06.12
Three Rules For Interstate Riding
I’m of the opinion that riding your motorcycle on the interstate is much safer than riding on side streets and backroads. Your (and other driver’s) field of vision is greatly enhanced by having 2 or more open lanes of traffic to look across. Also, merging cars are much easier to deal with than cars pulling out of sidestreets directly across your path. Here are some tips for safe interstate riding:
1. Do Not Tailgate! Tailgating is just a really stupid thing to do on a motorcycle. Proper swerving is a difficult skill to pull off without putting the bike on the ground. The motorcycle test recommends keeping a two second gap between yourself and the car in front of you. That might be ok if you’re a cyborg. For the rest of us at least a three second gap is a lot more manageable. Give yourself enough room to manuever in case of a sudden stop but not so far that you are all alone. Being near another car draws people’s attention to you. If you don’t have any other cars near you then it’s more likely that a driver will just “look right through you”.
2. Ride in the Far Right Lane. Considering that you shouldn’t be going over the speed limit anyway, this shouldn’t be a problem. I have two reasons for this. First, most merge ramps are located on the right side of the road. This gives you plenty of control over how the merge happens. You can slow down or speed up to allow the merging car in. The other reason is that if you are in the leftmost lanes you leave yourself susceptible to crossover traffic. We’ve all seen those maniacs who merge in and then shoot across to the far left lane with barely a look around. The right lane just gives you more protection from that kind of thing. Speed freaks and reckless drivers are usually addicted to the left lane.
3. Blink Your Tail-lights. Putting on the brakes on the interstate is a rare thing, so give the car behind you a heads up by tapping the brakes a couple of times before applying them for real. A blinking light catches attention more than a solid one. You only have one small tail-light so you must make it as noticeable as possible.
It also goes without saying that you should always be aware of your surroundings and drive in a defensive posture at all times. Turn your head to double-check your mirrors whenever you change lanes and always use turn signals. It’s also perfectly acceptable to beep the horn when you are driving through a car’s blind spot. This is recommended by the drivers manual. If somebody has a problem with it they can just get over it. It’s your job to stay safe and getting people’s attention is the primary concern of any motorcyclist.
