A new look at the Hurt Report

[G.Irish]

have you thought about the fact that the people most likely to take a MSF class are also the people who are more likely to ride in a safe manner even absent of any kind of training due to other personal factors?

I dont believe the MSF training provides you with the skill to ride safer on the streets right away, unless you need to safely do a u-turn in a box. I think it helps you learn the basic skills to getting started on the street and the rest is up to you - and getting start off on the right foot without a bunch of bad habits goes a long way down the road.

Its definitely not a cure-all for riding errors or falling off.

Well the MSF teaches you defensive riding skills, how to avoid target fixation, what to do when the rear is locked, how to handle the bike at low speeds, how to make emergency stops and the basics on how to get around a corner. Without those skills you open yourself to a wide variety of mishap.

To really learn how to get around a corner and get the most out of your brakes and everything you'd need a high performance school but just having the basics makes it a lot easier to operate a bike safely. I know if I didn't know some of the stuff from MSF I probably would have made some stupid low to medium speed mistakes by now.

Correlation does not always equal causation but given what is taught in the MSF its fairly likely that the training itself does reduce your chances of being in an accident. Perhaps a more detailed study could go into what specific skill deficiencies lead to accidents.