Spring is here, and that means more bikers are going to be on the roads in and around Jonesboro enjoying the warm weather. Unfortunately, that does mean there’s an elevated risk of being involved in motorcycle accidents. While any motor vehicle accident can cause serious injuries, motorcyclists are especially vulnerable because they don’t have the same level of protection as people in enclosed vehicles.
All motorists have a responsibility to avoid crashes, and that applies doubly when motorcycles are on the road. Follow these tips to stay safe and share the road.
- Check twice for motorcyclists, especially on warm, sunny days. Most motorcycle crashes involve a passenger car or truck turning left in front of a bike at an intersection. When you’re making a left turn, look twice for oncoming bikes, and yield to them just as you’d yield to an oncoming car.
- Drive carefully in inclement weather. There won’t be as many bikes on the road on rainy days, but you need to be especially cautious around those who do brave the weather. That’s because motorcycles are more sensitive to changing road conditions than passenger cars and may need to change speed or change position in a lane.
- Maintain safe following distance. Some of the most devastating motorcycle crashes are rear-end collisions that send the biker flying. A motorcycle has a much shorter stopping distance than a passenger car, so you need to remain alert and give the bike adequate space.
- Look before you open your door. “Doorings” are a common cause of motorcycle and bicycle accidents, and a potentially deadly one. Before opening your car door into traffic, double-check to make sure you aren’t creating a hazard for a biker.
- Double-check your blind spots. It’s very easy for a motorcycle to slip into a blind spot while changing lanes or merging on the highway. Take a moment to check over your shoulder and confirm that the coast is clear.
- Avoid distractions. Keeping your eyes on the road is important in any situation, of course, but it’s especially vital when it comes to sharing the road with motorcyclists. Because a bike is physically smaller than a car, and thus easier to miss, bikers are more vulnerable to being hit by distracted drivers.
Both bikers and motorists share a responsibility to share the road. That said, we’ve seen over and over again that when crashes happen, it’s most often the driver of a car who’s at fault – and the biker who suffers serious injury. If you’ve been hurt in a motorcycle crash, you need an experienced injury lawyer on your side.
