InfoCentral

Every week the library publishes an article in the Westland Observer on a new subject. Below is this week's article.

Motorcycle Safety

InfoCentral, April 24 - 30, 2008

Riding a motorcycle can be a fun and exhilarating experience. Unfortunately motorcycle riders get into more fatal accidents then regular vehicles. As May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month, there are several tips motorcycle riders and would be riders can follow to increase their safety on the road.

Motorcycle riders are much more physically vulnerable than other car drivers when it comes to collisions. Statistically you are 26 times more likely to die when riding a motorcycle than you are when riding in a car. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 1,658 motorcyclists’ lives were saved in 2006 because they were wearing helmets. Another 752 could have been saved had they been wearing a helmet.

Other safety considerations like speeding may seem like over-exhausted rhetoric to your average car driver, but for a motorcycle rider the implications of speeding can be even more serious. One third of motorcyclist fatalities were speeding upon impact. Proper motorcycle training is also very important to ensure safety. One out of four motorcycle operators that were involved in fatal crashes had an invalid license. You must have a motorcycle endorsement on your license in order to operate a motorcycle in the state of Michigan.

Motorcycle safety literature emphasizes visibility as another key factor in staying safe on a motorcycle. Assume you’re invisible to other drivers and ride as defensively as possible. It’s important to be aware of how positioning your motorcycle in a lane can ensure maximal visibility to the car drivers around you.

To find out more about how to ride a motorcycle safely you can check out Proficient Motorcycling: the Ultimate Guide to Riding Well by David L. Hough. You can also look at the website for the Motorcycle Safety Foundation at http://www.msf-usa.org. Another useful website with motorcycling tips, techniques and also some mechanical info is available at http://www.msgroup.org.