By: Art Liggio, President and CEO, Driving Dynamics
Several years ago, I purchased my first motorcycle. Since then, I complete one or two advanced safety courses almost every year to ensure that my skills remain current and that I take all precautions to safely operate a two-wheeled vehicle. Most importantly, I continually practice these skills to keep myself and others safe when taking the bike out for an enjoyable weekend ride. Why am I telling you this? My safety and that of other riders is not solely dependent on us – we also rely on those with which we share the road.
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motorcyclists make 3% of the motor vehicle population,
yet account for 14% of all traffic-related fatalities
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Unfortunately, many automobile drivers do not operate their vehicles with motorcyclists in mind. To put this into perspective, motorcyclists make up only three percent of the entire motor vehicle population, yet account for 14 percent of all traffic-related fatalities according to NHTSA. As a rider myself and a driver safety expert, I understand that motorcycles present unique challenges due to their smaller size. It does not help that our brains are programmed to “fill in the gaps” and see what is obvious or expected – standard to large size vehicles. As a result, drivers regularly fail to spot a motorcycle even though it is clearly located in their field of vision. Even vehicles equipped with the latest driver assist technologies like blind spot warning are not sensitive to these different, smaller vehicle types.
Advice for Sharing the Road with Motorcyclists
To help bring awareness to the hazards all drivers experience while sharing the road with motorcycles, compiled here is safety advice from Driving Dynamics’ SEE the Advantage™ safe driving system. The goal of this system is to achieve driver excellence through reliable, easy to use defensive driving strategies supported by proven, safety techniques.
1. Improve Visual Recognition
To avoid missing critical details, remain alert, look farther ahead and regularly scan your mirrors to gain more time to see and identify what is around your vehicle. Do not allow your brain to blend critical traffic details into useless, unidentifiable information. Motorcycle season or not, this scanning method should be used whenever you are behind the wheel. It makes a huge difference in keeping you safe.
Due to the small profile of motorcycles, they easily disappear into a blind spot. Avoiding this problem is simple—eliminate blind spots. There is no reason to have them. Typically, drivers do a good job adjusting the rearview mirror but, in most cases, the side view mirrors, which are designed to see objects to the sides of the vehicle, are adjusted too far inward. In this situation, the mirrors see the sides of the vehicle, rather than the road where other vehicles are located. This severely limits your ability to know what is approaching from the side.
2. Recognize Spacing Opportunities
Do not allow the small size of a motorcycle trick your brain into thinking a smaller safety zone is adequate. Give motorcycles the same space and respect as you would a larger vehicle. Creating a safety zone of at least three seconds and increasing available reaction time between yourself and a motorcycle is critical, especially because motorcyclists are extremely vulnerable and have limited crash protection.
3. Rely on Your Skills, Not Your Vehicle
Many newer vehicles have Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) which includes features such as Blind Spot Monitoring, Lane Assist and Adaptive Cruise Control. Properly used, these are beneficial but, as so many recent studies have concluded, they are far from fool proof. Unfortunately, drivers continue to relegate safety responsibility to these systems, putting themselves and others at risk. Compounding this, ADAS has difficulty recognizing motorcycles. No matter the technologies and capabilities that are built within vehicles, a driver must practice safe driving techniques, be in full control of their vehicles and never solely rely on ADAS.
4. Signal Your Intentions
This last point addresses a pet peeve of mine. For some reason, drivers in the U.S. seem to consider signaling their intentions as optional. According to a study by the University of Southern California, a leading contributor of motorcycle crashes is the failure of drivers to provide timely turn signal notifications. A high percentage of these crashes occur when other drivers provide less than two seconds notice. Do not wait until the last second to signal. Provide adequate time for everyone around you to increase their space cushion and to coordinate their maneuvers with yours.
While motorcycle riders are equally responsible for their own safety, their small visual footprint and limitations do require additional safety considerations by their fellow drivers. By enforcing these visual recognition and road sharing techniques your fleet will improve its safety performance year-round and help reduce overall motorcycle incidents so that two-wheeled riders like myself, can continue to safely take our bike’s out for a much-anticipated weekend ride.
SEE the Advantage™ and Steer Toward Safety™
About the author
As managing owner, Art Liggio is the driving force behind the company’s mission. He guides the strategic direction of Driving Dynamics and is actively involved in helping clients improve their fleet safety and driver risk management performance.