Highsider

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A highsider or high-side is a type of motorcycle accident characterized by sudden and violent rotation of the bike around its longitudinal axis. This generally happens when the rear wheel loses traction, skids, and then suddenly regains traction, causing the rider to be thrown head-first from the side of the motorcycle or over the handlebars. Highsiders differ from lowsiders as follows: during a lowsider, the rear wheel slips laterally and continuously until the bike falls onto its inner, or "low", side, while during a highsider, the rear wheel slips laterally briefly before suddenly regaining traction and flipping the bike onto its outer, or "high" side. As a result, highsiders happen very quickly and violently with little, if any, warning.

A highsider or high-side is a type of motorcycle accident characterized by sudden and violent rotation of the bike around its longitudinal axis. This generally happens when the rear wheel loses traction, skids, and then suddenly regains traction, causing the rider to be thrown head-first from the side of the motorcycle or over the handlebars. Highsiders differ from lowsiders as follows: during a lowsider, the rear wheel slips laterally and continuously until the bike falls onto its inner, or "low", side, while during a highsider, the rear wheel slips laterally briefly before suddenly regaining traction and flipping the bike onto its outer, or "high" side. As a result, highsiders happen very quickly and violently with little, if any, warning.

Injury risks

The term highsider derives from the side of the motorcycle from which the rider is thrown. If forcibly thrown over the bike, the rider is said to have dismounted on the high side. The violent motion of the motorbike usually throws the rider several feet into the air, which can result in broken bones on impact with the road surface. As the highsider catches the rider unexpectedly, the rider's limbs can be thrown into protrusions on the bike (usually the handlebars) and suffer contusions. The rider may be thrown ahead of the bike and is at risk of being hit and seriously injured by the bike, particularly if the rider stops quickly. Because highsider accidents are so much more deadly than lowside accidents, the Motorcycle Safety Foundation recommends that if a rider locks the rear brake at higher speeds and the traction is good, the brake should not be released.

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1284092370 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.

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