Staying safe while riding a motorcycle is crucially important.
When you ride a motorcycle, your body is exposed to quite a bit of danger.
For example—if a car were to swerve and strike you while you were riding, your entire body would be exposed to danger—without any protection.
Even in the smallest and lightest cars, at least there’s a chassis and a car body surrounding you to keep you safe from harm.
But on a motorcycle, you don’t have any of these safety measures.
There’s nothing standing between you and any possible dangers that may lurk ahead of you on your ride.
So in this blog post, you’re going to learn our top 5 tips for how to stay safe while riding a motorcycle.
Let’s dive into it.
1. Understand Your Vehicle
Even on the safest roads, you can still injure yourself if you don’t have a thorough and in-depth understanding of how to operate your motorcycle properly.
Therefore, understanding the vehicle and how to operate it is really the first goal.
If you’ve already taken your driver’s test and have succeeded in passing it—then you may already have this objective accomplished.
However, if you haven’t yet learned and demonstrated that you know how to safely operate the vehicle, start by getting some lessons and practicing first on a safety course before you try to ride on the open road.
2. Ride Conservatively
Whenever you ride a motorcycle out on the road, you have a choice about how risky or conservative you’re going to be.
Here’s the thing.
A lot of motorcycle riders enjoy the risks that come with riding fast, hard, and without as much concern for safety.
With that being said, every single risky decision you make while riding a motorcycle puts you at an increased level of danger.
It’s always in your best interest to ride in a more conservative fashion, just to protect yourself from harm.
3. Pay Attention
It’s crucial to pay attention to surrounding traffic and possibilities for danger while operating a motorcycle.
Once again, keep in mind that there aren’t a lot of safety features to protect you from harm while riding on such a small, exposed vehicle.
Always pay close attention to the flow of traffic.
If you see a car swerving or acting suspiciously, take measures to avoid it and keep yourself at a safe distance.
All it takes is one collision to put you at serious risk of injury while riding a motorcycle—or even worse, any injury on a motorcycle could potentially end up being fatal.
4. Wear A Helmet (And Other Protective Gear)
Since there’s no protective chassis or body on a motorcycle to keep you safe from harm, wearing protective gear is an absolute must.
A helmet is the most important piece of the puzzle.
But you should also wear motorcycle-grade gloves, pants, jackets, and boots to protect your entire body in the event that something does go wrong. The best boots need to be comfortable whether you wear them for a few hours or the entire day.
Did you know that motorcycle helmets help to save lives and significantly reduce healthcare costs?
According to statistics, motorcycle helmets help to reduce the risk of head injuries by 69%, and help to reduce the risk of accidental death by 42%.
Those are some pretty big numbers—which just goes to show that wearing a helmet is certainly worth the effort.
But your head isn’t the only part of your body that’s exposed to danger while riding a motorcycle, either.
Road Rash is no joke—and you can seriously injure yourself by bumping your head (or any other part of your body) in the wake of an accident.
So always wear a helmet and make sure to protect the rest of your body with protective clothing as well.
This is probably the single most important step that you can take to help keep you safe as you ride and enjoy your motorcycle on the open road.
5. Make Sure That You Have Legal Protection
Unfortunately, even the safest motorcycle riders sometimes still get injured.
You can only control so much when you’re out riding on the road with other drivers—and sometimes, due to negligence on the part of other automobile operators, you’ll still get into accidents and get injured.
In such cases, it’s crucial to have legal protection in your corner. You definitely don’t want to get bogged down in legal fees while also nursing injuries, going to the doctor, etc.
Conclusion
Now you know exactly how to protect yourself while riding a motorcycle on the open road.
This is really important.
Don’t neglect this vital series of steps.
Always make sure to prioritize your own safety while riding.
You’ve got this.
Now get out there and have some fun.
