Hi, everyone. My name is T.J. I was wondering if anyone has ever encountered Pn and motorcyclye riding? My husband had PN and bought a bike, he really shouldn't have. He was killed within an hour of purchase. I believe that the PN contributed to the accident. I need an MDs opinion on this. I would appreciate any input in this area. Thanks.

I'm sorry to hear about your husband.

I believe it would depend on the type and severity of the neuropathy. It would also depend on the circumstances surrounding the accident. As much as I hate to say it it would also depend on if your husband knew he shouldn't be on a bike. I'm not sure exactly where you're coming from. I'm not a doctor and I'm not a lawyer. What about your husbands own doctor?

Barbara

I'm very to hear about your husband.... thats awful....

I'm not an MD - but developed severe PN 6 years ago which has not only made me loose feeling in my feet and hands, but severey affected my balance.....

I used to ride motorcyles extensively - and you need good balance plus your feet (to shift and brake) and hands (throttle, clutch, and gas) and very good balance to stay upright....

Thats one of the activities I think I miss the most with the PN - but its a must for me....

Again, I'm sorry this happened to him - accidents are by nature accidents..... just sending some good thoughts for you....

So sorry for the loss of your husband. I cannot say whether his PN was a contributing factor in his accident but if you are looking for answers I do hope that you get them.

If anything ****** me off about all this, it's that new motorcycle drivers shouldn't be allowed to drive from a dealership without thorough instruction on that particular machine and safety orientation class if it's a new motorcycle driver. It's really very different than driving a car.

I rode a motorcycle as my principle vehicle in Los Angeles and San Diego for about 35 years with no serious injury. I looked up fatality statistics years ago for a presentation. If memory serves me well, 50% of the fatalities were on new, borrowed, or stolen bikes. A friend of mine got killed on a brand new Honda he was driving from the dealer to show his parents. He was young and didn't have PN. 90% of the fatalities were during the first year of driving a particular motorcycle.

Here are some recent statistics: http://www.seniorjournal.com/NEWS/Se...09-02Bikes.htm "Compared with a passenger car occupant, a motorcycle rider is up to 26 times more likely to die in a crash, based on vehicle miles traveled." 40% of the fatalities are senior riders.

In this site: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd...004/809908.pdf the motorcycle fatality rate in 2004 was 32 times higher that automobiles per miles traveled.

Clearly, much of the higher fatality rate is due to a propensity for risk taking behavior in motorcyclists. Especially in my late teens and early twenties, I did totally idiotic things on my bike. I was just lucky those first few years, then became cautious and extremely traffic wise.

I truly loved motorcycling, but increasing traffic, road rage in too many car and truck drivers, and my slower reflexes prompted me to sell my gorgeous BMW R70 about 20 years ago.

Aging people and people with PN have slower reflex times. It's probably not wise for most of us to drive a bike except in a group and very sensibly.

The controls on a motorcycle are so different than in a car. The controls on many bikes are different than other bikes, and motorcycles can accelerate faster than almost any car. It's easy to make a mistake until one is used to that specific bike. Here are examples of mistakes on a bike that can cause a crash:

-hitting the foot shifter lever instead of the foot rear brake lever (most bikes shift with the left foot, brake with the right),

-taking a turn too fast,

-for new drivers, turning toward a hazard you're looking at instead of where you want to turn to avoid that hazard,

-hitting an oil patch on the road during a turn,

-not being able to find the right gear for quick acceleration to get out of troubling situations,

-not being able to shift one's weight properly for a very quick emergency maneuver.

-assuming that car driver sees you,

-This next one almost killed me on a big bike I was test riding: not being able to reduce speed during full acceleration because the bike accelerates faster than you expected. Your weight shifts back and you can't decelerate because you're hanging on to the twist grip accelerator to stop from flying off of the bike at high speed so you're actually making it accelerate more. My buddy crashed my very fast bike in a test ride around the block for exactly that reason.

Tragedies happen in spite of our best efforts and intentions. To repeat, it's really very different than driving a car and inherently more dangerous. I wish I could have talked with your husband before he bought his bike. I'm so sorry for you about this and hope this helps you make some sense out of what happened.

I am also truly sorry for your loss, but you really do need the doctor who was treating his PN to answer this question, as you don't mention the actual cause of the accident as to if any other vehilces, road conditions, or anything else that may have initiated the accident.
Many years ago my uncle got a lend of his friends motor bike, road conditions were good and he was riding along safely but some idiot drunk stepped out from the medium strip right in front of him, he never had the time to do anything else but slam on the brakes, he was thrown off his bike and hit an old metal postal box and died soon after, the drunk survived, if he would have been driven a car the result would have been the opposite, so there's no wonder why i hate motor cycles, you have no protection around you like a car has and thats not saying your safe in a car either.