Understanding the Risks of Riding Motorcycles and How to Mitigate Them

Riding a motorcycle is thrilling, exciting, and fun for many people out there. However, it can’t be denied that motorcyclists are in more danger on roadways than those driving cars or trucks. There are a few reasons for this and ways to decrease your risk, all of which we’ll cover in this article.

While avoiding getting into an accident is the ideal scenario, sometimes you’ll be put in a difficult situation and wind up in one anyway. When this happens, you should contact a personal injury lawyer  since they’ll be able to assist you in evaluating liability in various motorcycle crash scenarios and get you the rightful compensation that you’re owed. 

One reason why you may be put into a scenario where you need a personal injury attorney is how easy it can be for drivers to potentially miss seeing motorcyclists on the roadway.

Visibility

Why is it so easy for drivers to miss motorcyclists? The answer’s incredibly simple: drivers aren’t trained to watch for them, and this awareness test can easily explain the concept. In it, you’re asked to count how many passes the team in white makes. 

While the team in white and the one in black run around passing to each other, you focus on counting. If you paid attention, you would have counted thirteen passes…but you missed the dancing bear. In the middle of the frantic passing, a man in a bear costume walks in the middle and moonwalks out of frame. You missed him because you weren’t watching for him; you were watching for the white team—and a similar concept is applied to motorcyclists on the roadway. [If this happens when you're in New York, consider contacting this Rochester NY lawyer.]

We’re trained to watch for cars and trucks, and since many people won’t encounter motorcyclists that often, we miss them unless they are driving directly in front of or behind us. There are ways to make both yourself and your motorcycle more visible to make this less of an issue, though. 

Some tips include using your high beams during the day, wearing reflective clothing, tapping your brakes when you're stopping, and only driving in good weather. Maybe we would have noticed the bear if he was wearing reflective tape, just some food for thought.

Debris

A common road hazard is debris, which could be a tree branch, dead animal, pothole, or any number of other things that end up in the road when they shouldn’t be there. These can be especially dangerous for motorcyclists, though, as you aren’t surrounded by padding and a metal frame. As a result, you need to be prepared to handle debris, whether that means you ride around it or over it.

The first step is to be attentive and look ahead. Being aware of your surroundings will allow you to understand what you can and can’t do to avoid the debris, and looking ahead will let you know what’s coming and allow you to prepare for it. If you have to go around it, you either need to turn on your turn signal and ensure that no cars are coming before temporarily passing into another lane or make an emergency quick turn.

There may be times when you need to ride over the debris. When this occurs, tighten your grip on the hand grips, keep going straight, and adjust your foot position to absorb the shock without injuring yourself. It may be a good idea to pull over after riding over something to ensure no damage was done to your bike. 

You may want to run through a maintenance checklist once your ride's over to check everything over and ensure the debris doesn't harm your bike in an unexpected way.

Weather conditions

While riding in good, clear weather conditions is fun; there may be times when you need or want to ride in less ideal conditions, such as rain or heavy hog. To stay safe, you’ll need to take extra precautions in these scenarios. 

For riding in the rain, you’ll need to check your tire pressure, wear waterproof gear, and ride a bit slower than usual. The road will be slick, so try to keep a safe distance between yourself and other vehicles and keep your speed consistent since any sudden movements may cause you to slide and crash.

For cold and icy rides, you’ll obviously need to bundle up to stay warm. Riding creates wind that presses against you, making you colder faster, so you’ll need multiple layers of warm clothing to cover your body. Also, don’t hesitate to take a break at a warm gas station or rest stop every now and then to keep yourself warm. 

You’ll also need to decrease your speed and brake, then gently accelerate so you don’t start to skid. Whether it’s cold or rainy, you’ll need to increase your visibility with reflective tape and clothing where possible; also, adding reflective strips to your bike will help further increase your visibility.

Other safety tips

As mentioned before, unfortunately, sometimes accidents in life are unavoidable. There are ways to decrease your chances of being in an accident and protect yourself from harm when you do happen to crash. 

To help decrease your chances of being in an accident, try to increase your visibility and pay attention not only to your surroundings, but also to what’s coming up in front of you. The most important tool you have to keep yourself safe is evaluating the path ahead and deciding the best way to proceed, even if that means simply continuing to do exactly what you’re already doing.

You also need to ensure you’re wearing the proper gear to protect yourself if you do end up in an accident, and the most important piece of gear you can have is a good helmet. While it won't prevent all head injuries, should you crash, it will prevent many and can help save your life. You’ll also want goggles to protect your eyes from the wind, bugs, and other airborne debris that are on the road. 

For your clothing, you’ll want leather as much as possible. Leather is thick and will protect you from the abrasions you would otherwise suffer from coming in contact with the road at high speeds. Some other gear you’ll need includes gloves and over-the-ankle boots.

Staying safe as a motorcyclist

Motorcycling can be dangerous, but there are plenty of ways to help you make it a little bit safer. The tips and advice given in this article only scratches the surface of how to stay safe, as you may encounter uneven roads, gravel, and more while you ride. 

Also, don’t hesitate to do research or ask experienced bikers about the potential risks they face and how they handle them in real life. Remember, there’s no shame in asking for help so that you can stay safe on the road.