Riders, leather can save your skin

IN the past 10 years, 414 motorcycle riders and pillion passengers have lost their lives and more than 10,000 riders and pillions have been seriously injured on Victorian roads.

This represents 18 per cent of all lives lost on the road and 17 per cent of hospitalisation claims over the past decade.

Yet driving along the Princes Highway I continually see motorcyclists flying along in jeans and a T-shirt, no protective clothing (other than the legally required helmet) in sight.

It baffles me that people would be so careless with their own safety.

I have nothing against motorcyclists, but I cannot understand why some riders would chose to shun the leather protective gear that is designed to prevent serious injury.

The European standards for protective leather jackets and pants require a minimum of four seconds abrasion resistance, which means four seconds of sliding across the road surface before your gear wears through. And while they might be lighter and more comfortable in the short term, standard denim jeans last only 0.6 seconds in contact with the road surface. All it takes is a split-second and you could be maimed for the rest of your life, with permanent and painful injuries that could have been prevented if you had worn protective gear. I just don’t get it. We all understand the importance of protecting our heads in the event of a crash and it seems illogical to leave the rest of your body exposed to severe damage as you slide along the bitumen or gravel. There is no doubt protective gear is expensive, but when you consider the lifelong cost of severe injury that is far more excessive.

Sliding along the road can cause loss of large areas of skin and muscle tissue, VicRoads says.

According to the VicRoad website, “these injuries can lead to lengthy hospital stays, reconstructive surgery, permanent and debilitating scarring and extensive rehabilitation”.

Factoring in medical costs, loss of income from inability to work while injured, and the cost and pain to you and your family, it seems worthwhile to invest in a pair of leathers.

The State Government needs to make protective leather gear mandatory, because why protect your head and not your body?