15 Riding-In-Traffic Tips


Basics? Sure. But keeping them fresh in your cranial RAM could be the difference between riding tomorrow and The Long Nap.

Close your eyes and recall your last ride in heavy traffic. Imagine the vehicles surrounding you, crowding you, cutting you off. Imagine yourself monitoring closing speeds, reading street signs, noticing and anticipating traffic lights. Then imagine guessing what pedestrians will do, or how slippery that painted line might be. And those drivers with cell phones, newspapers or screaming kids to deal with…imagine trying to guess what they’re going to do.

Let's face it; every one of us starts out as a beginner motorcycle rider, even if we don't want to admit it. Yes, we would all like to have started at age 3 like Rossi and ride a motorcycle as naturally as we walk and run, but for most of us, that just isn't the case. Riding and racing schools are abundant these days and are a great way to improve riding skills, safety, and confidence on the street and on the track. With more and more cropping up each year, and with more women than ever taking up motorcycle riding, we ask the proverbial question, is there a need for women specific rider training? And do women riders really make better students?

Following Too Closely and Not Paying Attention

A multiple-bike accident yesterday morning on California Highway 1 in Northern California provided a harsh reminder of the penalties for following too closely and not paying close enough attention to what's going on ahead of you.

A group of four riders was traveling two abreast in the left lane when the Toyota pickup in front of them slowed to make a left-hand turn onto a side road. The two lead riders reacted late and were barely able to stop in time, according to reports in local newspapers. The two riders following behind rear-ended their stopped buddies, bringing all four bikes (two carrying passengers) down.

There is always potential for conflict every time one vehicle passes or overtakes another. Here is some advice for avoiding danger wile passing, being passed, over being overtaken while riding a motorcycle. From the December 2005 issue of Motorcycle Cruiser magazine. By Art Friedman

I was motoring along southbound on a four-lane Oregon road, barely overtaking another motorcyclist who I'd first seen over a quarter-mile ahead of me. By now the distance had shrunk by about two-thirds and, even over the wind noise I could tell from the considerable rumble that he was riding a big twin. I was still a few hundred feet behind when he gradually overtook a van towing a big house trailer. This rider had been favoring the right side of the lane, and when he got right up behind the trailer, he made a quick flick into the left lane, again on the right side, close to the van-trailer. It was going almost as fast as we were, and I could hear that he didn't accelerate when he drew alongside of it. He had probably been in passing position for almost a minute when the van-trailer signaled, then began to move over (a deer carcass lay in the road ahead). The rider apparently didn't see the signal and didn't react until the vehicle began crowding him. Then he pulled ahead next to the driver and gestured angrily. I saw the brake lights on the trailer, then the bike, illuminate, as the rider apparently tried to stay next to the vehicle as it braked. But the driver still had the obstacle to avoid and continued to move over while trying to brake to get behind the bike. The rider wanted to express his anger though and didn't get out of the way until he was finally on the shoulder, and both he and the other vehicle had slowed to less than 30 mph, and I'd had to brake to stay clear.