Motorcycle Safety

There are plenty of differences when it comes to motorcycles and other vehicles. Let's briefly look at a few of the major ones.

1. Size: It all starts here with 2,500 pounds for an average passenger car vs. 250-900 pounds for a street bike. Add the dimensions of a commercial van or fully-loaded truck, and there is no doubt which vehicle is massively dwarfed by the other. Size is the major reason it is often difficult to see a motorcycle in traffic.

2. Vulnerability: It is easy to figure. Weight + Size + The Lack of a Protective Passenger Compartment = Vulnerability.

3. Maneuverability: What motorcycles lack in pure size they make up for in ease and quickness of maneuverability.

What to Watch For...
We're all taught as automobile drivers to stop for trains, watch for children crossing the street and use our lights at night. These are motoring basics. However, there are some unique traffic hazards when sharing the roads with motorcyclists that prompt a need for more know-how than just the basics.

• intersections
• driveways
• blind spots
• passing and being passed
• road conditions and surface hazards
• gravel
• oil
• debris
• sand
• water
• cracks and holes
• railroad tracks

The Basics for Congenial Co-Existence
It's a fact of modern motoring that motorists and motorcyclists are certain to be sharing the roads in the future, more not less. Both have a right to use the roadways; both have the responsibility to make sure every driving experience is equally safe for each other.

Reminders

• Expect to see Motorcycles!
• Be prepared to give motorcyclists plenty of space and time to maneuver; they will usually go around a hazard rather than over or through it.
• Expect motorcyclists to move around in their lane. While a motorcycle only occupies approximately 4' to 12' of lane, they will use the entire lane as traffic situations and the environment change.
• Give the motorcyclist the full lane when passing.
• Don't speed up when being passed by a motorcycle.
• Check over your shoulder whenever moving sideways to insure a motorcycle is not in your blind spot.
• Keep a safe two-second following sentence. -Pick a fixed object on or next to the road (a sign, tree or road marking). -As the motorcycle passes the object, begin counting "one thousand one, one thousand two".
• You should reach the object after you count "one thousand two." At night, in bad weather, or whenever road conditions are poor, increase the following distance to four seconds or more.