Look out for motorcycles Published July 13, 2006 By Master Sgt. Greg Patterson 20th Fighter Wing Safety Office SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. -- You see the briefings and articles about motorcycle safety and you say, “This doesn’t apply to me. I don’t ride a motorcycle.” However, your actions while driving a car can be just as important in preventing a motorcycle accident as the rider’s actions. In 2004 there were 1,803 two-vehicle fatal crashes involving a motorcycle and another vehicle. In 39 percent of these crashes, the other vehicle was turning left while the motorcycle was going straight, passing or overtaking the vehicle. While this may not seem to be an overwhelming figure, another thing to consider is motorcycle riders are about 32 times more likely to die in a motor vehicle crash than automobile occupants. Multiple vehicle collisions result in some kind of injury to the motorcycle rider 98 percent of the time. You could very well hold the key to avoiding an accident that could kill or seriously injure motorcycle riders. Motorcycles are harder to see than cars, they blend into their surroundings well and are difficult to judge approach speeds so it takes some effort to really see them. Furthermore, we are “wired” to look for autos and can easily overlook something we aren’t looking for. How many times have you overlooked something unusual or unexpected? It’s pretty hard to say unless someone pointed it out to you or you actually ran into it. We all do it. We get in a hurry and only glance before pulling out into traffic instead of really looking. You’re late getting back from lunch, traffic is heavy and you shoot out into the first available gap in traffic. You looked. Really, you did. There was a blue pickup approaching from your left about 75 feet away, right? But then you hear the tires lockup and feel the motorcycle slam into your driver’s door. When you see the rider flailing like a rag doll into the opposing traffic, you realize there was a blue motorcycle between you and that pickup, only 25 feet away. The rider never had a chance. You, the automobile driver, could have prevented this. You see, motorcycles can stop quickly and swerve well, but not both at the same time. If it had been a car, the rider could have hit the brakes, slid into the median, regained control. Besides hurt feelings, all would have been well. However, a motorcycle has to choose between swerving around an obstacle or heavy braking while maintaining a straight line. If there’s no time to completely stop and no room to swerve without leaving the road, the rider is in trouble. As soon as a motorcycle leaves the road, it is almost certainly going down. The same goes for loose gravel, sand and debris. In a car you probably never notice when a tire spins a little due to reduced traction, but this can send a motorcycle into opposing traffic or force a spill. A motorcycle can’t hop a curb, knock down a stop sign or roll over debris like a car can without serious consequences for the rider. There’s no seat belt. No air bags. No crumple zones. It’s flesh and bone versus a 4,000 pound vehicle, unforgiving asphalt or concrete surface. Anyway you look at it, the rider loses. Nighttime offers even another problem. A car driver looks for two headlights before pulling out, but a motorcycle’s one headlight can be easily overlooked or it can superimpose itself over the headlight of a vehicle behind it. This gives the illusion of one car when what you actually have is a motorcycle twice as close as the car. The only difference this time is the darkness. Oncoming traffic is less likely to see the “rag doll” you just sent into their path. An extra second or two of looking would have revealed the motorcycle and prevented the accident. Remember, there’s no such thing as a “fender bender” on a motorcycle. Every accident is usually serious for the rider and he or she is 54 percent more likely to be killed than the driver of the car. So please, take the extra second to take a good look before pulling out. You may save a life.