What Can Car Drivers Do to Stay Safe Around Motorcycles?
What Can Car Drivers Do to Stay Safe Around Motorcycles?
It's the dilemma all motorcyclists face: The exchange between the freedom of the open road and the specific safety precautions necessary to operate a motorcycle safely. Simply put, motorcycles don't offer the structural protection of cars and trucks, and motorcyclists require specific attention to matters like balance and road debris that traditional motorists can take for granted.
According to the Motorcycle Institute, motorcycling on a public roadway is 38 times more dangerous than driving a car, mile for mile. When a fatal accident occurs involving a motorcycle, the motorcycle driver is the fatality 94 percent of the time.
The Motorcycle Institute emphasizes the idea that motorcyclists can get hurt even when they are doing everything "right". Road conditions, weather and other motorists can all factor into a dangerous or deadly accident involving motorcycles.
With this in mind, here are some suggestions from AAA for car drivers who share the road with motorcyclists:
- Be extra cautious on weekends, when more motorcyclists take to the road.
- Provide motorcyclists adequate room to maneuver. Follow at least three to four seconds behind them.
- Allow extra maneuvering room in areas with potholes, pavement transitions and railroad crossings. Motorcyclists may need to slow down, stop or adjust their lane position.
- Never try to share a lane with a motorcycle. Motorcycles have the same right to lanes as any other vehicle.
- If a motorcycle is nearby, check your mirrors carefully before changing lanes. Motorcycles may be in your blind spots or difficult to see because of their smaller size.
But other motorists are just one factor that motorcyclists face on the road. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, motorcycles in fatal crashes in 2017 had the highest proportion of collisions with fixed objects at 23.5 percent. AAA recommends the following for motorcyclists:
- Keeping headlights and marker and taillights on at dusk and in dark or rainy weather.
- Staying three to four seconds behind a vehicle they intend to pass, checking oncoming traffic from the left side of the lane, signaling the intention to turn, and then checking for oncoming traffic before passing.
- Checking their rearview mirror and quickly turn their head to ensure the vehicle is a safe distance behind them when completing a pass.
- Wearing helmets that meet a high protection standard.
- Wearing proper clothing, eyewear and sturdy, closed-toe footwear.
For many riders, motorcycling is more than a hobby—it's a lifestyle. That's why insuring your motorcycle through AAA is a smart move. Request a quote online today.
Comments
Motorcycle safety
When entering a main road from a side road take a long hard look in both directions for small vehicles like motorcycles. We tend to take quick glances looking for large vehicles like cars and trucks and look right past motorcycles.
Also, it's important that motorcycles have headlights on at ALL times to make themselves more visible. Our brains are programed to look for lights, especially moving ones.
Motorcycle riders
When the bike is weaving in and out of traffic and going faster than speed limit .the bike will take
Shoulders and pass between cars. I
Do watch all and five respect to any vehicular. Motorcycles need to ride quiet and safe .
Motorcycle Safety
Thank you, AAA, for focusing on motorcycle safety at this time of year. As a motorcyclist with 50 years of experience, I appreciate all efforts to increase the safety of all users of our roads. Education is paramount.
Comments made by non-motorcyclists/not completely informed folks
McGarry Charles, please refrain from displaying your ignorance of motorcycles, motorcycling and the English language. If you choose not to ride, that's fine. Don't spew your hate here, please.
Motorcycle Safety
Being a Motorcycle operator since the age of 7 starting with minibikes I certainly have a decent perspective on this subject. I have driven in many states, those with and without helmet laws, I still see no reason to not have a brain bucket(Helmet) as a mandatory piece of equipment. I was always one who when on dirt bikes, wore safety equipment, road bike, not so much, I would ride in t-shirt and shorts.....Now, I wear my leather jacket and gloves and long pants. What really gets my ire up, fellow motorcycle riders who do wheelies and weave in and out of traffic at such a high rate of speed. This is just asking for trouble and giving the rest of us contentious riders such a bad name. Keep both wheels on the road and ride at a reasonable speed.
approaching an intersection
Car drivers,... when approaching an intersection of a main road,.. slow down with the intention of stopping way before the intersection,... don't come flying up expecting to blow through the stop sign "unless" you see oncoming traffic. The scariest thing for me on a bike is being on a main road doing 55 and see a car coming from a side road not slowing down until the very end,... you should be stopping before the stop sign , or the white mark that is marking the "stop" line.
Motorcycles are inherently unsafe as the statistic you quote make to clear. Placing any burden for motorcyclist’s safety on auto drivers is missing the point. Operators of motorcycles need to understand and should be insyructed that they are placing themselves at grave risk by riding one. A helmet and loud exhaust pipes at best create a dangerous illusion of that is not there. This is true for all motorcycle operators be they safe or unsafe operators. As for the many many unsafe operators, they are a menace to all motorists.