Motorcycle Safety and better Riding techniques

 

You can never be too safe

 

Ride safety is an issue that affects all of us, whether we are just afraid of falling, having a big crash, or just for the sake of the other motorists and riders around us. With the ever increasing numbers of motorcycles on our roads every day, I cannot emphasise road safety more. I hear on a daily basis of motorcyclists that have been knocked down in traffic. More and more riders are now using motorcycles to commute to work and back, with the obvious increase in accidents. The Think Bike campaign in South Africa is doing fantastic work to make motorcyclists and motorists more aware of the dangers involved with motorcycling. Check out their website, and join them.

 

Having said this, I know that I might get some attitude from older, sometimes more experienced riders on this issue, but I don’t think there is any harm in just going over some of these issues again.

You can teach an old dog new tricks!

 

There is also the argument for changing old habits that could be wrong ones. It is also intended for the new inexperienced rider that is thinking of getting into this wonderful lifestyle, or the rider who after a long absence has decided to get back into the fold. There are some riders to whom the ability to ride a motorcycle comes naturally, and there are the other group for whom in the beginning it is not all that easy, and they have to constantly learn and hone these new skills. There is also the “unconscious incompetents” who think that they can ride!

 

Often over-confident or older more experienced  riders can become lazy in that they tend to overlook tell tale signs warning them of immanent danger. This section is by no means intended to replace the valuable work being done by accredited riding schools and their instructors, and I would like to encourage you to attend these on a regular basis. At these courses and facilities they constantly strive to better teaching techniques, and to come up with better ideas to make motorcycling safer.

 

The sensible way

 

When deciding to buy a motorcycle, or deciding to take up riding again after a long absence, one of the first things that should be on your list of things to do should be to enrol with a reputable riding school. There are various riding academies in various parts of the country, and accredited schools that are teaching riders new skills and honing their skills into becoming more safe riders in Southern Africa.

 

The really scary part

 

Current Legislation in South Africa allows an 18 year old in-experienced rider to go out and buy the fastest most powerful motorcycle, after having completed the written exam for a Learners License. In South Africa we apply the K53 test, which involves a theoretical test, which involves no testing whatsoever to determine beforehand if the aspirant rider can actually ride the machine he is getting a permit for!  Having done no physical test to verify whether or not the aspirant rider is capable of handling this machine safely, we let him/her loose on our roads. I watched awhile ago as a very young, barely out of school youngster walked into our bike showroom, triumphantly waving his newly acquired learner’s license in his hand, headed straight for one of the fastest super-bikes on the floor. He has had no formal training, and was quite irate when I enquired about this. He was given the finance by a leading bank, left in a cloud of dust, and left me holding my breath.

 

In some countries around the world you have to first prove that you can ride a motorcycle properly, and have to at least complete an introduction course with a recognised riding school or academy. This is something that South Africa should look at, and at the same time incorporate a section educating the motorist on motorcyclists.

 

The youngster I have talked about gives motorcycling and motorcyclists a bad image. He is the one that comes flying past you on the breakfast run with his T-Shirt flapping in the wind. He is also the one whose mother gives you a scornful look when she hears that you are riding a motorcycle. In her mind motorcycles are the proverbial “coffins on wheels”, after her son had fallen himself into hospital, or worse. Motorcycles don’t kill people. It is people that kill motorcyclists.