Most motorcycle riding accidents and accompanying injuries are rare. For all the people that fret about protective motorcycle gear, very few actually become involved in an accident. Looked at from that point of view, you could say that most riders fret for nothing.

While each of us has a personal comfort level regarding the amount of risk that we're willing to accept, the following might provide some considerations regarding managing personal risk.

Some injuries are not important or serious, even though they may occur frequently. Others are more serious and, though rare in occcurence, can be life-altering. So a little personal risk management is in order.

Isn't a body armor back protector mainly useful for track use? Isn't it rare that someone suffers a back injury? Again, this is tied to your tolerance for risk.

I definitely wear my body armor back protector when I ride on a track. But it may actually be more useful in a street riding setting. There are typically fewer obstacles to hit when crashing on a track, especially when low-siding. Run-off areas are plentiful. Most retaining walls involve some energy absorption devices.

On the street it's very different. There are no planned run-offs. In a slide, you can hit any number of obstacles, none of which offer any energy absorption devices. Curbs, cars, trees, posts, fences, etc. This increases the likelyhood of encountering an impact-type of injury that can either crush or laterally displace one or more vertebrae.

Next to a rider's head, the spine is probably the most important part of your body to protect. Broken feet, hands, collarbones, ribs, and legs are mostly minor injuries. Broken spines never are. They are typically life-altering injuries.

A good body armor back protector should protect your spine from impact (crush and displacement) injuries. It should also help protect against compression injuries caused by excessive backwards bend (hyperextension ) of the spine.

To my mind, impact protection is at least as important as abrasion protection for riding on the street. And this is where good body armor shines.