As every knee begins to bow and every tongue begins to confess that the globe really is warming (or at least that gas prices are through the roof), it seems we're seeing more motorcycles and scooters on the road.
If we're not careful when we're in our cars, we might kill somebody some Tuesday. I walked away with a sprained wrist from a bike-totaling wreck on the 4th of July, but the slightness of my injuries were probably a less likely scenario than my death, given being thrown over a vehicle on a highway.
I know I'VE been in that spot while driving my car: I look left, look right, start rolling into the intersection as I look left again, then, like an apparition, a motorcycle appears 20 yards away and closing in. I stop, and get that little helmet turn — his cold eyes burning holes through his faceshield as I try to pretend my front end isn't 8 feet into his lane.
How can we limit our risk of hitting a motorcycle rider?
First, we aught to keep in mind that the majority of multiple vehicle accidents in which motorcyclists die occur when a vehicle does not yield to the bike's right of way.
My accident last week was of this breed. The offending driver crossed my lane to turn left, potentially not seeing me till I hit his car at 60 mph minus a brake skid.
There are other ways to almost kill people. I know of a person who had his back tire swiped by a car who REALLY wanted to squeeze into his lane. I also know of a person who was hit from behind after slowing to turn off of a 2 lane road, when a distracted driver behind flat out rear ended him at 50 MPH.
Obviously the consequences of hitting a biker could be devastating. Besides the trauma of causing a person to fly across a road and crumple, and the potential resulting injury or death, an at-fault car driver might (justifiably) be at the receiving end of a wrongful death suit, paying punitive damages, etc. When a high school friend of mine was at-fault in a vehicle/vehicle accident resulting in another person's death, it affected her life dramatically. The family (a wife and jr. high aged boy) took it easy on her with charges, and she merely spent the next several years - from age 17-21 I think - working all the time to pay off a nominal settlement, for about the cost of funeral fees and the man's truck. I remember her saying she wished she was in prison, so she'd feel less guilty for walking away from the scene so unscathed.
As a motorcycle driver, here are 8 car-driver behaviors that scare the Hell out of me, for obvious reasons. If we, as car drivers who share the road with vulnerable motorcylces, want to live a simple life, free of taking anyone elses, we could all do well to stear clear (haha) of these behaviors as our roads become increasingly populated by two wheeled suicide machines. I've been guilty of all of these, for the record.
- Sticking your nose out into my right-of-way. I have to check my mirrors and my shoulders to see where my outs are, see if I can veer left or right if you roll out, and this costs many feet of blind forward travel. I have to hit my brakes, which puts me more at risk for being bumped by a tailgater.
- Running Dark Orange lights. I don't mean yellow lights, I mean the ones that you know you'd get pulled over for, the ones that get you watching your rear view mirror as you go through, hoping that Impala behind you isn't the local DARE cop. While we motorcyclists ought to learn our lesson and wait extra seconds after a green light, part of the exhilaration of riding a bike, and a completely legal part, is punching it off the line on the green light. We can get out there pretty quick, so in the interest of not being at fault for someone's death, remember that many bikers will hit the gas on a green light. You could always say the biker was being foolish for not waiting an extra second, but it is her green light after all, not yours.
- Tale-gating . Come on. Nothing like forcing me to look over my shoulder and watch my mirror while having to worry about every rock and crack in the road ahead.
- In addition to not tailgating, if you are following a bike on a two lane highway, watch for his blinker and brakes. If you see it, slow down, slow with him, don't fly around him at full speed, and don't ride up on him. Most bikers put the blinker and brakes on early on these highways for this very reasons. Nothing like getting rear ended into oncoming traffic.
- Throwing burritos out the window.
- Not using your blinker on lane changes. Sure, I can generally handle you not checking your blind spot. Trust me, I'm watching you every time I come to pass. Just give me the benefit of a signal and that extra half second to get out of there.
- Pulling out in front of me at night. If you see a single headlight coming, don't assume it's a car with a light out, because if it's a bike, you will misjudge the distance, and it'll be on you sooner than you think.
- Road rage. Try to quell any road rage you feel over an irresponsible biker. If a biker cuts you off, and you want to do something about it, get his plates. Seriously, it makes even less sense to retaliate against a guy riding a flashlight and two wheels than it does to retaliate against another car. Your chances of causing a biker to crash are potentially higher, and the chances of him being injured or killed are so high. Just tell yourself right now, next time it happens, you won't retaliate. It's not worth his life or your emotional and financial devastation.
I'm not trying to be preachy; again, I'm guilty of all these (besides the burrito). I hope we can save more lives and keep our selves out of trouble, whether we ride on 2 or 4 wheels.