The Art of Safely Riding Your Motorcycle on The Street, by California Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Norman Gregory Fernandez

The most dangerous place to ride any motorcycle is on city streets and roads, whereas highways and freeways are the safest place to ride your motorcycle. Most motorcycle accidents occur on city streets and roads.

It is imperative as a motorcycle rider to understand how to actually ride your motorcycle on city streets in order to be safe.

Obviously, you will want to wear proper motorcycle riding equipment when riding your motorcycle. This article is not about proper motorcycle riding attire, if you want to look at that subject, simply search for it by going to the top of the page and typing in on the search box. You can also click on the motorcycle safety tab above and scroll down to the category.

Wearing proper motorcycle safety attire when riding on city streets is a huge issue when riding on city streets and is a major factor if you get into an accident. The only protection you have while riding a motorcycle is what you’re wearing.

As a motorcycle accident lawyer, and a personal injury lawyer, I have personally handled over a thousand injury cases over a 21 year plus legal career as an attorney.

For the most part most motorcycle and car accidents happen within a few miles from your house. This is no coincidence. The operators of motorcycles and cars tend to be more complacent when they are closer to their home. When they are familiar with the streets they are on, they tend to be less cautious. When you are less cautious, that’s when accidents will occur.

For a motorcycle rider the most important thing you can do as a rider on city streets or any other type of highway, is to pretend like you are invisible. I repeat, pretend that you are invisible. If you act like nobody else on the road can see you, that in of itself will prevent 90% of accidents in my opinion.

Many accidents happen when a motorcycle rider assumes that a car or other vehicle sees them. For instance, you can be riding down a street, and you see a car waiting to make a right turn out of a shopping center driveway. You obviously have the right of way because you are riding down the street in your lane, the other car is supposed to wait until you pass to make their turn, all of a sudden the car pulls out in front of you, you hit the brakes hard, you lay it down or slam into the car because you have no time to react.

Let’s say you are riding down the road, and you see an oncoming car in the left-hand turn lane. You assume they must see you because you are right in front of them, and then suddenly, they make a left turn right in front of you, and you either lay your motorcycle down or hit them.

In both of these instances, although the motorcycle rider is not at fault, the accident for the most part can be prevented if you assume the car that’s pulling out of the driveway, or the car that’s making a left-hand turn in the opposite direction, doesn’t see you.

There have been many studies on the subject and for some reason most motorists in vehicles sometimes referred to by motorcycle riders as (cagers), do not see motorcycles like they do other cars. For some reason the human mind either blocks them out, or in some way causes us not to see motorcycles on the road. Obviously once you become conscious of a motorcycle that’s riding near you if your in a car, hopefully you will pay attention to it and be careful. I am talking about the motorists who does not see the motorcycle rider.

It does not matter if you have the right-of-way, it does not matter if you are not at fault. What matters is if you’re able to go home with your motorcycle intact, rather than going to the hospital with a catastrophic injury.

If you ride your motorcycle defensively, and pretend that you are invisible, you’ll be much safer on the road.

I always recommend when appropriate, when you see a car about to turn out of the driveway either in front of you, or in the left-hand turn lane in front of you, to let off the accelerator, and cover your brake.

Covering your brake simply consists of putting your hand over the brake and putting your foot above the brake pedal if you do not have a coupled braking system. That way if you do have to stop suddenly you save at least a half second or more which could be all the difference in an emergency situation.

When you are approaching a car that is about to turn our of a driveway or street on your side of the road, do not look at the driver of the car or the actual car, look at the wheels, especially the hubs, or the hubcap. If you see them moving hit the brake and stop unless it is not safe to do so because of the car behind you.

If it is not safe to stop, move into the adjoining Lane. You may also hit the horn and flash your brights to get the car that is about to turn of a driveway or streets attention.

If you see the cars wheels moving, there’s a good chance this driver does not see you and they’re going to turn out in front of you. It is better to be safe than sorry.

I hit the horn quite a bit when I am not sure of what a car or other vehicle may do, because I care more about myself, my passenger, and my motorcycle, then irritating somebody by hitting the horn. On some motorcycles the stock horn is not loud enough for vehicles with their windows rolled up to hear. There are plenty of aftermarket horn solutions for all types of motorcycles to remedy this problem.

When you are approaching a signal and you see a car in the opposite direction in a left-hand turn lane, as I said above, assume they do not see you.

I also look at the wheels in this scenario, but I also looked at the car as well. In the case of a car making a left, just like I stated above, let off the throttle, and cover your brake in case you suddenly have to stop.

If you see the wheels on the vehicle turning as you are approaching, or you see the vehicle moving even the slightest bit, stop if you can. If you cannot safely stop, then you want to try to move to the furthest Lane away from the left-hand turn maker, hit your horn and flash your brights.

If the single is turning yellow, try to stop if you can safely do so. Often times cars will making a left-hand turn will automatically start turning when the light turns yellow, and with you on a motorcycle there is a good chance they’re not going to see you. What is more important, waiting a few minutes at a stoplight, or blowing through a yellow light? I cannot stress how dangerous cars making left turns in front of you are enough. Do what you have to do to survive.

The goal here is to pretend like you are invisible and do everything you can to anticipate that the car or other vehicle will in fact turn directly in front of you.

In the vast majority of cases the car or vehicle may not turn in front of you, but if they do, you will be ready, you will know what to do, and you will go home safe with your motorcycle unharmed.

Keep your head on a swivel. This is not just some buzzword or term, it is a physical act which will save your life. I don’t care how busy you are, or how focused you are, the only way to safely ride motorcycles on city streets is to keep your head on a swivel. You should be constantly scanning everything in front of you, on the side of you, and behind you through your rearview mirrors.

Sometimes on a motorcycle you get into what I call a meditative state. Even experienced motorcycle riders have this occur. It’s almost like tunnel vision. This is kind of ok if you are on highways or freeways, but it is a death trap on city streets and roads. Always scan your surroundings and your rearview mirrors when you’re on a motorcycle on city streets and roads.

If you see that a car is tailgating you, put your left hand up, and then make a up down motion as though you’re pushing something down in attempt to get the car’s attention, and to get them to slow down.

Sometimes tailgaters intentionally tailgate because they are in a rush, they are not paying attention, or they could be in a road rage type of frame of mind. If the up-and-down motion with your left hand does not work to get them to back off, move to the other closest Lane as soon as and as safely as possible.

Make sure you use your turn signal first, because the tailgater may also have the same idea and suddenly change lanes into the same lane you are going into.

I know you have the right of way, I know that you should not have to change lanes just because somebody is tailgating you, but sometimes even the toughest guys on motorcycles have to eat their ego to be safe.

The theme here is it’s better to be safe than sorry. I have had to actually pull over in this scenario many times. It is okay if you are upset and angry. It is okay if it is not fair that you have to pull over or switch lanes. I understand you want to kick their ass. It’s a hell of a lot better to switch lanes, or pullover, then to be sitting in some trauma center. Beware of the tailgater.

The theme of riding your motorcycle safely on city streets and roads, is to act like you are invisible, and to anticipate that the other vehicles on the road with you, will do everything they can to take you out. If you see a tailgater, anticipate that he or she will rear end you. If you see somebody turning out of a driveway, or making a left-hand turn, assume they do not see you and that they will turn in front of you.

Do not tailgate cars while riding your motorcycle. Always leave a safe enough distance between the car in front of you and your motorcycle so that you can fully stop if the car suddenly stops. Anticipate that the car in front of you may suddenly stop.

Riding the speed limit is critical to being safe on city streets and roads when you’re on your motorcycle. Yes, we motorcycle riders can usually go a lot faster than cars. However, you may have noticed, that the cars these days are much faster than they used to be. Guys that are riding cruiser style motorcycles will find that cars accelerate just as fast as you do from stop signs and turn signals.

City streets and roads are not speedways, they are a transportation medium only.

Motorcycles unlike cars or other motor vehicles, only have 2 wheels for traction. Unlike car tires that are flat, almost all motorcycle tires are curved. What this means is that motorcycles may have 1 to 2 inches at the most of actual rubber on the pavement. Motorcycles cannot stop as fast as cars, nor are they as safe as cars in an accident scenario.

Riding the speed limit although boring at times, especially since motorcycles can accelerate very quickly, is a major factor in being safe on city streets and roads. You will find that if you ride the speed limit, you will be able to stop when you need to, you are less likely to get into a car accident.

When approaching a red light or stop sign, or slowing or stopped traffic, always look in your rear view mirrors to ensure that you are not going to be rear ended by a car or other vehicle that does not see you. Leave enough distance between the car in front of you, so that you can escape from your lane if you think you might be rear ended by the vehicle behind you. Basically make a lane escape plan each time you are slowing, or stopped, just in case. Leave your motorcycle in gear with clutch in so you can escape the rear ender fast if you have to.

Finally, there is the factor of not wanting to ride directly next to people in cars, yet not being able to move away from cars because of traffic. Every motorcycle safety course tells you to not ride directly next to cars or trucks, etc. When you are on city streets and roads, in traffic, going the speed limit or stopped, there is no way to avoid other vehicles.

If I am forced to ride next to a car or vehicle on city streets and roads, I always like to make sure that I am near the driver side window or at least up to the drivers window if the car is on the left-hand side of me, to make sure that the driver actually sees me.

Many times, you will see that the driver is texting on their phone, holding their phone up to their ear, with their windows rolled up, and they flat out don’t see or hear you. I will give my motorcycle a couple run of revs on the throttle to get their attention. Sometimes you don’t get their attention, but at least you tried.

If I see somebody texting on their phone or talking on their phone with the phone to their ear, I will hit my horn really quick to get their attention while I’m riding.

I hope these safety tips will help you get home or to your destination on your motorcycle when riding on city streets and roads.

If any of you have any other safety suggestions feel free to comment below.

By Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Norman Gregory Fernandez, November 2018.