NHTSA Complaint #11144832 — 2012 YAMAHA WR250R

ONE MONTH AGO, I HIT A SMALL DEER ON MY MOTORCYCLE THAT JUMPED OUT OF THE BUSHES AND GAVE ME NO TIME TO REACT. IT WAS AN UNAVOIDABLE ACCIDENT. AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT I DIDN'T THINK ANYTHING WAS BROKEN BECAUSE I WAS ABLE TO PULL MY ARM FORWARD ON MY OWN WITHOUT MUCH PAIN. I DIDN'T NEED AN AMBULANCE AND THOUGHT I HAD MAYBE PULLED A MUSCLE, BUT I WAS WRONG. WHEN I SEPARATED FROM THE MOTORCYCLE, MY LEFT ELBOW GOT CAUGHT ON THE RIGHT MIRROR AND DISLOCATED MY ARM CAUSING A FRACTURED GLENOID, TORN LABRUM AND BICEP TENDON THAT REQUIRED A SURGERY TO FIX. YEARS FROM NOW, I MAY NEED A SHOULDER REPLACEMENT IF THE CARTILAGE WEARS OUT. MY COMPLAINT IS THAT THE MIRROR'S CREATE AN UNREASONABLE AMOUNT OF RISK FOR INJURY FOLLOWING AN ACCIDENT. THE MIRROR IS LACKING ANY KIND OF PIVOT POINT AND THE BASE OF THE MIRROR ARM THAT ALLOWS THE ARM TO MOVE OUT OF THE WAY UPON IMPACT. MY INJURIES WERE CAUSED BY A DEVICE REQUIRED BY LAW, BUT THERE DOESN'T SEEM TO BE ANY LAW'S THAT DICTATED HOW TO SAFELY MOUNT A MIRROR ON A MOTORCYCLE. SOME MIRRORS CAN BE MOUNTED BELOW THE HANDLEBARS, AND POSE NO RISK FOR DISLOCATION OF AN ARM. I COULD ONLY IMAGINE THAT IN OTHER TYPES OF ACCIDENTS THAT A PERSON GOING OVER THE HANDLEBARS WOULD BE TAKING THIS MIRROR ARM ASSEMBLY IN THE GUT. YES, MOTORCYCLES ARE A RISKY FORM OF TRANSPORTATION, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THEY CAN'T BE BUILT WITH SAFETY IN MIND. I WISH GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT WOULD GET UP TO SPEED ON THIS SUBJECT TO AVOID OTHER RIDERS LIVES GETTING RUINED BY A GOVERNMENT MANDATED SAFETY DEVICE.