You can’t gather enough safety tips when you’re a motorcyclist. Indeed, perhaps the next one you learn will be the one that saves your life. With this in mind, we’d like you to pay attention to the following piece of advice: Stay in the mix of traffic when you’re driving your bike in the city.
What does it mean to “stay in the mix” when you’re on a motorcycle? When you’re staying in the mix, it means that you won’t be riding your bike out ahead of traffic, and you won’t be riding your bike behind traffic. You’ll want to stay in the sweet spot between cars.
By staying in the mix you will achieve the important goal of ensuring that your fellow motorists see you. More importantly, though, you’ll be more visible at intersections, where cross traffic might not see a motorcycle coming into the intersection. If you position your bike next to a vehicle’s front right or front left fender, it will make you look bigger. If a vehicle is coming from the other side of the car into the intersection, it will be more likely to avoid you. Also, in some scenarios, the car by your side can function as a shield.
There are many cases of motorcyclists being hit by a car due to no fault of their own — simply because the driver of the car didn’t see them. If you were involved in an accident like this, it’s likely that the vehicle driver was at fault and he or she may be financially liable to pay for the costs associated with your medical care and other damages.
Source: Cruiser, “11 Tips for Motorcyclists to Avoid Accidents,” Jim Ouellet, accessed Sep. 28, 2017