Topic: Motorcycle Safety Commandments

[Hayabuser]

I saw this excellent post on another site and decided it was too important to not share here as well. If it's a repost, meh. 

These were drilled into my head during my motorcycle training over a decade ago but have become increasingly more important with the rise in cager distractions etc. 


1. When you are following semi-trailers (or cars) on the highway ... always follow directly behind their wheels. Reason: If they straddle the dead animal, brick o block, etc.. in the road, you will not have enough reaction time to change directions if you are following directly "centered" behind them. Another reason to always follow directly behind car or truck wheels... The center of the road has all the grease and drippings from cars and trucks. Riding behind the tire lane of a car gives you a more traction area of the road.

2. Contrary to the above though: The retread tire is a way of life for truckers. We all know what happens when a tread separates from a tire. The shock and noise numb your brain just long enough to get you killed. The tread usually "bangs" against some part of the underside of the truck, then it comes off (Hopefully in small pieces). The failing tire can also cause a vehicle to swerve into you or your path. Flying tire treads can be deadly. The tread can be very heavy and take on very unusual flight characteristics. The impact from a tread (especially a large section) can kill you. If you are given a choice, don't ride behind any large, heavy, vehicle!

3. Always... always... always... expect the car, truck, van etc.. to pull out in front of you. Always believe that they DO NOT SEE YOU. Even if they are looking directly into your eyes. *Watch the tires of the vehicle not the eyes of the driver. The drivers eyes might be looking one way and telling you he is stopped but if that car moves you will see it while looking at the tires.

4. Check the tire pressure often. Proper air pressure is more important than they are on a car.

5. If it's early morning, or late evening, and the sun is positioned such that you can see YOUR OWN SHADOW in front of you, that means you're pretty much invisible to oncoming traffic.

6. Ride like you're invisible. Assume that nobody sees you (except the OPP/SQ).

7. Never get confrontational (or angry) on a bike. The car is bigger, and you will lose.

8. There's no such thing as a "fender-bender" on a bike.

9. If your face shield gets too bug splattered, stop and clean it.

10. When it just starts to rain ... stop. Have a cup of coffee and wait for the rain to clean the slime from the road.

11. Don't pass on the right. You'll be between the car on your left and the sacred parking spot or obscure turn-off on your right that it's looking for.

12. Never drive at the same speed as traffic... i.e. never be static in anyone's peripheral view.

13. The safest place in traffic is in front of it.

14. Look where you want to go, not where you don't want to go. Before it can be told, however, the driver must make the decision of where he/she wants it to go. That means looking to that spot. Target fixation is real!

15. Whenever stopped in traffic, NEVER put the bike in neutral. Keep the tranny in 1st gear and get used to holding in the clutch lever. As much as most of us hate to do this, it allows the rider to simply release the clutch and go if you need to move out of the way of danger. A motor officer in South Florida was killed because it took him too long for him to clutch, engage 1st gear, release the clutch and begin to roll, even though he had enough time and space to escape the approaching car.

16. As you approach a stoplight or stop sign, angle the bike slightly so the mirror of choice has a clear view directly behind you. It’s no secret that you can’t realistically glance in the mirror and see what’s approaching from directly behind you without contorting your body. So just before rolling to stop turn the bike slightly until the view to the rear is clear. Now you’ll be able to see the 103 year old blue-hair in the Dodge Dart that still hasn’t seen you between her and the school bus.

17. Now that you are aware that the approaching car isn’t going to stop, the angle of the bike points it between the two cars in front of you allowing rule #1 to come into play and allow you to quickly roll forward to the “safer” place between the cars up ahead.

18. On the highway, if you're on the leftmost lane, and cars abruptly stop ahead of you, PULL OFF QUICKLY AND CAREFULLY ONTO THE SHOULDER. Let the moron behind you who isn't paying attention rear-end the car in front, not sandwich you between his car and the car ahead.

19. Bikes can slow down awfully quick without using brakes, so when decelerating by engine compression alone tap on the brakes to warn the driver behind you and let them know you are slowing down.

20. Heavy rain: It’s begun to rain so torrentially that you need shelter fast. There’s a bridge underpass up ahead. If you stop, stop at the far end of the underpass. If you stop at the near end, or even the middle, you may be run over by a car or truck that decides it needs to stop beneath the underpass, too. It may be raining so hard that the driver doesn’t see you until it’s too late.

21. Go on extra HIGH Alert anywhere in the vicinity of Farm equipment and related vehicles, most especially those big Drop Deck heavy haulers with the Big Cats, etc. on board. All kinds of sh*t can come flying off the trailer deck, from between the dualies, right at YOU with little or no warning !! This will occur more often when something makes the vehicle bounce.

22. When approaching a cross road at high speed on a highway-------------try to stay behind something large (like a car or truck)---------and then the idiot who is attempting to get on the highway (in rush hour traffic)-----will see the big vehicle------and NOT---- pull out in front of YOU! At least if he does-----he'll get T-boned by the car or truck-----and not you!

23. Many riders crash out when they are learning or are novice. One of the main contributing factors to this is over confidence and peer pressure. If you are new to motorcycling and are riding with a group of experienced riders don't feel you have to keep up, ride at your own pace and well within your own ability.

24. The most dangerous mile ... is the mile ahead

25. When you are about to pull out to overtake the vehicle in front of you, check your mirror again. The car in the lane you are moving into may be going much faster than you expect and you cannot see this from a single mirror check.

26. Use hand signals. No, not that one. ALL the fingers. Say you've got a tailgaiter. Hold your left hand held out downward, palm open. Notice the response? 99% of drivers will immediately give you more space. Give 'em a big OK (thumb and forefinger together, fingers wide) and they STAY back! Much nicer. Hand turn signals are just as effective. And people actually LET YOU IN to change lanes, or change lanes themselves if you're slowing to turn. Use your signals too, of course.

27. If an accident occurs in another lane, don't slow down, but acellerate the hell away.

28. A good opportunity to actually *practice* avoidance maneuvers is when you change lanes on expressways. I practice "avoiding" the white lines when I change lanes. It teaches me to look to where I want to go (the unpainted section of the road) while observing the white lines.

29. When traveling for long periods in wet weather applying the brakes slightly every so often will reduce wet lag in an emergency.

30. Deer/animals: Brake as hard as possible, direct the impact energy to the tailing section, and then release the front brake directly at impact springing the front forks and frame upwards. Try to brake in a straight line and if possible aim for their back legs as most animals will run forward when startled.

31. When in doubt, DON’T. It doesn’t matter what the topic is. Your rational mind is slower than you would want to believe. So even if you don’t know WHY you are uneasy about a situation, or have some vague nagging “feeling”, your peripheral vision or subconscious probably has picked up on something you do not recognize consciously. It is time to stop or slow down immediately to assess the environment.

32. It takes a football field and both end zones to stop a loaded truck or bus even in a panic stop! DO NOT LET A TRUCK OR BUS FOLLOW YOU CLOSELY. Just because the dirver of the heavy is being paid, does not make him/her a professional.

33. This may seem like a no-brainer, but don’t ride under the influence of drugs or alcohol. No matter how experienced you are, you do not have a bumper. “Loose drunks” in auto accidents, sometimes, walk away without a scratch. “Loose drunks” in motorcycle accidents die!

34. Any kind of speeding is NOT good when on a motorcycle. The human brain registers a motorcycle as small (far away). If traveling at a greater rate of speed than the rest of the traffic, you stand a good chance of having someone pull over into your lane in front of you.

[Ostro]

I haven't seen this list before. Good stuff.

[RC51_dude]

+1
All good points

[johnnyrt]

Great infor, thanks

[iamthedruman]

Definitely worth the read. Anyone have other comments or 'commandments' to add to the list?

Although this should be common knowledge, I would add:

"Keep scanning at all times. If you catch yourself staring at any one thing, there are probably several more that you just missed."

[pyxen]

+1!

[Madsigs]

Thank you for the post, it was very informative, and makes a lot of sense.

[smokey]

I did this list up for my old motorcycle club. some points are the same but there may be others listed.

1. Biggest rule is to treat all others as though you are their target and act accordingly;
2. Always obey the traffic rules and stop, yield, obey red lights etc, because I can almost guarantee that the other driver is looking at running the red, not yielding, or doing a rolling stop, the only exceptions to this are when there is a Police car clearly evident monitoring the intersection, and sometimes even that is not a guarantee;
3. Beware the left turner, even though they may be looking right at you, for some reason they do not equate the big glaring headlight with a moving vehicle;
4. Always signal when making lane changes and I cannot emphasize enough to do a shoulder check as well;
5. Read the Riders Handbook that was put out by the CAV Road Captain, lots of good tips in it that don’t only pertain to group riding.;
6. Treat your ride like it is your second wife, pamper it accordingly, unlike the first wife though, do regular oil level checks, tire inflation and wear checks, and also what a lot DON’T do, light checks, especially turn signal and brake lights;
7. Carry a spare headlight bulb and fuses, but if you do get a failure, try to figure out the reason first, nothing like putting a new fuse in only to have it go again, you run out of fuses quickly, ask me how I know;
8. If you have spotlights on your bike, wire them into their own circuit, that way if the headlight does go out, you will still have the spotlights;
9. Remember it is Spring, and the other drivers are light headed due to the return of warmer weather, they are thinking of the beach, the camping, the cottage, and in some cases the men or women on the beach in all their glory, or in some cases, gory. So their brains are not accustomed to seeing that small object get bigger at a high rate of speed, plus we sometimes tend to get lost in the headlights of the vehicle behind us, so pay attention out there, it hurts when you go sliding down the road or hit hard objects when moving, done both so I know first hand;
10. A couple of tips I have learned from being a Chief Instructor for the Canada Safety Council,

a. When approaching a vehicle attempting to enter the roadway from your right, move to the right of the centerline if you are not already there, on a multilane highway or road way, move to the left lane if safe to do so, that will give you extra time to react just in case the other driver gets impatient or “fails to see you” ( I hate that phrase);

b. The same can apply when approaching a vehicle waiting to make a left turn across your lane, this time I would go to the right side of the road, this gives me the extra room to use the roadway as an escape, the chances are that the other vehicle will see you at the last minute and brake, if you are in the part of the lane closest to the centre line, you may have no room or time to maneuver, if you are in the right of the lane you may have time to accelerate and swerve around to your right.

c. Another point which some will disagree with, is that the first reaction is to grab a handful of brake when faced with a collision situation, that is sometimes your only alternative if you have nowhere else to go, the best method is (if safe to do so) accelerate and go around the vehicle. That is why it is always prudent, if possible, to make sure you do not have a vehicle directly beside you on a multi lane highway, or to take the shoulder if possible on a single lane highway.

d. Always scan ahead, I try to scan ahead at least 300 metres when traffic permits, while maintaining awareness of what is around you;

e. Watch oncoming traffic, and don’t always think that just because it indicates no passing, that some twit coming at you won’t do it, or for that matter someone behind you as well.

f. Emergency sirens are not a reason to panic, remember the rules is to pull over to the right and stop IF SAFE TO DO SO, I have often not had that option but have slowed down and pulled as far to the right as possible and waved the emergency vehicle past. The wave indicates to the emergency operator that you have seen him and are aware of his presence.

g. Lastly, have fun out there and don’t be paranoid but do be aware, if you are tired, pull over and take a stretch break or stop at a timmies, if you still have a long way to go, consider stopping for the night, better to be rest in a hotel or motel, than a hospital bed.

11. Put together a tool kit and a first aid kit if you can, chances are if you have them you will never use them, whereas if you don't have them, I can guarantee that at some point you will be wishing you had heeded this post and had them.

12. Loose gravel - especially dangerous after winter, like sliding on ice. Also look out for gravel that is thown out into the road by farm vehicles that often will use the shoulder in the country areas. I have also found that country junctions are bad as vehicles will often cut the corner which results in gravel and sand being thrown out into the road, the graders also make a mess. Curves are also a place to watch for.

13. Road kill, always a sign that spring is coming, some of that road kill can be quite big, and remember, as disgusting as it sounds, blood and entrails can be be very slippery and dangerous, especially on corners.

Also a link to a road captains handbook for those of you that ride in group rides a lot, you may find it interesting.

http://www.cvfr.ca/downloads/CVFRRoadCaptain_RidersHandbook.pdf

[Cos]

I saw this excellent post on another site and decided it was too important to not share here as well.

alleluia for that new too tight helmet 

One other thing, ride mid-right when oncoming traffic is allowed to overtake. By staying on the left 1/3, you are invisible to someone overtaking a bigger vehicle.

[405hp]

May I add... don't daydream while you ride. I find this can easily happen when close to home, riding at a slow pace, or an unchallenging straight road. Then when you snap out of it, you can't actually recall the last few minutes of your ride.

Make a conscious effort to stay alert so that you can react, or better yet, be proactive in avoiding hazards. Auto-pilot is for planes, not for bikes!

[dialdn]

+1 on all the tips.

D

[Rainman]

Great info guys.  Thanks for sharing this with us.

R

[Hayabuser]

Here's a sobering video on safety by the California Highway Patrol:

http://www.chp.ca.gov/html/motorcycle_v.html

[Phoenix]

There's a lot of very basic but valuable advice here. Thanks for resurrecting this thread Dave ... I hadn't seen it before 

[NinjaGal]

There's a lot of very basic but valuable advice here. Thanks for resurrecting this thread Dave ... I hadn't seen it before 

+ 1 from me!  I had read through this earlier and have practice most of them faithfully. 

We should start a thread and name it "Tip of the Week" and have one of the motorcycle instructors in the forum take the reigns on this one??    Just a thought....

Always good to be reminded of safety tips over and over again.  And, learn about ways to avoid a bad situation.