May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month
Wednesday, May 3, 2017 @ 5:48 AM
Prince George, B.C. – May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month in B.C. and to mark the occasion ICBC has released some tips to ensure both drivers and riders remain safe.
Tips for drivers:
Photo courtesy ICBC
- Give extra space when passing a motorcycle: Allow at least three seconds following distance when you’re behind a motorcycle.
- Scan intersections: As with other vulnerable road users, most car crashes involving motorcycles happen in intersections. Drivers need to look out for motorcycles – especially when turning left – they can be harder to see and it can be tough to judge how fast they’re traveling.
- Leave your phone alone: Stay focused and avoid distractions that take your mind off driving and your eyes off the road.
- Share the road with motorcycles: If in doubt about who has the right-of-way, yield to the motorcycle.
Tips for riders:
- Wear all the gear, all the time: This includes a helmet that meets DOT, Snell or ECE safety standards and safety gear designed for riding. In all weather conditions, wearing proper motorcycle safety gear is key to reducing the severity of injuries in the event of a crash.
- Be bright and visible: Protect yourself and your passengers from serious injury by choosing gear that has bright colours and reflective materials.
- Manoeuvre intersections safely: Especially where oncoming traffic is waiting to turn left, adjust your lane position and reduce your speed so you’ll have an escape path or time to stop if you need it.
- Share the road with vehicles: Never assume a driver has seen you. This may not accurately judge your distance or speed of approach. As best you can, stay out of drivers’ blind spots.
Sixty per cent of motorcycle crashes in B.C. involve other vehicles. In fact, last year in B.C. 1,600 motorcyclists were injured in 2,600 crashes.
In the North Central region of the province, 47 motorcyclists were injured in 73 crashes. On average, five motorcyclists are killed in crashes each year in the region.
Comments
Another tip for bike riders, don’t ride in the blind spot of vehicles! I don’t know how many times I have had a bike drive along beside me just behind the drivers or passenger doors. This can also be applied to people in vehicles, drives me nuts when someone paces along beside me in the blind spot.
Passing a Motorcycle is almost impossible , that game of chicken they play to stop people from passing is not the smartest move.
Game of chicken? SMH. I’ve never had a problem passing any motorcycles. Most leave traffic behind for the most part. You must be doing something to antagonize them X-it. What gets me is when I’m on my bike stopped at a light and the many morons in their cages insist upon stopping way to close behind me. What do you think is going to happen when one of our multi talented drivers rear ends the line up behind me?
Please remember that’s it’s not just a motorcycle. It’s a person on it. A real life who has a job and a family to go home to every day. We all have a different perspective on safe distances, speed and vehicle spacing, but the bottom line is we have t work together to all come home safely. Whether you are in a vehicle or on a motorcycle, be mindful of this.
Great…that time of year…when the stupid loud bikes are back on the streets.
my fav is.. Straight pipes saves lives… no.. not when you cant hear the ambulance or cop cars sirens.. you delay them getting to the call because they are stuck in traffic because of your noise…
I am amazed anyone would ride a bike in the city with the shape our roads are in..
I have been riding for 50 years, so a lot of the comments are positive. Yes Val, loud pipes are for weekend warriors and that loud pipes save lives is a myth! On the other hand, you obviously don’t ride so you have no idea on how to circumnavigate potholes! Counter steering and staying alert plays a big part, so the roads are ok. As for you morons that ride with a full faced helmet (good) and loafers, running shoes, shorts, putting a kid on the tank, constantly revving the engine to put a stupid statement out there that says, “look at me!” Well, you give riders that do ride a negative outlook from motorists. On that note, enjoy the summer and have the two wheels meeting the pavement!
I personally witnessed two riders go down last yr due to roads.. good thing both not hurt except a few bumps and bruises
Anyone who rides or drives anything in this town has to avoid potholes..
Careless riders not paying attention go down due to road conditions.
Loud pipes are cool. That’s why so many bikes run them. There’s nothing like that roar as you crank on it. There is one thing I don’t understand though, why is it that so many that run pipes absolutely have to crank on it while riding through residential areas? There are at least two from down at the end of Malaspina that ride like that up and down Malaspina and Domano. I guess having the cops called by numerous residents in the area means nothing to them. I think this summer, the residents of the area will deal with them in on our own.
Without an audience , there just ain’t no show .
One of them is called Squirrel Boy! Take it from there! LOL! As for loud pipes being being cool, well that is one weird logic! These are the guys and gals that people come down on. My pipes are Reinharts, and I do,have extra horsepower, but there is a time and a place for them and that is on the highway. Around town I respect other motorists, residential areas, etc. I don’t want to be known as a weekend warrior who does nothing but ride around town thinking it is cool and revving their bikes, not cool. Touring is the ultimate, it is not the destination, it is the journey!
for the most part, the jackasses who crank on the loud pipes in the residential neighbourhoods are like the jackasses with the jacked up rolling coal pickups who do the same thing. They’re compensating for something. And yes, I have a loud bike, but not in the neighbourhood.
Mine came with loud pipes, I do respect the neighborhoods though and don’t “crank” on it, I shift early and kind of lug it through, same when passing people walking their dogs, walking or running I always back off the throttle. Just use some common sense and things will be okay.
I had two fatsos on their harleys pass me on the inside should, on Queensway today. Probably doing 70 mph. If you hear of a ‘tragedy’ and 2 bikers are dead on Queensway, trust me it was Darwin’s Theory kicking in and nothing more.
We aren’t all like this, these two are probably weekend warriors who have had their licenses for 2 years maybe! Asses like this give the normal bikers a bad name. Putt around town and read Easyrider mags are what they do! My apologies for these numbskulls!
ht tp://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/motorcycle-crash-injuries-on-the-rise-in-b-c-says-icbc-1.4097649
“In the majority of multi-vehicle collisions, the other vehicle is at fault, rather than the motorcycle.”
Comments for this article are closed.