Bike Safety Tips

[camos]

I tripped over these tips at motorcyclecruiser.com and thought they were worth at least refreshing our memories if not actually teaching us something.

 

Follow the following tips to help avoid being hit by left-turners.

We’ve all heard those aggravating, “I didn’t see him,” stories about car drivers who turned in front of motorcyclists. While that doesn’t make it right, it also doesn’t help you when you’re bouncing off a car. Because visibility and perception are the causes of intersection accidents, they’re also the keys to avoiding them.

 

1. Run with your high beam on during the day. This catches other drivers’ eyes and makes you appear closer. It also helps separate you from the increasing number of cars with daytime running lights.
   
2. Wear a brightly colored—Day-Glo, yellow, orange, white or red—jacket.
   
3. Wear a helmet painted a single bright color.
   
4. Position yourself where drivers waiting at an intersection can see you as you approach.
   
5. Use large vehicles, such as trucks and buses, as shields and pass through the intersection next to them. Cross-traffic might not see you, but they will see a bus—and they won’t turn in front of it.
   
6. Be aware of what you can’t see. A larger vehicle ahead of you, even an SUV or mini-van—can conceal a small car that’s about to turn in front of you. Never commit yourself to an intersection until you can see all potential threats.
   
7. Unless you believe a car may turn in front of you, maintain a constant (but prudent) or very slightly slowing speed as you approach the intersection. Drivers may not anticipate acceleration and feel there’s room to get in front of you. If they perceive that you’re slowing, they may believe you’re going to turn or stop and that it’s okay to pull out.
   
8. Don’t signal for any turn you plan to make immediately after the intersection until you are clear of the intersection, and be sure to cancel your signals immediately after any turn, since a forgotten signal tells a driver that you’re going to turn and he can pull out.
   
9. If there’s only one potential threat in the intersection, gradually move to the opposite side of your lane or an adjacent same-direction lane.
   
10. Don’t proceed just because you believe you have made eye contact with the driver who was beginning to turn in front of you. We’ve seen many, many letters from injured riders who said, “We made eye contact, but he just kept turning….
    

 

Heed these fifty tips to help save your life while you are riding your motorcycle in the urban jungle.

Assume you’re invisible

Because to a lot of drivers, you are. Never make a move based on the assumption that another driver sees you, even if you’ve just made eye contact.

Be considerate

The consequences of strafing the jerk du jour or cutting him off start out bad and get worse. Pretend it was your grandma and think again.

Dress for the crash, not the pool or the prom

Sure, Joaquin’s Fish Tacos is a five-minute trip, but nobody plans to eat pavement. Modern mesh gear means 100-degree heat is no excuse for a T-shirt and board shorts.

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst

Assume that car across the intersection will turn across your bow when the light goes green, with or without a turn signal.

Leave your ego at home

The only people who really care if you were faster on the freeway will be the officer and the judge.

Pay attention

Yes, there is a half-naked girl on the billboard. And the chrome needs a polish. Meanwhile, you could be drifting toward Big Trouble. Focus.

Mirrors only show you part of the picture

Never change direction without turning your head to make sure the coast really is clear.

Be patient

Always take another second or three before you pull out to pass, ride away from a curb or merge into freeway traffic from an on-ramp. It’s what you don’t see that gets you. That extra look could save your butt.

Watch your closing speed

Passing cars at twice their speed or changing lanes to shoot past a row of stopped cars is just asking for trouble.

Beware the verge and the merge

A lot of nasty surprises end up on the sides of the road: empty McDonald’s bags, nails, TV antennas, ladders, you name it. Watch for potentially troublesome debris on both sides of the road.

Left-turning cars remain a leading killer of motorcyclists

Don’t assume someone will wait for you to dart through the intersection. They’re trying to beat the light, too.

Think before you act

Careful whipping around that Camry going 7 mph in a 25-mph zone or you could end up with your head in the driver’s side door when he turns in front of you.

Beware of cars running traffic lights

The first few seconds after a signal light changes are the most perilous. Look both ways before barging into an intersection.

Check your mirrors

Do it every time you change lanes, slow down or stop. Be ready to move if another vehicle is about to occupy the space you’d planned to use.

Mind the gap

Remember Driver’s Ed.? One second’s worth of distance per 10 mph is the old rule of thumb. Better still, scan the next 12 seconds ahead for potential trouble.

Beware of tuner cars

They’re quick, and their drivers tend to be young and aggressive, therefore potentially hazardous.

Excessive entrance speed hurts

It’s the leading cause of single-bike accidents on twisty roads—some cruisers can make unheard of amounts of power. Use it on the way out of a corner, not in.

Don’t trust that deer whistle

Ungulates and other feral beasts prowl at dawn and dusk, so heed those big yellow signs. If you’re riding in a target-rich environment, slow down and watch the shoulders.

Learn to use both brakes

The front does most of your stopping, but for a lot of heavy cruisers a little extra rear brake can really help haul you up fast.

Keep the front brake covered—always

Save a single second of reaction time at 60 mph and you can stop 88 feet shorter. Think about that.

Look where you want to go

Use the miracle of target fixation to your advantage. The motorcycle goes where you look, so focus on the solution instead of the problem.

Keep your eyes moving

Traffic is always shifting, so keep scanning for potential trouble. Don’t lock your eyes on any one thing for too long unless you’re actually dealing with trouble.

Come to a full stop at that next stop sign

Put a foot down. Look again. Anything less forces a snap decision with no time to spot potential trouble.

Raise your gaze

It’s too late to do anything about the 20 feet immediately in front of your fender, so scan the road far enough ahead to see trouble and change trajectory.

Get your mind right in the driveway

Most accidents happen during the first 15 minutes of a ride, below 40 mph, near an intersection or driveway. Yes, that could be your driveway.

Never dive into a gap in stalled traffic

Cars may have stopped for a reason, and you may not be able to see why until it’s too late to do anything about it.

Don’t saddle up more than you can handle

If you weigh 95 pounds, avoid that 795-pound cruiser. Get something lighter and more manageable.

Watch for car doors opening into traffic

And smacking a car that’s swerving around some goofball’s open door is just as painful.

Don’t get in an intersection rut

Watch for a two-way stop after a string of four-way intersections. If you expect cross-traffic to stop, there could be a painful surprise when it doesn’t.

Stay in your comfort zone when you’re with a group

Riding over your head is a good way to end up in a ditch. Any bunch worth riding with will have a rendezvous point where you’ll be able to link up again.

Give your eyes some time to adjust

A minute or two of low light heading from a well-lighted garage onto dark streets is a good thing. Otherwise, you’re essentially flying blind for the first mile or so.

Master the slow U-turn

Practice. Park your butt on the outside edge of the seat and lean the bike into the turn, using your body as a counterweight as you pivot around the rear wheel.

Who put a stop sign at the top of this hill?

Don’t panic. Use the rear brake to keep from rolling back down. Use Mr. Throttle and Mr. Clutch normally—and smoothly—to pull away.

If it looks slippery, assume it is

A patch of suspicious pavement could be just about anything. Butter Flavor Crisco? Gravel? Mobil 1? Or maybe it’s nothing. Better to slow down for nothing than go on your head.

Bang! A blowout! Now what?

No sudden moves. The motorcycle isn’t happy, so be prepared to apply a little calming muscle to maintain course. Ease back the throttle, brake gingerly with the good wheel and pull over very smoothly to the shoulder. Big sigh.

Drops on the faceshield?

It’s raining. Lightly misted pavement can be slipperier than when it’s been rinsed by a downpour, and you never know how much grip there is. Apply maximum-level concentration, caution and smoothness.

Everything is harder to see after dark

Adjust your headlights, carry a clear faceshield and have your game all the way on after dark, especially during commuter hours

Emotions in check?

To paraphrase Mr. Ice Cube, chickity-check yo self before you wreck yo self. Emotions are as powerful as any drug, so take inventory every time you saddle up. If you’re mad, sad, exhausted or anxious, stay put.

Wear good gear

Wear stuff that fits you and the weather. If you’re too hot or too cold or fighting with a jacket that binds across the shoulders, you’re dangerous. It’s that simple.

Leave the iPod at home

You won’t hear that cement truck in time with Spinal Tap cranked to 11, but they might like your headphones in intensive care.

Learn to swerve

Be able to do two tight turns in quick succession. Flick left around the bag of briquettes, then right back to your original trajectory. The bike will follow your eyes, so look at the way around, not the briquettes. Now practice until it’s a reflex.

Be smooth at low speeds

Take some angst out, especially of slow-speed maneuvers, with a bit of rear brake. It adds a welcome bit of stability by minimizing unwelcome weight transfer and potentially bothersome driveline lash.

Flashing is good for you

Turn signals get your attention by flashing, right? So a few easy taps on the pedal or lever before stopping makes your brake light more eye-catching to trailing traffic.

Intersections are scary, so hedge your bets

Put another vehicle between your bike and the possibility of someone running the stop sign/red light on your right and you cut your chances of getting nailed in half.

Tune your peripheral vision

Pick a point near the center of that wall over there. Now scan as far as you can by moving your attention, not your gaze. The more you can see without turning your head, the sooner you can react to trouble.

All alone at a light that won’t turn green?

Put as much motorcycle as possible directly above the sensor wire—usually buried in the pavement beneath you and located by a round or square pattern behind the limit line. If the light still won’t change, try putting your kickstand down, right on the wire. You should be on your way in seconds.

Don’t troll next to—or right behind—Mr. Peterbilt

If one of those 18 retreads blows up—which they do with some regularity—it de-treads, and that can be ugly. Unless you like dodging huge chunks of flying rubber, keep your distance.

Take the panic out of panic stops

Develop an intimate relationship with your front brake. Seek out some safe, open pavement. Starting slowly, find that fine line between maximum braking and a locked wheel, and then do it again and again.

Make your tires right

None of this stuff matters unless your skins are right. Don’t take ’em for granted. Make sure pressure is spot-on every time you ride. Check for cuts, nails and other junk they might have picked up, as well as for general wear.

Take a deep breath

Count to 10. Visualize whirled peas. Forgetting about some clown’s 80-mph indiscretion beats running the risk of ruining your life, or ending it.

 

[bongobobny]

All very wise information!! It is especially important for us to ALWAYS be a defensive driver, especially on two wheels!! I personally expect EVERY driver to do something stupid, and more and more I find I am right about that assumption...

[Marcarl]

Thanks, a good spring refresher.

[Sailor]

I drove ambulance for a while. It is amazing the number of people who can not see a big white ambulance with lots of red markings and flashing lights and a siren. Not much chance those people will see a motorcycle.

The majority of motorcycle accidents are caused by unaware drivers. We should be writing letters to the local governments and media to get word out to drivers that we are out there and they need to watch for us. I have had several letters printed in various newspapers and been on radio promoting motorcycle safety. I figure every bit helps and if enough of us do it drivers will slowly develop awareness.

In this area each year the government spends millions of dollars on bicycle awareness and safety, hundreds of thousands on pedestrian awareness and safety, not one cent on motorcycle awareness and safety.

Frequently knee jerk politicians decide to attack motorcycles and motorcyclists as a way to get free publicity. I always attack them and point out the absurdity of their claims. Being proactive is better than being reactive from a hospital bed.

[CaseyJ955]

Living so close to Sturgis, motorists seem hostile towards motorcyclists, or at the very least annoyed. I understand why too, sure no mystery to anyone trying to get on with life during bike week. A great many of us are *******s on the road (not necessarily Venture guys but motorcycles in general) so collectively we bargain for the contempt of many motorists just as they us. When I ride I assume that they dont care and they arent going to burn the calories of turning their head before doing a sweeping lane change out of the blue, or to flip the wand that makes the blinkers go. I assume this all the time and often I'm not disappointed. Se we fight not only the mind-numbing in car distraction systems but the active conditioned response motorists develop as a result of less considerate and less skilled motorcycle owners. As a result many many motorists are passively dangerous and some are actually actively dangerous and harbor a seething hatred of motorcycles, again, not hard to understand why.

 

One thing that is mentioned that should be given additional emphasis to is NEVER EVER ride in someones blind spot, even if they do care they cant see you. I dont waste time executing a pass, I go as quickly as possible without being rude but it ties in with existing in a blind spot. Extra caution should be taken around HDs and anyone still careless enough to be using a phone while driving, in my experience these are the most significant hazards on the road, even ahead of drunks and tractor/trailer combos.

 

At stop lights make sure your positioned to shoot between or beside any vehicles in front of you and keep one eye on the mirror, sort of an escape route. This has saved me more than once. It seems to get more complicated as time goes on, I really feel for you folks that ride in congested areas full of impatient commuters. We have a duty to be courteous and safe but it has to be tempered with the ability to instantly kick into self-preservation mode.

 

This one is one I have to keep in mind living in the hills, NEVER ride beyond your line of sight. If you cant stop before the furthest point you can see then it's a roll of the dice, never know whats beyond that blind corner, even on a familiar road. A pile of rocks, a stalled furniture delivery truck, deer (all things I have personally almost smacked rounding corners).