Motorbike safety – just two words and you’re already thinking I sound like your mum!
Before you move on thinking you’re about to get a lecture about why riding a motorbike is so dangerous and you shouldn’t go out in the wet, and you shouldn’t blah, blah, blah I want you to take just a few seconds and think about this…
In the UK close to 20,000 motorcyclists are injured on our roads every year and according to brake.org.uk riders on 2 wheels are 63 times more likely to be killed or seriously injured than car drivers.
But, surprisingly, it is rural roads that pose the biggest threat with riders facing 3 times the risk of a fatal accident compared to urban roads.
You would think that in our cities it would be car drivers, snug and warm inside their tin boxes with their music and passengers distracting them, who would be the biggest cause of accidents involving motor bikes. Car drivers may well be part to blame (at least) for many accidents but is it fair to pass the blame on to them 100% of the time?
It’s a human failing to believe that when something goes wrong it was not us at fault but someone else. Sadly, apportioning blame after a serious motorcycle accident isn’t really going to put matters right! I firmly believe that all road users would benefit from concentrating more on what they are doing.
In a car, drivers are removed from any real involvement with the elements and it is so easy to let your mind drift away, especially when sitting in heavy traffic, and that’s when the lack of concentration, even for a few seconds, can prove fatal.
But what about those rural roads?
You may well think that the lack of traffic would significantly reduce the risks but the stats tell us a different story.
Speed will be a factor in motorbike safety as well as other vehicles but if you are concentrating any road user should anticipate danger and hazards and adjust the throttle to suit the situation.
But, fatigue during a long ride can significantly reduce concentration, dehydration due to a lack of liquid intake and simply believing that an open traffic free road presents little danger can lead to complacency.
A blind bend, an animal in the road, a slow moving tractor, Mrs Giggins in her old Morris Minor pulling out of a side turning obscured by overhanging trees or even a motorist driving too fast and drifting across the wrong side of the road round a bend because like you they are thinking the road is clear and presents no danger.
Most accidents could be avoided if road users were fully concentrating. 100% concentration results in far earlier reactions, reducing speed or taking avoiding action but such levels of concentration can only be achieved if you are in good shape and are prepared to accept that you need to work on it.
BikersFit helps motorcyclists with fitness and nutrition guidance to maximise concentration and get you into top shape for your ride.
