Your Survival Blog
How to Survive a Motorcycle Accident (part 2 of 2)
In the last column I discussed some of the reasons an old friend is still alive, after a nasty encounter between his motorcycle and a mountain guardrail. Here are more crash-prevention tips I learned while researching that piece.
Use your head — plan ahead
Don’t go faster than the road and the weather conditions allow. This is a difficult lesson for beginning riders, who often overestimate their ability to negotiate a tight curve. (Drifting out of a lane while doing this is especially risky for motorcyclists, because if a car or truck comes the other direction, they’ll plow right into you. Watch out.) But even in good weather, experienced riders misjudge curves, as my friend D. did.
Never ride beyond your sightlines, says a rider who’s taken many safety courses. “There could be a fallen tree blocking the road around that blind bend, or some sand in the middle of the corner, or a car stopped over the crest of that hill. The MSF class will teach you other stuff to watch out for.”
And while this probably shouldn’t need to be said: Ride sober! Riding a motorcycle is an activity requiring skill, balance, and decent reaction time. Even half a drink might rob you of a critical bit of coordination needed to avoid an accident. “An amount of alcohol that leaves you within the limits of the law, and after which you would feel safe driving a car, may impair you to the point where you cannot ride a motorcycle safely,” advises one motorcyclist. “My own personal rule is that I don’t drink and ride.”
Ride defensively
Make yourself stand out visually. If your motorcycle leathers or other gear are black, this will be a problem on a dark night. Some racing leathers come in colors, though, as one rider sniffs, “not everyone wants to look like a Power Ranger.” Cordura nylon gear comes in a variety of colors, including high-visibility yellow (worn by a bicyclist in my family), some with reflective patches sewn on. If you don’t want colored gear, consider a reflective vest over it at night. The most important factor in gear is its protective value — you can add the visibility options after the fact. “My synthetic jacket has some reflective on it, and is gray,” says another friend. “I have reflective tape all over my helmet.”
Even when you’re wearing DayGlo colors, pretend you’re invisible to other vehicles and be aware of where they are at all times. About three-quarters of motorcycle accidents in the US are caused by collisions with other vehicles. Careless drivers (some motorcyclists call them “Brain-Dead Cagers”, or BDCs) will run into the strangest things: “BDCs hit ambulances, fire trucks, and cop cars that are running lights and sirens,” says a disgruntled motorcyclist. “They’ll hit you too.”
Take care of your fellow riders
These tips for riding in groups were all contributed by a long-time rider I know:
Stop periodically to allow slower riders to catch up, and to make sure everybody is still with you. If you have experience, consider riding in the rearmost “sweep” position to watch out for the less-experienced riders commonly found toward the rear. And if you plan to leave a ride early, let the group leader know so he or she knows you haven’t simply gone missing.
Also: "Ride your own ride. Don’t let peer pressure goad you into riding faster than you’re comfortable or otherwise doing unsafe things. Similarly, don’t pressure others. And a group that tries to exert peer pressure to get you to ride in a way that you’re uncomfortable with is not a good group to ride with. Stay away.”
Allow for rescue
I wondered if a good rule might be to “stay on well-traveled highways if you can” — even on a state highway in Vermont there was no cell reception, and a Good Samaritan had to call in D.’s accident further down the valley. I was gently corrected by a motorcyclist who says he, and many of his fellow riders, “prefer roads less travelled. They’re prettier ... and there are fewer vehicles on them in general. The biggest hazard isn’t the road itself, it’s other road users.”
But if you’re one of those riders who prefers back roads: “don’t let the lack of traffic and general tranquility lull you into complacency” — if you crash someone may still need to go for help. So consider riding with a buddy. If you can’t deal with that or often can’t find a friend to go for a ride on a pleasant Sunday, consider buying a personal locator beacon. These are GPS-based, waterproof, able to last days on a battery (at above-freezing temperatures), and can take a considerable amount of abuse. Find them at outdoor-sports suppliers.
Learn more about crashes
For a summary of findings from the Hurt Report — published in 1981 but still widely considered “the most comprehensive motorcycle safety study of the 20th century” — see this page.
Another frequently quoted study, done in Europe and published in this decade, is the MAIDS Report, summarized here.
Ride safely!
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