Bit of a rant

Yesterday morning a question was posed on a motorcycling Facebook group as to why so many motorcyclists are involved in crashes, accidents and fatalities despite the training required to obtain a motorcycle license being better than ever.

The usual barrage of blame culture then ensued in the replies; the favourite being that car drivers don’t look out for motorcyclists so it’s all their fault.

This kind of response, shifting the blame onto another set of road users, really boils my blood.

In a recent seminar given in New Zealand by Bret Tkacs (a motorcycle trainer for over 26 years), he stated that in the US alone over 70% of motorcycle accidents did not involve any other vehicles.

In the remaining 28%, or so, of accidents involving motorcycles, 10% of those were caused by the motorcycle leaving their own lane and into the path of another vehicle.

He also stated that these figures were not unique to the US and in many other countries the statistics were very similar.

Let that sink in for a moment; statistically motorcyclists are very good at crashing all on their own in the vast majority of cases.

So why do motorcyclists assume the other guy, that guy in the car, is at fault when discussing motorcycle accidents?

I suspect the answer is, because it’s easy - nobody wants to be at fault and it’s just easier to blame the other guy.

There’s also confirmation bias at work. We all make mistakes on the roads whether we drive a car, ride a motorcycle or drive a great big HGV. That’s a fact. So when we hear about an accident we tend to think of all the near misses, regardless of whose fault it was, that we have experienced as a motorcyclist and conclude, “yeah, that guy in the Audi almost wiped me out”.

But here’s the thing. As a group of road users motorcyclists need to step up and take some responsibility. Yes, we are more vulnerable than drivers of cars but we can’t adopt the cyclists attitude of “I’m here so YOU need to look out for ME”!

When you put on a crash helmet and swing your leg over a motorcycle you are taking your life into your own hands. That’s on you - nobody is forcing you to do that.

So, if you’re riding your motorcycle and you haven’t anticipated that that car you’re about to pass on the motorway MIGHT change lanes without looking or signalling, that is also on you. What do you do in that scenario? Do you have a plan, or is your plan just to crash?

Yes, other road users will make mistakes and sometimes those mistakes will put motorcyclists in danger. By and large, though, we need to do more to ride safer, read the road and traffic conditions and ride to those conditions.

Stop assuming other road users are even aware of your presence, ride like you’re invisible and have a plan, firstly to mitigate what might happen and secondly to execute in case it does happen.

Also, note I haven’t even touched on some of the idiotic behaviours that some motorcyclists tend to engage in. I won’t either, but you probably know what I mean and probably know that this kind of behaviour makes St. Peter’s check in desk a lot busier.

Rant over.