Brain Saved

I read “Protecting Your Brain” (December issue) with great interest and cannot agree more with the importance of wearing a helmet but also all other safety gear. The adage that “it’s not a matter of if you will crash, but when you will crash” is so true.

I have ridden since the mid-1970s and up until a month ago had only one minor low-side crash. Then on Oct. 5 while riding in the hills of Tennessee, I lost concentration in a turn and ran off the side of the road. The bike went one way and I hit the asphalt, landing on my shoulder and head.

My Arai Nicky Hayden helmet saved my life. The helmet is ruined, but my head is in one piece. I did suffer a broken clavicle, but at least I am able to write this letter as a testament to wearing the proper gear and how it works.

George Gardner | Charleston, S.C.

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Environmental Perspective

I have a bone to pick with the article “Charging Ahead” (October issue).

I have nothing against electric vehicles, but there’s a very misleading statement in the article about the source of electricity: “Even though some electricity is generated by burning fossil fuels, electricity is becoming cleaner over time, through the use of windmills and solar power.”

In 2018, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 63.5 percent of electricity was generated by fossil fuel, 19.3 percent nuclear, and 17.1 percent “renewable.” Of that, 6.6 percent was from windmills, and a whopping 1.6% from solar.

I expect more honesty and less hype from the AMA. If you want to ride an electric bike that’s fine with me, but if you think you’re “saving the planet,” you need to wake up and smell the gasoline.

Don’t even get me started about the fact that these batteries are highly toxic and will cost money, time and energy to recycle.

And how much of that recycled material will actually be usable?

No, I don’t work for the oil industry. I’m just an electrical engineer that knows how to look at the bigger picture.

We won’t get off fossil fuels until hydrogen fuel cells, cold fusion and room temperature superconducting becomes the norm.

And I don’t see that happening in the next year or so.

Dennis Fish | Santa Cruz, Calif.

Thanks for the note, Dennis. Our intention with that statement wasn’t to make a definitive declaration regarding the current state of centralized electrical generation, but to highlight that as the grid and technology that powers it improve, electric motorcycles will be one way the benefits of those improvements are realized.

The ‘We Ride’ Generation

I am a Charter Life Member of the AMA.

In the recent article “Generation to Generation” by Tom Dean, he starts with the Baby Boomers (1946-1964), and goes forward from there to Generation X (1965-1979), then to the Millennials (1980-late 1990s).

What about the rest of us, like the Silent Generation, born between 1925 and 1945? I guess we could also be called the Forgotten Generation after reading this article.

I was born in 1937, which makes me 82, and I just did a 130 mile ride with my 82 year old buddy on our Gold Wings. Please don’t forget our generation!

Dale (Bud) Leppard | Morristown, N.J.

Two-Wheeled Saviors

I was reading the article in the October 2019 edition on the Touratech Adventure Rally and noticed a mention of a group called “Adventure Medics.” I would love to see an article on this group and the valuable service such a group must provide.

I have heard of a few agencies elsewhere in the United States doing this, and I know paramedics are on motorcycles in the United Kingdom.

I am a volunteer EMT here on the east coast, but sadly we don’t have any such programs.

Paul Lepine | Barnesville, Md.

I See You

I’ve been riding motorcycles for over 20 years, an AMA member for 10 years, and I am also an owner of a Tesla Model 3 electric sedan for over one year now.

As a Tesla owner, I can assure you Teslas … do detect motorcycles. Each Tesla, manufactured since October 2016, includes eight cameras, 12 ultrasonic sensors, a forward radar and a dedicated autopilot computer that actively monitors the surrounding roadway.

I am happy to share this photo I took from inside my Tesla Model 3, waiting at a stop light with a motorcyclist in front of me. You can see on the left side of the center touchscreen, a real-time visualization of the road is displayed as detected by the autopilot components. The display accurately detects the motorcyclist, proving Teslas do see motorcycles.

 

Shawn Smith

Montgomery Village, Md.

Tech Consequences

The November issue included Rob Dingman’s article, “Asleep at the Wheel.” I’ve read numerous articles now about autonomous vehicles and I want to respond with my two cents.

“Anything mechanical will break. Anything electronic will fail.” That’s a saying I was taught long ago and holds so true. While technology can be awesome, it can have its consequences. I’ve been taken out twice, on a motorcycle, from behind by “inattentive” drivers. Folks will go back and forth in a [texting] conversation, which involves so much more than just picking up the phone and calling and talking. Eyes are off the road, and it only takes but a second and the results are catastrophic.

Driver’s ed is no longer a requirement. Remember when we used to actually have to use our neck muscles to turn our heads to see if there is a car in the other lane before we change lanes? Or when we would drive two seconds behind the car in front because if they stop suddenly for whatever reason, we needed that much time to react and stop also?

With autonomous vehicles, we are putting our trust in the vehicle to act and react for us. Backup cameras have a limited distance and show a distorted image. Side warning lights can burn out, fail or not light up soon enough. Self-braking vehicles. Really? How about the person who over-reacts or fights against those vehicles, which will then “adjust” you back to your lane.

The more we rely on technology, the less we rely on instinct or ourselves to drive a vehicle. In my opinion, the car manufacturers are pushing their autonomous vehicles faster than the guarantee of safety or reliability so they can say they were the first to build it. They admit they have problems and have already had numerous deaths as a result of that same technology failing. They can’t guarantee that technology will “see” a motorcycle or bicyclist—or a small child that darts out from the side chasing a toy.

Just like “inattentive” driving, how many deaths must occur before stricter laws and requirements are put into place to stop them?

David Tagye | Morganton, N.C.

Autonomously Sober

I read Mr. Dingman’s column “Asleep at the Wheel” with great interest, as always. While self-driving cars that have so many safety features that the driver doesn’t need to pay attention scares me, as of late I’m seeing more drivers texting, talking on the phone or fiddling with their in dash infotainment systems. This may be scarier than an autonomous vehicle. At least a self-driving car is just driving, not watching videos on YouTube.

A car that may be paying attention and may detect my presence is better than a driver who is so hooked on his electronic gizmos that he doesn’t detect me before he changes lanes into me or rear ends me at a light. While I don’t want to defend autonomous vehicles too much, they at least don’t get drunk or high.

Keep up the good work keeping us two- and three-wheeled folks safe and informed.

Michael Preston | Ocean Shores, Wash.

Fit For Safety

Grazie mille for Samantha Bonsack’s excellent article “Fitting In” (December issue)—a reminder of women’s challenge in finding adequate protection as well as comfort when shopping for gear.

I appreciated Liz de Rome’s emphasis on the relationship between women’s gear and safety, especially the placement and secure fit of armor. And I have long appreciated the advice of Joanne Donn also known as GearChic. In fact I’ve lost count of the number of times that my husband and I have sought her advice on helmets, radios, and on- and off-road gear far beyond simply women’s clothing.

Marie Bongiovanni | Boone, N.C.