Knowing what a crash feels like has little or no training or redemptive value. To take the example to the extreme (for illustrative purposes), why don't we all get shot so we know what dying feels like?

 

I can't speak for anyone else only from my own experience
most recently (2015) getting swatted by a car going 25mph to 30mph .there are multiple variables in a crash scenario .
mine was I made the mistake of puting my leg out to stop myself falling into traffic ... instead I should of tried to land on my side or back ..The impact caused 2 prolapse disc L5 L4 and L5 S1 .i had 3 1/2 surgery 28th of January

True there is no right way to crash BUT I never throw my arms or legs out to stop me because the force is enough to snap bones

 

YES!!! Good idea What school dates are you going to?!

Not sure I agree with the idea that everyone SHOULD get banged up but I definitely agree with the idea that you should take a careful look at any of the crashes you have had, or the near misses and see what YOU could have done differently.

All too often people blame other circumstances for the crash without truly taking a moment to identify if there was anything they could have done to reduce the risk of the crash in the first place. When I had my first crash on the street I blamed the lady because she just changed lanes into me. It was deemed 100% her fault insurance wise but there were a few things I could have done differently in the situation. 1. I could have lessened the time I was riding in her blind spot and beside her. and 2. I could have had better visual awareness around me to notice her beginning to change lanes. These two things would have reduced the chances of the crash (it still may have happened) but once I analyzed those two things, the situation never happened again.

There are a lot of things you can learn from a crash or even a near miss when riding. If you are on the street and you run wide for example, maybe cross the centre line and thankfully no one is in the oncoming lane.....what might that tell you about your own riding mistakes?

 

I've done California Superbike a bunch of times (level 4 3x) and the vast majority of what they focus on is visual skills. Single-bike crashes are usually related in some way to target fixation, which in turn is due to not looking far enough ahead. Another thing they talked about that stuck out for me was event sequence. Talented riders go very quickly to fine details and differences of split seconds, but mediocre riders (like me) can benefit from drilling on "brake, sit up, sight the reference point, THEN tip in". Get this out of order and you can be in big trouble without even realizing what you've done wrong. Personally, a lot of the work I had to do was unlearn all the terrible habits I'd built up over decades of riding without concern for proper riding or consequences. Until you've made proper technique second nature, the bad habits are the ones you'll revert to in a crisis.