Motorcycles are more cost-effective methods of transportation than standard motor vehicles, but they are also typically more dangerous. If you experience a crash on a motorcycle, your risk for a severe or fatal injury is higher than it would be in a bigger vehicle.
While you may have cultivated the necessary skills to safely operate a motorcycle, other people in traffic can drastically increase your risk of getting into a wreck. Often, when people in bigger vehicles cause collisions, they will blame the collision on the lack of visibility of the motorcycle.
Overall, motorcycles are smaller and therefore less visible than enclosed vehicles. Will an investment in visibility gear reduce your chance of a crash?
Drawing attention certainly won’t hurt
There are many ways that you can increase the likelihood of drivers near you noticing you before they turn, merge or enter the lane you have already occupied with your motorcycle. You might invest in brightly-colored riding gear to draw the attention of nearby drivers or adjust the exhaust on your motorcycle to make it noisier.
Prioritizing visibility is a smart move, but so is the cultivation of defensive driving skills. There is little that you can personally do to overcome the distraction of a driver who has failed to notice your motorcycle in traffic. Visibility gear can help you draw the attention of those who are paying attention, and defensive driving skills could help you avoid a wreck when someone who isn’t attentive enough swerves into your lane of traffic.
Identifying common causes of motorcycle crashes can help you reduce your risk of a wreck.