I don’t know if it’s a product of the recession or because I’m actually going to class this semester, but I’ve noticed a pretty sizable increase in motorcycle traffic this year.

As a rider myself, I’m a fan of this trend and definitely understand the appeal: better gas mileage, easier commutes, babes, 0-100 acceleration times that put most cars’ 0-60 times to shame — I love my bike. I really do.

However, what I don’t love is crashing. When I told my dad I was buying my first motorcycle, he was less than pleased.

Which, you know, is the typical response from dad when I tell him I’m going to do something incredibly stup, er, dangerous. Imagine my surprise when he said, “You know, there are two people that ride motorcycles: people who have fallen off, and people who are gonna.”

And, to be honest, I didn’t argue with him; it makes sense.

If you missed the dash-cam video of Iowa lineman Josh Koeppel’s recent spill, I’m linking it to this article online. If you’re too lazy to care, let me summarize:

Koeppel has the green light and is keeping up with the normal flow of traffic. A pickup truck driven by an elderly gentleman in the opposite direction makes a left turn in front of Koeppel, who hits the truck with no hint of deceleration.

Luckily, Koeppel’s taken a few hits in his day and seems to know how to fall, which is nice considering he bounces off with enough force to flip him completely over. If you pay attention, you can see his flip-flop catch at least three seconds of hang time. Amazingly, and awesomely, he gets back on his feet and gets back to searching for Sarah Connor.

As a rider, this situation pissed me off, and I’m glad Koeppel was able to make it away relatively unscathed. First, it’s a fantastic example of the most common car vs. bike accident there is, and often times the results are far more tragic. More often than not, the driver of the automobile says he simply “didn’t see” the motorcyclist coming, and in the case of Koeppel’s accident, this is abundantly clear.

Therein lies the problem: Sport bikes aren’t the most visible thing on the road, although they’re the fastest. Nothing speeds up, slows down or swerves with the speed a motorcycle does, and that’s a function of weight — mass, for you good scientists.

Unfortunately, there’s absolutely no protection on a motorcycle. Whereas a car offers a seat belt, a reasonably stable platform and a whole bunch of stuff to smack in to relatively close to where you’re sitting, getting clipped on a bike means falling off, and here’s where the meat of the article is:

The utter stupidity of most people I see on motorcycles in Ames astounds me, and I used to be among those idiots.

Yeah, I used to ride around in as little as a T-shirt, mesh shorts and flip-flops. Then, I had a pickup truck pulling a trailer turn in front of me while I was going 45 mph. He got across both lanes before he saw me and made the brilliant decision to stop. I didn’t have room to swerve, which means I should have relied on emergency braking, but for some reason I figured my chances were better if I slid my bike out from under me. The insurance adjuster measured a 282-foot scrape from my bike and figured I flipped, tumbled and skidded a good three-fourths of that.

Scrubbing asphalt out of your skin with dish soap isn’t as easy as it sounds, and gauze isn’t the best thing with which to wrap road rash. Thankfully, there’s a synthetic bandage called DuoDerm made specifically for burn and burn-like injuries, and I managed to heal up well enough to where I thought participating in Judo at Iowa Games the next weekend was a good idea.

My girlfriend and her mom have done a great job guilt-tripping me into wearing my helmet and jacket every time I go out, and I’m glad I let my conscience get the better of me.

Last November, I got caught behind a fender-bender on Sheldon Avenue. I had two choices: hit the brakes and hope I didn’t get crushed by the two pickups I was between, or take my chances with the tailgate in front of me. On impact, I felt the bottom edge of my helmet press down onto my chest and collarbone, which perfectly supported my neck. I’ve been sold on helmets ever since, and would’ve walked away unscathed if I’d have had a bit more time to plan my trip over the handlebars.

When EMT arrived, he asked me what I had in my lap. I wasn’t sure what he was referring to, until he pointed out that I’d inverted my gas tank. I’ll take $10,000 in emergency room bills and a medical withdrawal over paralysis any day, and I’m glad I caught the luck I did.

If some of you still aren’t convinced, try this one: A few years ago, a good friend of mine was riding home on Highway 30. The driver of the pickup either didn’t see him or didn’t care, and when the driver ran the stop sign, my friend on the bike hit the rear wheel of the truck hard enough to snap the axle through the bed. At the time, he thinks, he was traveling at about 70 mph. Luckily, this friend is the oldest of old-school Judo club members, which meant he knew how to fall. Luckier still, he was wearing his helmet. He flew — literally flew — into a cornfield, and managed to make it out with no more than a concussion, broken hand, bruises and a three-month hip stinger.

We live in central Iowa, so between the deer, the elderly population and the overabundance of bad driving, it’s hard to sell motorcycling as safe. Simply put, the only person you can rely on as a rider is, well, you.

This summer, ISU senior Daniel Breuer was killed on I-35 just south of Ankeny. There had already been an accident that rush hour, which slowed traffic in the area. Breuer was unable to stop in time, colliding first with the back of a Lincoln sedan before hitting the wire barrier on the shoulder. Despite being airlifted to Iowa Methodist Medical Center, and despite having worn his helmet, his head trauma proved too severe to overcome.

Friends later commented to the Iowa State Daily that safety — both for himself and others — was always one of Breuer’s concerns, something that definitely escapes the vast majority of riders in town.

Horror stories notwithstanding, I absolutely love my bike. Is it safe in the conventional sense? Hell no, and I’m not even going to try to pretend it is. But that doesn’t mean I can’t take precautions and make it less dangerous.

I’ve attached a list of what we’ll call sage wisdom when it comes to motorcycles. For experienced riders, a lot of this is, hopefully, old news.

But if you’re a new rider looking to buy your first bike, or a novice rider looking for some pointers, I promise it’s worth reading.

Have fun, stay safe and ride smart, and no, those three are not mutually exclusive.