If you’re a motorcyclist, you know that motorcyclists are potentially more vulnerable to severe injuries in crashes than drivers of regular passenger vehicles. Additionally, because motorcycles are smaller than cars, many drivers overlook them, leading to accidents.
As a Colorado motorcyclist, it makes sense to take all reasonable precautions to protect yourself and your passenger. Knowing valuable safety tips can help you stay safe on the road and prevent accidents with other vehicles.
Read on to learn our Colorado motorcycle safety tips.
Always Wear Your Helmet
Wearing a helmet is one of the most important steps you can take to keep yourself safe on your motorcycle.
Your helmet can protect your head in a crash, helping to prevent traumatic brain injury and other severe injuries. As of April 2022, 17 motorcyclists had been killed in crashes in Colorado. Only four of them were wearing helmets.
The data is clear — wearing a helmet can save your life. If you care about your health and safety, you will wear a DOT-approved helmet every time you get on your motorcycle.
Take a Motorcycle Safety Course
Whether you’ve been riding a motorcycle for one year or 30 years, it never hurts to refresh your knowledge.
You can find many organizations throughout Colorado offering motorcycle safety courses. If you can find a class through the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, we recommend these courses.
You can typically choose from a wide range of courses, such as beginner, intermediate, advanced, and special skills. These courses can make you a better rider, help you feel more confident on the road, and teach you how to be defensive to avoid accidents.
Ride Sober
You may think it’s obvious that you shouldn’t ride your motorcycle while drunk. However, many bikers fail to realize at what level they can safely operate a motorcycle.
Most experts recommend following the one-hour-per-drink rule. This rule states that you should wait at least one hour before driving for every drink you’ve had. If you’ve had two drinks, you need to wait two hours. Four drinks is four hours.
Sticking to this rule can help you stay safe on the road even when your judgment of your sobriety isn’t accurate. You may think you are sober enough to ride, but you may not have the sound judgment to stay safe. Additionally, if you get pulled over and have even a little alcohol in your system, you could get charged with a DUI.
Understand Countersteering
Colorado roads tend to be hilly and curvy. When you ride a curve on your motorcycle, you need to know the principle of countersteering: steering the front wheel in the opposite direction of the turn.
If you plan to take your motorcycle on windy roads, be sure you feel comfortable with countersteering before heading out. If you approach a curve and don’t feel confident, slowing down below 20 mph can minimize the necessity for countersteering.
Follow All Traffic Laws
As a motorcyclist, you need to be extra aware of traffic laws. Being a predictable rider is essential to avoiding an accident. When you make mistakes or go against traffic laws, other drivers may not have time to get out of your way.
One law you should understand is Colorado’s lane-splitting law. Lane splitting is the practice of riding your motorcycle between lanes of moving traffic. This practice is prohibited in Colorado, and attempting it could lead to an accident or legal penalties.
With these Colorado motorcycle safety tips in mind, you can take precautions to remain a safe, responsible rider. And here are two more important tips. First, you can get a free rider’s benefits kit compliments of Law Tigers! And also, if you ever become a motorcycle accident victim, contact our Law Tigers team at 1-888-863-7216 for a free consultation.
