Driving around on a motorcycle is a great way to travel. The feel of the wind on your face as you cruise down the motorway makes you feel alive. Unfortunately, all of the enjoyment and thrills are not without risk. Motorcycle accidents happen often and there are a few main causes. This article is about the common causes of motorcycle accidents and how you can avoid them.
First Things First: Get A Lawyer
Not having a lawyer does not make you more likely to have an accident on a motorcycle. However, not having a lawyer when you do have an accident is a big problem. Whether or not the accident was your fault you will need someone fighting your corner to make sure you remain as protected as possible. Finding a local lawyer with good experience in traffic accidents is a smart move. For example, if you live on the southeast coast of America, you might want to search for a motorcycle accident lawyer in Tampa, FL. Making sure that you are legally protected is not a way to avoid an accident but it does avoid any further nasty aftermath that may occur.
Unsafe Lane Changes
Unsafe lane changes are one of the most common causes of motorcycle accidents. For this type of accident, both motorcyclists and other drivers are equally to blame. It can be easy when you are on your bike to weave in and out of traffic to save time. However, these types of maneuvers can be very dangerous and make you more likely to have an accident. Similarly, if you are not extremely vigilant about where all the other vehicles on the road are going, someone might make a sudden switch and not see that you are there. By remaining cautious and keeping a safe distance between yourself and any other vehicles you should be able to avoid any collisions due to unsafe lane changes.
Car Doors
You might think that someone opening a car door is only an issue for pedal cyclists, but this is
not so. Motorbikes suffer the same stability issues that regular bikes do and any type of collision is likely to knock you off. You would hope that most people getting out of cars would check to see if there was any oncoming traffic but occasionally they either forget or can’t see anything. When driving down a road with parked cars on it, you must remain extremely vigilant. Keep at least a door’s length away from the parked vehicles will ensure that you will not collide with any open doors. Driving into car doors that are suddenly opened is a major cause of motorcycle accidents but is easily avoided.
Speeding
Motorcyclists have a bad reputation for speeding and in truth, it is not undeserved. Being a smaller, more mobile vehicle, it can be easy to zoom through traffic on motorways and in cities. It might feel safe to push the speed limit on an open road but the more you do that the more likely you are to have an accident. Braking distance is a really important consideration when driving a motorcycle as it is completely different from a car. If you do a hard stop on a bike you will most likely go straight over the handlebars. To keep yourself safe from accidents you must remain within the speed limit and leave ample room between you and the car in front.
Not Being Visible
Not being visible to other drivers is a big issue for motorcyclists and is a major cause of accidents. Forgetting all the other ways that accidents are more likely to happen, as listed above, it is still possible for a car to not see you and just drive straight into you. To avoid this, you need to make sure that you are extra visible. Make your presence known as you are driving. Equally, you should act as if you are not visible to the other drivers and make sure that you are not in an unsafe position. Making yourself as visible as possible is the best way to avoid motorcycle accidents.
Ride, Don’t Die
Most motorcyclists have their reasons for choosing a motorbike as their mode of transport. Hopefully, the reason you have gone for is not the element of danger. Accidents do happen on motorbikes and they happen pretty often. You can wear as much leather as you like but if you’re thrown from your bike at high speed, there isn’t much that will save you. Hopefully, this article has given you some things to consider to help you avoid common causes of motorcycle accidents.
