Watchout for the motorcycles

Look Twice, Save a Life

You’ve probably read this on a bumper sticker somewhere and may not understand the real importance of the notion.

When you are pulling out, let’s say for instance, making a left turn you likely are going to first look left, and then right, and then pull out. By looking left a second time before pulling out you might see what the sun was blocking or, a rider may have pulled out just a block away, made a right, heading your direction and due to  how fast motorcycles accelerate (naturally) the rider may already be too close to stop in the event you pull out in front of him. There are countless variations of how these accidents often happen, where simply looking twice could have prevented the collision. At the end of the day just be more alert and double check before changing lanes, pulling out and even reversing in parking lots.

Check your blind spot

Drive safer by not depending on your mirrors

Said to be one of the most common reasons for auto accidents in general, failure to properly check your blind spots is also a huge contributor to motorcycle vs. car related collisions. Motorcycles are much smaller than other vehicles and can be hidden on the outskirts of your mirrors and even hard to see in when checking the blind spots. Take extra caution by leaving plenty of room between yours and the car in front of you so you have the seconds needed to properly, thoroughly check your bind spots before changing lanes.

Perception is everything

Do you know what depth perception is? We have two eyes that allow to us to have depth perception and when we can see a car, with two headlights, we can actually perceive with decent accuracy just how fast that car is going. Comparatively, we cannot so easily perceive how fast a motorcycle is going so when driving, especially at night, keep this in mind and give motorcycles extra time to pass by, or take extra time to assess their speed. Sure, they might be speeding, but that’s someones son, daughter, brother, sister, father or even mother and sure, maybe they deserve a strong ticket but they do not deserver to lose their life because you’re in a hurry.

Reaction time matters

Some experienced motorcyclists may able to stop faster than heavier cars and trucks on the road however, as motorcycles have less rubber on the road and can’t use the full extent of their front brake in the event of an emergency stop, a biker likely won’t be able to come to a stop in the same distance a car can. If a rider needs to stop quick to avoid a collision and you are following close, there’s a good chance you wont be able to stop in time. Leave PLENTY of room between your vehicle and the motorcyclist in front of you.
If you notice a motorcyclist behind you, don’t slam your brakes on unless absolutlely neccisary.

Turn signal sooner

If you notice a rider behind you, be sure to initiate your turn signal sooner than normal. Whether you are turning or changing lanes, the signal indication is both a courtesy and a safety measure.

Be extra alert for turning motorcycles

If you are behind a rider who has a turn signal on, give him extra room and be aware that motorcycles can’t turn as quick as you can. Cars have much more rubber on the road allowing them to navigate a turn much quicker than bikes. Motorcyclists have to turn much slower while being extra careful of loose gravel and other bad road conditions which cars wont be nearly as ill-effected by.

On the same topic of turning motorcycles, a less experienced rider might move far to the side of the road prior their right turn, giving you the notion it may be okay to pass them prior their turn. DO NOT PASS them until they have fully completed their turn. For one, the blinker you see might just be on from a previous turn and secondly, they may need to make a wide turn causing them to move back into the middle of the lane just before their turn. Experienced riders wont make this mistake and will travers the center or left of the lane prior a right turn but be aware, not all riders are experts.