Common causes of motorcycle accidents

There are several common causes of accidents that involve motorcycles. However not all are the fault of the rider. A motorcycle and it's rider have a much smaller outline than a car or larger vehicle and general motorist awareness is perhaps not as good as it can be when looking out for that bike.

Unfortunately, during the rush of todays traffic a biker is often missed when a motorist decides to turn out onto a road, dash across a junction or pull out on a roundabout.

In addition, a bike's speed is often miscalculated when the bike is seen so a motorist often pulls out thinking he has more time before the bike arrives at his location.

During bad weather, non biker road users are often unaware of the additional hazards that a motorcyclist has to contend with when riding in the rain. Wet drain covers, cats eyes and even fuel spillage means the biker has to take a less than obvious route down the carriageway. This means that the average car driver is not making extra allowances for this when driving near or overtaking a motorbike. An accident often ensues when care is not taken here.

Simply overtaking a bike can cause accidents simply because a motorist is not aware of the buffeting his vehicle can have upon the bike and it's rider. In worse case scenarios a motorbike can be blown completely off the road. This can be avoided completely if motorists give more room to bikes when overtaking as opposed to trying to nip past the bike without moving into the oncoming traffic lane. Trucks of course have an even more devastating effect here.

However there are instances where the biker is responsible for the causing of accidents and some of the common ones are where riders white line between rows of traffic. Although this can be a safe exercise some bikers do this far to fast and have no safety room if a driver decides to open his door, change his lane or simply throw a cigarette butt out of the window.

Some bikers choose to ignore some of the dangers of motorcycling and pay no attention to their own visibility. Putting on the bike headlight and wearing a hi-viz vest for example would increase their safety while on the road.

Bikers are responsible for the maintenance of their vehicles and neglect in this area can cause some common accidents. Simply by not making sure that there is no oil on or around the tyres on their bike risks an accident. This is particularly true if a chain oiler such as one made by Scott is fitted.

poorly inflated or overworn tyres can also be blamed for some of the common accidents involving motorcycles, again this is the responsibility of the owner to upkeep but sometimes it gets missed. If a tyre is badly worn it will give little grip in wet conditions and the risk of an accident is increased.

To reduce such common accidents motorists need to increase their awareness of motorcycles on the road and bikers need to be thinking about the maintenance of their machine and also the dangers to them by other motorists.