don't ride around the block without gear and once I open a cold one, I'm staying where I am. I have not understanding for those that drink and ride. I just don't get it. This is dangerous enough.

 

[670cc]

I have a limit on how much alcohol I can drink before I ride. None! Even one beer before a ride is not acceptable. Riding is dangerous enough without adding alcohol to the mix.

Thanks for posting your important message.

 

[happy]

Also....stop bike and take your drink. Being able to mount a drink bottle in a good way does not make it safe to drink (water) while bike is in motion.



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[fiah]

Once I had like one beer right at the start of a movie, then 2 hours later I rode back home. The way everything just felt completely out of whack in a bad way when I sat on the bike then was enough to convince me to never ever do that again. Also, if I'm planning to ride in the morning I don't drink more than one or two at night anymore, it's just not worth it

 

[GregC]

Simple rule for me: I can ride or I can drink, but I can't do both. And truly there are days where a bourbon and cigar trumps a ride … but not often[emoji41]


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[eric steele]

Iamalaskagrown: Nice heartfelt plea for common sense. Thank you. I also ride a Harley. Nice knee-jerk reaction from DirtFlier and his automatic clutch.

 

[SergeantChuck]

Conversations like this make me happy I never acquired the taste for alcohol. I have never understood why someone would take the chance but who knows what goes through someone's mind? I would assume that most on this forum are responsible riders based off comments over the years. It's still good to be reminded about using common sense.

 

[GregC]

I've found that I think I'm actually allergic to alcohol ... after 10 shots of tequila I lose feeling in my legs

 

[GunNut37086]

I've been invited to participate in charity poker runs before, but pass. I've heard riders brag about having a beer at each of 5 to 7 stops, so I won't go anywhere near that nonsense. Even if I don't drink, the other idiots I'd be riding with will. I'm of the opinion that there's not a beer on the planet that tastes good enough to be worth the risk.

 

[WhatYes]

Living in Western Colorado and 1/4 mile from the main highway that runs from Grand Junction down towards Ouray and Telluride, I see - LITERALLY - hundreds of bikes daily. Colorado has no helmet laws. My observations: about 80% of the riders here do not wear helmets. Of those, nearly 100% of cruiser riders are helmetless. However, most of them at least wear long pants and boots. Most non-cruiser riders who choose to ride without a helmet often ride in tanktops, shorts and tennis shoes. I occasionally see a rider wearing flip-flops! My mind can't wrap around that. My wife and I are ATGATT, no matter what. If it's brutally hot, I might forego the riding pants in exchange for jeans, but that's rare. If it's too hot to wear protective gear, I don't ride. I, personally, think helmet-less riders are nuts. If you asked them to put their head down and run as fast as possible into a brick wall, they'd think YOU were nuts, and yet they think nothing of cruising at 60+ mph without one. And man, can you imagine what it feels like to hit a bee or some hail?! Yikes.

 

[Gibsito]

I have a zero alcohol limit before I get behind the wheel or handlebars of any vehicle, even my bicycle. I'm also an ATGATT advocate. However, I can't say I was always this smart. In my younger years I did some pretty stupid things, luckily without much harm to myself and none to anyone else. These days I just shake my head when I think about it.

 

[RinconVTR]

Once I had like one beer right at the start of a movie, then 2 hours later I rode back home. The way everything just felt completely out of whack in a bad way when I sat on the bike then was enough to convince me to never ever do that again. Also, if I'm planning to ride in the morning I don't drink more than one or two at night anymore, it's just not worth it

Copy/Paste. I had the exact occurrence and make the same decisions.

Everyone I know at my age now (40's), now ride HD's, except my father and my boss, ride HD's. Sadly, all they do is bar hop. Every g'damn one of them. They cant seem to ride without stopping at a f'ing bar. Long trips, short trips, cruising the city. Doesn't matter.

A bit of a tangent; Did you all know there are rules around here (Milwaukee...or Wisconsin in general) for HD riders. First of all, when you ride an HD, helmets are no longer worn. You must ride in big groups in the left lane under the speed limit. If there are only two of you, ride side by side in one lane but make sure your feet and handlebars are over the lane divide. Do not EVER wave to fellow non-HD riders. If you smoke, you should smoke while riding and learn not to use your hands. This will allow you to use hand signals at all times but feel free monkey with your electronic touchscreen radio all the time and crank the oldies station so the entire city can hear. Speaking of hearing, run loud straight pipes or at least the loudest pipe you can tolerate, cause they save lives. Finally, bring along your little HD tourist stop book (I forget what its called exactly) to log every bar you stopped at, cause HD riders get special bragging rights when their little book is filled up each year and none of those bar stops are official until that little book is signed.

That was fun.

Wear a helmet. Gear up! Be seen! You go OP!

 

[mike5100]

errrrm excuse me .... can I be politically incorrect and say that sometimes if I have ridden to say Tan Hill in the Pennines and they have a wonderful real ale like Timothy Taylor Landlord, I may have a half pint rather than my usual coffee. I don't think my riding is impacted by this but even if it is, then life is a trade off of risk and reward. We may criticise the guys who ride in hot weather without protection but most of them know the risks. I may criticise riders who don't use earplugs (but I won't) because they are trading off risks and rewards and making their own calls.
I have stopped using a full face helmet and now in summer use an open face - I know the risk but the extra pleasure and the improved visibility are (to me) acceptable trade-offs. I have BMW rider kit with armour like you wouldn't believe but sometimes I go out in different gear because it looks better - life is a whole host of trade-offs.
Mike

 

[670cc]

Speaking of stereotypes: in the last five minutes I saw four riders. One each on a BMW boxer, a sport bike of some sort, a Harley Davidson, and a Honda Metropolitan scooter. Of the four, the Harley rider was the only one wearing a helmet.

 

[bvogel7475]

Thank you for this comment. Having gone down hard in a crash at 60 mph and only sustaining soft tissue (no skin) damage I was thankful I was loaded with Armor when I hit the pavement and thankful for a nurse who saw me go down and blocked traffic so I wouldn't get run over. I am always looking at ways to add more armor without ruining riding comfort. I wear a lot of extra hip and tailbone protection in my riding pants along with a heavily armored Vanson Racing Jacket, gloves with Kevlar and Plastic protection, a new Shoei helmet (I toss them after 5 years), and BMW armored boots. I won't touch alcohol or anything that could impair my senses while I ride. I also chew cafeinne gum when I ride to stay extra alert and prevent fatigue. I have heard nurses call motorcycles "donor cycles". I know there is a lot of risk riding a motorcycle but I came 1 foot from being killed by a driver who ran a red light at 60 mph while walking in a crosswalk and would rather die doing something I love than crossing the street. If you know of something else to wear that would be helpful, please let me know. I have thought of wearing shin guards but have not found any that don't cause severe discomfort.

 

[JamesD]

The people that drink and ride aren't going to listen to this advice, and the people that don't drink and ride don't need it.

FWIW, a local bar is a stop for all the local poker runs. A lot of the riders don't drink any alcohol. Their passengers are another matter.

 

[potter0o]

We have helmet laws here. The only exception to the law is if you are a Sikh. I have no knocks against religious beliefs but can't comprehend how a turban can be acceptable over a helmet.

 

[Mi_ka]

Human bodies are not built to take the abuse that flying off a bike at highway speeds involves.

Modern age makes everything so easy that most forget they are not more superhumans than in the '50s or the '70s when 90mph was such a whoaaa speed over there. Here 110 kph was considered irresponsible speeding in the '80s. Yes, people with big bikes got near or over the "life-starting" threshold of 200kph quite a few times back then but not all the time...

We have helmet laws here. The only exception to the law is if you are a Sikh. I have no knocks against religious beliefs but can't comprehend how a turban can be acceptable over a helmet.

Here you have a fantastic idea for a start-up company developing a turban shaped helmet compatible with this target group needs.