It’s the classic battle: one left turning car, one motorcycle, one intersection. What you do on a motorcycle before the intersection can actually invite the potential accident. This week on MCrider let’s find out how.
So what can you do before the intersection to lessen the chance giving your license and proof of insurance to an officer at the scene of a crash?
Well let’s look at the statements from our two parties involved in the accident and how as bikers we can help to avoid the accident.
Car Driver: I never saw him. Most likely this is true, most cars will not pull in front of you if they truly see you are coming through the intersection. They don’t want to be involved in an accident either. But why are motorcycles hard to see and what can we do to make ourselves easier to see?
Motorcycles are hard to see because they have a small profile. It is much harder to see and judge the entry speed of a small object than a large one. (Use two dots growing at the same rate, which do you notice first)
Plus motorcycles get lost visually in the busyness of an intersection.
How can we avoid this? First way is separation or following distance. I thought having a 2-3 second following distance was a fairly common sense safety measure on a motorcycle but I have been surprised by some of the comments on MCrider’s videos.
Some riders have commented that you need to stay close to the car in front to keep them from pulling out in front of you. But the problem is not one of the car not caring that you are there…they don’t see you.
Their inability to see you is made worse by following on the bumper of the car in front of you. It is simple, lack of separation from the traffic around you makes you harder to see.
Not only does it make you harder to see but it gives you much less time to react if they do pull out in front of you.
So, separation or following distance can make us easier to see but there is another important aspect as well.
How does our lane position and following distance affect a car’s ability to see us?
