But the most significant change in modern science is not just about the amount of noise, but how we experience it. Noise is no longer understood solely as a problem that affects hearing, it is also recognised as a systemic environmental pollutant. Transport noise is now one of the leading environmental cause of illness in Europe, second only to air pollution.
This is some highly enriched, weapons grade bullshit. You want drivers to see you? Don’t drive like an idiot. The best way to be hit by a car when you’re on a motorbike is to drive way faster than everyone else, change lanes constantly, overtake cars on the right and split lanes. Guess who does that the most? Idiots on loud bikes.
On top of that you will not hear a bike driving behind you, no matter how loud it is. I have no idea in what fantasy scenarios laud bikes save anyone. It’s 100% just a stupid excuse used by obnoxious idiots.
Motorcycles are fun as hell, but safety has nothing to do with loudness and everything to do with hyper situational awareness and anticipating problems. The fatality curve peaks squarely in the Dunning-Kruger zone. New riders make mistakes but usually resulting in no or lesser injuries because they’re scared and careful. It’s when people get (over) confident at a year or so that the real problems come, usually resulting in a really bad scare or death or major injury. Those that (can and do) continue become super aware of their surroundings and are mostly the safest drivers out there, and the death and accident rate goes way down.
Truthfully driving societies would be way better off if people had to start on motorbikes (or ebikes) before starting to drive around 2 tons of death, the awareness stays with you. That said, fuck cars.
None of any of that has anything to do with noise, cars are sound isolated against their own noise FFS. In aggregate cars make much more noise than motorbikes anyway, sheer numbers, it’s just that you notice the dickhead with the loud pipes more (when you’re not in a sound isolating car).
That’s a hella cope, just admit you like the danger and embrace it.
If you ride, found the Dunning-Kruger person, if not, why comment?
FWIW, I’m retired from that now, just regular bikes, and car (for now), mores the pity, but it wasn’t the danger, it was the feeling of speed and responsiveness. They suck in traffic, but a windy mountain road? Exhilarating.
you can absolutely hear a loud bike approaching your blind spot, which is kind of the important time to be noticing them
even I can hear them with my half deafness and shitty loud car that you have to yell in to have a conversation on the highway