A brand new riding experience can be a pretty daunting place to be. You have seen all the videos of the guys riding their motorcycles, and they seem like they are having such a good time. I am too. But the thought of riding this new thing around cars, traffic, and lights is terrifying.
Riding a motorcycle on the street around cars in traffic is easily the most dangerous thing. When I am riding a motorcycle, there are a lot of ways to make it safer. Now I will talk about my top 5 mistakes that I see riders make when they are riding around cars and traffic lights.
Stick around because this is not about avoiding little slip-ups; this is about making sure you are safe, confident, and most importantly, still having a blast while you are out there riding.
Number one mistake: Moving with traffic
Riding at the same speed as the traffic around you when you are on the open road. There is a golden rule: always stay proactive, never passive.
What do I mean by that? It’s simple. While cruising in traffic, never stick to just a single speed, especially one that matches the cars around you. Drivers zone out, it’s a fact, and if you are riding parallel to them for a long time, there is a chance that they might totally forget you are even there. The last thing we want is for someone to make a sudden lane change right into us.
So, keep adjusting your speed, make your presence felt, and remember that staying stagnant is never the solution.
Depending on the conditions, I typically find myself cruising around 5 mph faster than the cars around me. This limits the amount of exposure I have to each car and allows me to read the cars as I’m coming up to them. Obviously, this is not me telling you to speed or ride recklessly.
We are just going to casually move slightly faster than traffic to make sure we are staying active.
Number two mistake: Trusting the intersection
Not slowing down for intersections. First up, we have to talk about intersections. Think of them as a crossroads of unpredictability.
Why? Because at this junction, the variables and hence the dangers increase exponentially. You are not just dealing with the car in front of you or behind you; you’re now factoring in cars from the left, the right, and sometimes even from unexpected angles.
So, always approach intersections with heightened alertness.
Did you know that intersections, even though they make up a small fraction of the total road, account for a whopping 40% of all collisions? Yeah, it’s kind of crazy. For us motorcyclists, the stakes are even higher.
A study from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicates that about 13% of motorcycle accidents occur at intersections.
What makes them even more perilous is the fact that collisions at intersections often involve side impacts or angled crashes, which are especially dangerous for us, the riders, without the protective frame of a car around us.
So, what do we do when we approach crossroads of unpredictability? Remember the stats, slow it down, keep your senses sharp, and always expect the unexpected. You all know these car drivers are going to surprise us every single day.
Number three mistake: Stopping directly behind cars
A rule that I learned the hard way and one that can be a legitimate lifesaver is not stopping directly behind the car in front of you. When you roll up to a red light, never, and I mean never, park your bike behind a car.
So, the question is, what should you do instead? You nestle your bike into the corner of the car ahead. Why? Because if you’re parking your motorcycle on the far left or the far right of the lane, it essentially gives the other car behind you an entire lane that they can come up next to you in case they’re not paying attention.
Also, I would much rather be hit in the back by a car and be pushed into nothing than be hit in the back by a car and be pushed into another car.
So, it’s just about lane position. Remember, motorcycles are small enough to only take up a very small section of the lane. A car can essentially fit next to you, so give those cars behind you space just in case they aren’t paying attention.
Side note: they probably aren’t. A personal story here that really solidified this for me. You guys that are fans of the channel might remember a few years ago my wife and I got rear-ended at a red light.
I was sitting there for probably a minute or two when a car came up and nailed us at 45 mph. Now, that was a pretty traumatic experience. You know, the car got totaled and everything like that.
But the thing that I took away from that was, had a motorcycle been behind us when that happened and they were parked directly behind us, I don’t think that would be an accident they would have walked away from.
That has stuck with me ever since. So, ever since that happened, I’ve always, at a red light, when I’m slowing down to get behind the car, positioned myself on the far left or the far right because here in Georgia, we are not allowed to filter legally.
Number four mistake: Not using your brake light
When you are slowing down. Now you are probably hearing me say that and thinking, “Chase, I slow down, I use my brakes, and when I do that, my brake light turns on. How else should I signal to other drivers that I’m slowing down?” Yes, you are right, but the problem is that’s not the only way to slow a bike down.
You can actually slow your bike down a considerable amount by using engine braking, and it’s one of my preferred ways of slowing my bike down. Now because of that, here’s a habit I have formed that is crucial for you engine braking enthusiasts like myself.
Let’s talk about tapping the rear brake. Why? Because when you are downshifting to slow down, your brake lights aren’t coming on even though you’re decelerating pretty quickly. To the unobservant driver behind you, which, as we have discussed, is the majority of them, it looks like you’re maintaining speed.
Tapping on the rear brake is essentially using it to light up your brake light and hopefully snap the car driver behind you out of the comatose state they are driving in and give you a better chance of not getting rear-ended.
So, even if you’re not using the brakes to slow down, give them a little tap to let them know, “Hey, I’m slowing down here.” Now, just as a note, you can do this with the front brake or the rear brake, it doesn’t matter. All we’re aiming to do is light that rear brake up to get people’s attention. Last but by no means least.
Number five mistake: Too many focus points
Not focusing on the right part of the car. When it comes to having situational awareness while you ride, there are a million things to focus on. This tip is going to help you focus on only what you need to.
Instead of focusing on the entire car or cars, only focus on the front tire closest to you. Now you might be wondering, “Chase, why just the tire?” Well, it’s because the front tire is like a crystal ball.
It’ll tell you what the car is about to do before the rest of the vehicle even hints at it. If a car is about to change lanes, that tire is your early warning system.
And when you’re at a stoplight, observing the very core of that front tire can clue you in on any movement way before you notice the whole car shifting.
By honing in on these details, you’re buying yourself those precious extra moments to react, ensuring you stay safe and ahead of the curve no matter what the traffic throws at you.
In moments like this, where every millisecond could mean the difference between avoiding an accident or being part of one, we need any help we can get. Focus on those front tires, don’t worry about the rest of the car.
Final thoughts
So, I know we’ve definitely covered some ground today, and I hope that these tips help you ride smoother and safer while in traffic.
One thing to keep in mind is that we are all beginners at some point in time during our riding journey, and the road will teach you something new every single time you go for a ride.