Have you ever been involved in a motorcycle accident or even a close call on your motorcycle? If you had a motorcycle time machine and could jump back 30 seconds in time do you think you could avoid the accident?
If you could time travel back in time I bet the chances of the accident happening in the first place would be greatly reduced. This week on MCrider I am going to show you some real world video from one of my rides and we will travel back in time to avoid an accident.
We often think that what we do in the instance of a threat is how we avoid an accident. But the truth is the decisions that you make on the road at any given time often affect what could potentially happen just a few seconds in the future. It's kind of like having a time machine, if I make the right decision now I might avoid the accident a few hundred feet up the road.
Let's look at an example.
Having a good visibility and lane strategy is key to preventing accidents just minutes and seconds up the road.
Having a good road strategy involves three things:
- Following Distance
- Being seen by others
- Being in a position to see.
Let's look at each one of those.
Following Distance:
If you took a High School drivers ed class I am sure they pounded in your head about establishing a following distance between you and the car in front of you.
But the lack of following distance on a motorcycle is one of the biggest mistakes I see riders make in Dallas / Ft Worth all the time. Countless riders go up the freeway at 70 MPH directly behind a large SUV in front of them that is blocking their entire view up the road.
They are an accident just waiting to happen. All it takes is one SUV to straddle the large chunk of rubber that came off the 18 wheeler ahead of them. The next thing the rider knows is he is sliding on the concrete at 70MPH hoping traffic behind him stops sooner than he does.
Being seen by others:
When we think of being seen by others on our motorcycle we often think of adding more lights to the motorcycle, bright colored helmets and hi-viz jackets. Those types of gear do make a difference but your lane position is often ignored by the rider and it is just as important.
Do you ride in driver's blind spots? When you are riding down the road do you even consider your lane position and if it puts you in the best position to be seen? Do you often ride through intersections with no clue about what other drivers around you are doing? If so you are greatly increasing your odds of being involved in accident.
Being in a position to see
For me this is one of the red flag moments on the road. If I am riding down the road and I find myself in a situation that I do not have good visibility up the road I do something immediately to correct that. It could be I slow down to give myself more space, it could be I speed up to get around the vehicle that is blocking my view or I could change lanes to increase my visibility. But, I am going to do something to allow me visibility up the road.
I want to try to always be in position where others can see me but if I have to choose between how well can I see and how well can I be seen I am always going to choose how well can I see. I pass drivers ALL THE TIME sending text message, talking on the phone or messing with the stereo. While I want them to see me I don't trust that they will. That's why I will always put myself in a position to see up the road.
When that large truck merged on to the highway blocking my view a mental red flag went off. I changed lanes, I put myself in a more favorable position on the road. If I had not done that and had an accident with the large chunk of metal in the road I would have wanted to travel back in time and corrected my mistake.
One of the greatest things you have going for you on the road is not just your ability to handle your motorcycle. While I work on my motorcycle control skills all the time I try to always ride in a way that I never need them.
A good mental approach and strategy to riding a motorcycle is just like a time machine. It will allow you to avoid accidents before they ever happen.
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