Monday, September 28, 2009

Motorcycle safety tip: Keep to side of the road as far as possible



I was riding a Suzuki scooter for a few years and in all these years, I have tried my best to keep to the side of the road as far as possible and only venture to the middle of the road or to the other side of the road when I am forced to as when I have to take a turn off or I need to change lane. The reason is simple. The motorcycle has only 1 spark plug. If this spark plug fails, the motorcycle is out of power and if you are in the middle of the road, it will be extremely dangerous to try to manoeuvre to the safety of the emergency lane or to the side of the road. I liken it to a single engine airplane. If the engine died, it is tough for the plane to glide to safety.

If the video above upload successfully, you will see a very unfortunate and very frightening video showing a motorcyclist begin changing lane in front of a large truck. I suspect what I had always fear, the motor died, happened to the unfortunate motorcyclist in the video. The motorcycle slowed down just as it moved to the front of the truck. The truck continued and rolled over the motorcyclist. If you view the accident in the video, I am sure you will be frightened enough to take this safety tip to heart, keep to the side of the road as far as possible.

5 comments:

Peter said...

Hi Peter 1! Having viewed the horrific video a number of times I've come to the conclusion that it didn't matter whether the motorcyclist was on the left, center or the right side of the lane.

The truck driver would have killed have him/her anyway. There was no escaping for this poor soul due to the size and width of the truck and the way it was driven. Plus the truck driver never kept his three second gap between himself and the rider!

Here in Australia, where we have right hand drive and drive on the left side of the road, it's best to ride on the right side of the lane so you are always in the drivers mirror.

Riding in the center is especially dangerous as you would be riding in the oil spills.

Riding on the left side of the lane, exposes you to vehicle drivers passing you all too close.

Finally, having riden a motorcycle,
I know that even if you are the best rider in the country, some fool can still run you down in their car, or worse, truck!

Take Care,
Peter 2

Peter @ Enviroman said...

Hi Peter 2,

I see I have a fellow motorcyclist. I loved the freedom, the ease with which I could slice through traffic jam, no need to pay toll and 90+% of the time no need to pay parking, can park almost right in front of the destination, etc. etc. But my family has taken away the Suzuki and I am glad I am still alive and in one piece.

You in the medical field must have seen lots of horrific results of accidents, how do you still get the courage to continue riding?

Peter said...

Hi! So your family has taken away the Suzuki. You know, there's a saying and you probably know it, "You have to be cruel to be kind." In this case they have done you well and kept you in one piece. Thank Heavens, hey!

My one and only motorcycle was a trail bike. Why a trial bike? If you are going to be run off the road, you might as well be prepared to do it in style.

Take Care,
Peter 2

Lord Lillis said...

I can't agree. The Connecticut Motorcycle handbook is quite clear that motorcyclists should be just to the right (or left) of center in lane. This is because oil and other lubricants tend to collect in the center.

The far edges of the lane are hazardous. Sand and other debris collect and are far more likely to cause and accident than an inattentive trucker.

Scooters may wish to keep to the side of the road but anything with more than 60 BHP will be courting disaster

BikerHiway said...

Sometimes events like this can't be helped, but the safest riders always have an eye out to prevent themselves from even being close to a situation like that. Avoid the big rigs altogether!

-BikerHiway