Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month

Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month

As of 2006 May became motorcycle safety awareness month. This month is used to educate motorists about the safety of riding a motorcycle on the road. Also, it educates other motorists about how to drive with motorcyclists on the road with them. Riding a motorcycle is riskier than driving a car. Maintaining control is much more difficult on two wheels than on four, and when crashes occur, motorcyclists are at greater risk of serious injury or death because they don't have an enclosed vehicle to protect them. Although motorcyclist deaths have fallen from their 2008 peak of more than 5,000, the 4,667 that occurred in 2012 were still more than double the number from 1997.

Ways to prevent injury

• Helmets:

They are the most important piece of motorcycle safety equipment. Helmets decrease the severity of head injuries and the likelihood of death. The federal government estimates that wearing a helmet reduces the risk of dying in a crash by 37 percent. Un-helmeted riders are 3 times more likely than helmeted ones to sustain traumatic brain injuries in the event of a crash.

• ABS Break system:

ABS prevents wheels from locking up, and that's crucial on a motorcycle. On a car, a lockup might result in a skid. On a motorcycle, it often means a serious fall. The rate of fatal crashes is 31 percent lower for motorcycles equipped with optional antilock brakes than for the same models without them.

• The type of bike you ride can effect risk of injury:

Super-sport motorcycles have driver death rates about 4 times as high as that of cruisers or standards. These bikes are built on racing platforms, and their combination of light weight and high-horsepower engines means many models can quickly reach speeds of more than 160 miles per hour. Riders of sport motorcycles, which are typically not quite as powerful and lightweight as supersports, have a driver death rate about twice that of cruisers or standards.

Best Ways To Avoid Accidents and Injury

• Don't drink and drive!!!

• Wear a helmet and proper riding gear

• Be aware that not every motorist will abide by the rules so it's your job to watch for them, be courteous

• Make sure your bike is mechanically ok

• Riding with other motorcyclists 

• Stay in the safest lane

• Always accommodate the weather

• Ride with confidence 

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