Now that the weather has finally turned the corner towards warmer days, and nicer conditions. May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness month and this month’s Drivers Ed with Debbie, shines a light on what we all can do to keep everyone safe.
The birds are out, the trees are starting to bloom, and the temps are starting to turn spring like. You know what else is out there? MOTORCYCLES. And their riders are asking other drivers for a favor.
“Motorcyclists can disappear in a car’s blind spot really quickly. So, anytime a driver is about to change lanes or merge or maybe even make a turn, just please double check your blind spot, so check those mirrors. Actually, turn your head and look. Don’t just rely on your blind spot detectors. A lot of cars have those these days. Sometimes those detectors don’t pick up motorcyclists because we have a much smaller profile,” says Motorcycle Safety Foundation’s rider and coach Andria Yu.
Basically, being aware of your surroundings is important, no matter what you’re driving. Also, common sense things like not driving distracted makes a huge difference.
Yu says, “Sometimes we see an alert on our phone or something, we take our eyes off the roads just for a few seconds, but if you’re driving at like 65 miles per hour, you can cover over 100 ft in 1 second. So, even if you take your eyes off for like 3, 4, 5 seconds, you cover more than the length of a football field and a lot can happen in that time.”
Obviously, motorcycles are smaller than cars. So, they can move around in their lane.
“I’ve done that just to like avoid a pothole or sometimes I might be on the left side of the lane a little more and then I might move to the right side. But, I’m trying to make sure that people can see me. So, I might just move positions to make sure that the traffic, you know, other drivers motorist will see where I am,” explains Yu.
It’s not because she wants to show off or anything. She’s just trying to stay visible to the drivers.
There’s also safety equipment motorcyclists can wear too.
“You want to make sure that you know you have the proper gear on too. A lot of times people think, ‘oh, it’s going to be hot out. I don’t want to wear gear’, but you really want to keep yourself protected. Of course if should you have a crash, you want to have your skin protected [and] most importantly, your head protected. The Jackets prevents, you know, wind rash or rocks or dirt from hitting my skin,” Yu says.
And, of course, Helmets. A critical piece of gear to keep you riding for a long time.
Yu explains, “You want to look for that Department of Transportation sticker on the back that shows that it meets federal safety standards. Helmets really protect your eyes so you can see. It’s going to be hard to ride if you get stuff in your eyes and you can’t really see. So helmet with a visor, full face helmet is what we prefer. It gives the best protection.”
Many in the Milwaukee area like to feel the wind blowing through the hair, or are worried that wearing a helmet will be too hot. But Yu says, “There are vents in the helmet so you can open up to let the air go through, but again most importantly, the helmets really help protect you.”
The motorcycles themselves even have safety equipment these days.
“A lot of motorcycles today have ABS and they also have traction control. And a lot of these bikes you can actually adjust how much traction control you have or you can turn ABS on or off depending if you’re on road or off road. There’s also wearable technology. One of the big things is airbag jackets or air bag vests.
These vests they can go underneath an existing jacket you have. They use sensors and algorithms to detect when a crash is about to happen, and they will just deploy faster than the blink of eye,” explains Yu.
It’s more than wardrobe. It’s important for everyone to know how to be safe. Yu says, “We encourage everyone to follow the rules of the road. Don’t be stunting out there. There’s a time and place for everything, but when you’re on public roads, we want to make sure everyone is safe.”
If you don’t know what those rules are, no problem. They’ve got you covered.
“The best way to do it is to take a safety course. So, you can go to the Motorcycle Safety Foundation. You can find the Motorcycle Safety Foundation basic rider course. It teaches you smart street skills, safety tips, and also the foundational basics that you need to control and ride a motorcycle,” says Yu.
You can also check out the area riding schools. Most Harley dealerships have information about them, too.
Motorcyclists are obviously more vulnerable than drivers in cars. If you’re in a car, you have the body around you as at least some protection. Bikers don’t have that. So, being extra careful around them is important.
Yu says, “Let’s just all be courteous to each other because we really want to keep everyone safe. So a little courtesy goes a long way.”
Motorcycles are part of Milwaukee DNA. We know them, we love them, so we got to protect them. So keep your head on the swivel and let’s watch out for everyone on the roads.
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