May is Motorcycle Safety and Awareness Month

It seems like I hear every spring where something bad ALMOST happened to someone on a motorcycle. I recently learned from a safety seminar that the most dangerous intersections for a motorcyclist are the ones in front of restaurants and gas stations. People pulling into these aren't really paying attention to too much except their need for fuel -- both kinds. I often hear from people that they almost hit a motorcycle because they didn't see them, or that if they hadn't heard the pipes, they would have hit someone.

Interestingly enough after viewing a lot of accidents that were caught on tape, I found that the riders themselves could have prevented all but two of these. In one case a rider did in fact avoid an accident because he had attended a training course and had performed the right maneuver to avoid a crash. The two that in my opinion were unavoidable involved deer coming directly out of the woods into the bikes. (I had to see it in slow motion to actually see the deer.) Also, again in my opinion, the actions of the bikers themselves contributed to the accidents. There were instances of excessive speed in high traffic, stunts on public roads, looking back while accelerating in a group of riders and so on.

I am very adamant about making everyone aware that motorcycles share the road and to look out for them but it's hard to convey positive thoughts about motorcyclists when we're killing ourselves with stupid human tricks. If I could make one plea to all motorcyclists, it would be for us to use our heads for more than a helmet holder. We need to watch out for ourselves if we are to expect others to watch out for us. Those of you that ride know that motorcycles are dangerous and in the wrong hands can kill someone. May is declared by our Governor to be Motorcycle Safety and Awareness month. Let's try to exemplify that title.