Don't laugh. A thread that started on my club's website about the best drivers, turned into a discussion about motorcycle racing being safer that auto racing. The antagonist said that he raced bikes for a while, and that since force =mass x acceleration, once you're off the bike you'll slow down faster, thus come to rest sooner. Maybe if every wreck went into a gravel trap, I'd understand, but am I missing something? I think solid object impact on a super bike at speed sounds a bit more painful than being strapped in. The only bike racing I can claim to are some hare scrambles back in the '70's. He says the stats are there to prove bike racing is safer, but he never showed where to find them. Then he got a little snippy, and said he was trying to "enlighten" us, and was sorry he wasted his time.

My cousin races bikes and he's had a few offs, only broke a couple toes if I remember right.

One time that I was at his house, we watched a DVD about MotoGP and at the amount of injuries and broken bones those guys had, I really doubt it's safer then racing a car.

Maybe less fatalities if you only look at fatalities, but definately not "safer" IMO.

I have come off of exactly one bike at triple digit speeds (I was run off the road by an officer....long story about being young and stupid). Due to the fact that I landed in a field, it was a reasonably soft landing (considering the speed). I landed in wet grass that was 3 feet tall and slid nearly 200 feet. I was very sore for a while, but survived without any injuries. However, I'm not in a hurry to try it again and I've not been on a bike since. I'd think that any kind of car wreck at that speed is bad news (not that you may not walk away, but I bet I had a softer landing than I would have by getting beat against the interior as the car slid/rolled, etc). So, in some cases, it could be possible.....

I'll still stick to cars..... :drive:

I think it depends on what you hit... Open space for sliding is good. Another object is bad...

My son went through a 5 strand barb wire fence last September, street driving. (no helmet, the big dummy, but that's another story). The facial surgeons spent over 4 hours patching up his ears, nose, mouth, eyebrow and neck, before they tried to sew up anything else.

Not that there would be barb wire on a track, but there are walls, culverts, chain link, other vehicles/bikes, etc.

The gear for protection from sliding is phenomenal now, but it doesn't do much for a direct impact.

I am told that they have to have extra flaggers at tracks. Sounds more dangerous to me. The guys you watch on Speedvision are such artists that they don't put themselves in danger that much. I did notice one time a guy's bike was getting away from him and he did the highest leg lift I have ever seen, man or woman, to avoid the bike getting tangled up with him!

I think I saw that DVD; the main guy was in a wheel chair for the rest of his life, not racing anything but go-carts after that. I love to ride motorcycles, but I think I'll stick to cars for racing.

I raced with WERA for three seasons, had several bike to bike collisions, had to take it to the grass on several occasions, ran over the rear tire on a competitors bike and ran over the legs of a fellow competitor once. Never fell off the bike during a race. I have had plenty of "offs" but most of them were due to playing on the street. Most were relatively slow also, fastest get off was at maybe 50-60mph. Never had anything more than broken collar bones {broke the same one twice}, broken toes, ankle and just plain beat up and bruised.

Fractured L1, 2, and 3 vertebra while playing in my truck. Apparently, when the doctors fixed my back,, they decided to take my balls because I could never get back to the speed I was. If you race bikes long enough, you will fall. Nearly any "off" on a bike is going to hurt to some extent. Even with good leathers that includes plenty of body armor and a helmet,,, you are going to hurt. Think about falling off a bike going into a turn and hitting a wall protected by several hay bells. Think that your leathers and helmet are going to work wonders?

In a car, you might just spin out and cut some grass. You may hit a embankment or a wall. Hopefully the cage, helmet and belts will do what they are supposed to do. Nine times out of ten, I think you will be better off in the car wreck. Weird stuff does happen {Dale's wreck} but for the most part I think that cars are much safer. But,,, I have much less experience with race cars, a few circle track experiences in a spectator car, drag racing, AutoX and a HPDE are the extent of my automotive racing experience.