Some good points. There is another alternative that is kinda a compromise between the two, and the motorcycling community is actually about half way to the solution already.
Scuba divers faced the exact same situation. A sport people loved, many deaths, and accumulating pressure from environmental impact (basically the community had pretty poor habits and was trashing the remarkably fragile reefs).
The solution was regulatory, but was a self imposed regulatory agency (PADI and NAUI). In order to get tanks filled at dive shops, and in able to participate in group dives on dive boats, you must have a basic level of certification from one of the two major certification agencies.
Also, the community as a whole places tremendous emphasis on safety first. Full redundancy is mandatory for even simple shallow dives (basically stuff you could snorkle). Anybody can call off any dive at any time for any reason, and is encouraged to do so. Even if they just have the jitters. Aggressive and reckless divers are shunned and mocked. Extreme diving such as cave dives requires many more levels of certification. Touch the reef on a dive, and expect to catch a lot of grief about it from your dive master and your dive buddies.
Nobody gets certified for anything unless they have done a certification dive with a licensed instructor and demonstrated basic skills.
We already have the organization (the Motorcycle Safety Foundataion) and the certification (the basic rider course). Both the basic rider course and my basic open water scuba certification took about the same amount of time and energy. Both required a final test administered by a certified instructor, and neither group was shy about "failing" people that still have work to do.
We can accomplish most of this with no government involvement (remember... there is no situation so bad that a little big government can't make it worse). We already have the organization, we already have the classes, we already have the instructors.
What remains to achieve is an emphasis on safety that this (and many other bike oriented forums) lack. Nobody should ever be pressured into a ride at a pace they do not feel comfortable with. Ever. Joking about it (like those t-shirts mocking people for being slow) should be completely rejected by the mainstream community, along with the people that wear them.
Aggressive and wreckless behavior should be widely rejected by the community unless it is on the track or other private property (where it is none of my business, and in fact I might want to buy the video
Philosophies like "The Pace" are going a long way towards balancing the fun of sportbikes along with keeping a good safety margin. Emphasis should be moved from speed, which any idiot with more balls than brains can do (once anyway), to form, which takes some serious practice and ability to ever achieve.
Lets start bragging about "going on five years now without ever locking the back brake" or "On my third year without an emergency that I had not planned ahead for and correctly executed out of". Stop with the bragging about how we drug the pegs on a 80mph blind sweeper, and brag about how big a safety margin you are able to maintain because of your excellent mental and physical riding skills.
Wow... that was quite a rant...
Bill "Proud to be safe and whimpy when riding" Kilgallon
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"The object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to eventually close it again on something solid" (GK Chesterton)
