Are you ready to make your daily motorcycle commute safer with fewer chances of getting catastrophically or fatally hurt in a collision? With the rising use of smartphones by the numerous distracted drivers clogging our streets, motorcycle safety is more important than ever.
Yes, we can encourage vehicle drivers to pay more attention to the road, and punish them severely when they don’t, but motorcyclists also need to do their part in the name of self-preservation.
Along those lines, here are three things that every motorcyclist needs to be doing in order to avoid a potentially fatal crash:
1. Be careful of slow drivers in neighborhoods: You know that guy in the Lincoln driving about 5 miles an hour in front of you in the neighborhood? He’s driving slow for a reason: because he’s looking for an address. The second you try to pass, he’ll turn into your path and knock you out. These kinds of in-neighborhood motorcycle accidents happen all the time. Your best bet is to wait until the guy figures out where he’s going and then safely pass. It could even save your life.
2. Don’t lay down your bike on purpose: Many motorcyclists have the instinct to lay their bikes down and slide across the pavement as a way to slow down faster in an emergency. The problem is, this is never faster than using both brakes strategically. Motorcyclists can learn a lot from practicing braking as fast as possible in a parking lot.
3. Never drink and drive a motorcycle: It doesn’t matter if you drank half a beer, you shouldn’t get behind the handlebars of a motorcycle. Even small amount of alcohol can result in serious levels of impairment for a motorcyclist.
When a motorcyclist gets injured due to no fault of his or her own in a multi-car crash, it’s important to investigate exactly what happened. With an in-depth knowledge of the facts and laws that come into play, an injured biker can determine whether he or she has a viable claim for damages. More importantly, though, motorcyclists should educate themselves on bike safety to prevent getting into a crash in the first place.