May is National Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month! To kick off the month here are some easy motorcycle safety tips to keep novice riders up-to-date and remind those seasoned riders that safety is not below anybody. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) per vehicle mile traveled, motorcyclists are about 37 times more likely than passenger car occupants to die in a motor vehicle traffic crash and nine times more likely to be injured. More than 5,000 motorcyclists die and nearly 100,000 are injured on our roads each year. Of those fatalities, NHTSA suggests more than 800 could be avoided if the riders wore helmets. So for all riders out there: Wear your helmets! This is for passengers too. If the rider could be severely injured why not those accompanying the rider? Not only could it save your life, which is the most important reason to do it, it is also state law to wear one! A couple more tips are:
- Do not ever assume they have seen you.
- Wear proper clothing: wear jeans – not shorts, wear laced up shoes – not sandals or flip-flops
- To the newbie, be sure you get proper training and get your license. Motorcycles are not like bicycles, you need a specific license to drive one.
- Learn to recognize each vehicle’s blind spot and stay out of them.
- Do not weave between lanes in moving heavy traffic.
- Try to stay long enough in each driver’s rear vision mirror to make sure they have seen you before you move on.
- Use your horn to draw attention if you think you haven’t been seen.
- Move within your lane to improve your chance of being seen.
- When riding in traffic and your lane is moving freely but the lane beside you has slowed or stopped, watch out for impatient drivers suddenly moving into your lane.
The Motorcycle Safety Foundation’s site is a great source to look up more information in this field
