RapierFugue
Posts: 4740
Joined: 3/16/2006
From: London, England
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quote:
ORIGINAL: hausboy
Motorcycles:
In some cases (not all) if you know you're going to crash, you can do what's called (oh I just know I'm going to regret typing this) "laying it down" or essentially doing the "quarterback slide." When you lay the bike down, if done effectively, you kick yourself free of the bike, so that you as the rider/passenger don't get crushed or burned by the motorcycle, and you don't have the weight of the bike grinding the road rash into your body....
<puts on ex advanced bike instructor hat>
That is common misconception (although I note you're not touting it as a "solution", so noted) - there are so few circumstances under which it's better to leave the machine than stay with it* that no decent instructor, basic, intermediate, or advanced, would ever recommend it as a pre-crash tactic. I believe though that it’s still erroneously taught in some US and Canadian defensive riding courses, despite having been demonstrated as the wrong system some years ago.
That doesn't mean, BTW, that belts would be a good idea, but it also doesn't mean that leaving the bike is a good one either - stay with the machine, take mitigating action to prevent or reduce the crash impact, and above all, if possible, try not to target fixate - keep your eyes pointing where your escape route is, and continue to steer and brake as appropriate.
On the safety front, Dainese and Kushitani have been experimenting with airbag suits for bikers; these are similar in construction to standard race suits, in that they comprise several layers of thin leather, with non-linear seams (i.e. the seams in one layer don’t line up with the ones from the layer below, to prevent scuff-through in the event of being abraded by the road), but with the addition of a tough “bladder” layer; this latter layer gets inflated (in milliseconds) by a nitrogen gas-charge (itself triggered by an impact sensor). So as you come off, the bladder layer inflates, giving you effectively your own personal air-fence, under your leathers.
They've been trialled in MotoGP by Valentino Rossi, among others. The 2 main hurdles for road use are a) false triggering (and the suit is effectively a “one shot” deal, once triggered it has to be thrown away – expensive for a $5,000 suit) and b) burst damage – the bladder has been shown to compromise the structural integrity of the suit’s seams if the crash takes more than one big hit and scrape. So you get increased impact protection, but reduced abrasion protection. Finally, they’re thicker than traditional suits, with attendant loss of mobility, so their use is currently restricted to chest and back areas, as racers detest any loss in mobility in their limbs as it reduces feedback from the bike, thus making a crash more likely at extreme speeds.
*almost all of them related to road-racing
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RE: Should horseriders wear seatbelts? - 
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