Hitting the open road is one of life's great freedoms. However, riding a motorcycle means taking a risk. Unlike a car, your body is the crumple zone, and minor errors can be deadly. Most mishaps are not a matter of luck. There are common causes behind these events. Riding safely is not just about defensive techniques. It is about expecting the unexpected and creating your own buffer zone. The information below examines the seven most common types of motorcycle crashes and their underlying causes. This will also help you know how best to avoid them.
Left Turn Accidents
This crash type is the most common and deadliest type of crash a motorcyclist can encounter in a motor vehicle collision. When the approaching car violates your right-of-way and pulls out suddenly to turn left across your path. Since the angle for these incidents is perpendicular, a T-bone collision almost always occurs. That maximizes the forces on the unprotected rider. According to federal data, this deadly risk is a possibility. 42% of fatal multi-vehicle motorcycle crashes involve this exact scenario, which is your biggest risk.
This common failure stems not from willful malice but from a critical cognitive phenomenon known as inattentional blindness. Motorcycle accidents often occur because drivers overlook motorcycles. They scan the roads for anything remarkable, but their brains are preconditioned to expect larger profiles. When they see cars, they can identify the vehicle size. However, they expect cars, and the motorcycle is smaller than a car. So, their brains literally fail to process or register it. Moreover, drivers often misjudge your speed and distance, thinking they have time to complete their turn before your approaching bike arrives. Even a brief driver distraction or a blocked view from a large vehicle can cause a serious misjudgment when turning.
To fight against their near-invisibility, you must put up a layered defense. First of all, during the daytime, use your high beam and wear clothing that contrasts with or reflects the daylight. After this, it is time to master strategic lane positioning. Constantly adjust your position within the lane (the left or right third). This way, you will ensure the turning driver sees your headlight beam. Furthermore, it will maximize space and visibility.
Most importantly, you should remember to slow down as you approach any intersection where a vehicle is turning in front of you. Keep your fingers over the brake and clutch levers to reduce reaction time (covering your controls). Also, keep an eye on the front wheels of the vehicle that is turning. As soon as those wheels begin to move, immediately follow your planned escape route, which involves immediately applying the brakes or steering around the rear.
Blind Spot During Lane Changes Crashes
Following the severe danger posed by left-turn collisions, the second major risk you face involves sudden lane changes, often referred to by riders as "blind spot blues" or "SMIDSY" (sorry mate, I did not see you). If another vehicle drifts or abruptly swerves into your lane, it could cause a sideswipe collision. Drivers often fail to check their blind spots when changing lanes, which can lead to these collisions. There is zero time for you to react, and you often lose control or get violently forced off the road by the larger vehicle.
Driver complacency and passenger vehicle design are the primary causes of this problem. The large pillars on the roof and fancy mirrors of a modern car create a significant blind spot that can easily conceal your motorcycle. However, the main reason is that drivers often only give a glance or an inadequate mirror check before changing lanes without performing the required head check. As a result, your motorcycle, moving in the vehicle's long, persistent blind zone, disappears from their sight. They think the lane is clear and move over.
To defend effectively, you must proactively take control of the space while also maximizing visibility. You should maintain a safe following distance rigorously, while also ensuring that you do not linger in the car’s blind spots. If not riding next to a vehicle, use acceleration to quickly pass or deceleration to drop behind out of the driver’s peripheral vision.
Always use strategic lane positioning. Always claim a spot where the driver can see you in their side mirror or through their windscreen. This will eliminate the element of surprise and ensure you are registered before the driver makes a potentially lethal move.
Rear-End Crashes
While you primarily focus on threats ahead, a crucial danger lurks behind the rear-end collision. When either your motorcycle or the vehicle behind you is stopped in traffic or slowing down, this is when the crash typically occurs. This is extremely dangerous for you because the impact will often cause the motorcycle to be pushed and thrown into the intersection or oncoming traffic. Your body absorbs the full weight of the vehicle due to the lack of rear structural protection. This often causes spinal cord injuries or lower body damage.
The shared cause of the incident is invariably the driver in the rear, who could have been engaged in distracted driving, like texting while driving or tailgating aggressively. When a driver fails to maintain a safe following distance or gap, they will not have enough reaction time for an emergency stop ahead. For example, when someone slams on the brakes for a yellow light. What is more, other car drivers simply do not see your bike’s small brake light profile or overlook the entire bike until the very last second.
Riding too close to the person in front could be dangerous. You should always create a healthy buffer of space, both ahead of and behind the bike. Ensure a considerable distance exists between your vehicle and the one in front. This gives you time to stop gradually.
It is also important to use your rear-view mirror often as a safety precaution. The primary threat would be a driver who is following you too closely or approaching you too quickly. Use brake check warning in situations where a vehicle is tailgating you aggressively and you are likely to slow down. When you stop in traffic, always keep your motorcycle in first gear. Position yourself to the side of the lane. When you keep a crucial escape path, you can quickly accelerate away if the vehicle behind you fails to stop.
Single-Vehicle Crashes
The other primary type of crash involves you losing control of the motorcycle and colliding with a fixed object or simply leaving the roadway. This is a single-vehicle accident. No other driver initiated the contact.
Motorcycle accidents that involve hitting an object are one of the leading causes of death. A collision with a fixed object, such as a guardrail, telephone pole, or tree, often involves high-speed impact and deceleration. The rider suffers blunt force trauma, and high G force stops the body from withstanding.
Most of the time, a combination of rider error and road conditions is to blame. A motorcycle can instantly slide or skid due to road hazards, including sudden patches of sand, oil spills, potholes, or gravel on the road. These hazards instantly disrupt the minimal tire contact patch of a motorcycle. This mechanical failure is often triggered by overly aggressive riding, where you exceed your skill level or the bike's capability, especially during cornering. Inexperienced riders panic and jerk the controls violently. They lock the brakes or turn the bars suddenly, which destabilizes the motorcycle.
You must constantly focus your attention far down the road. Watch out for changes in the texture and condition of the road whenever you can. Develop a riding style that works comfortably within the bike’s performance envelope, while maintaining a safety margin. Above all things, you need to master proper cornering techniques. This means entering the corner at the right speed and maintaining a smooth progressive throttle throughout the corner.
Furthermore, advanced rider training teaches emergency maneuvers, including counter-steering and threshold braking, that enable you to turn panic reactions into life-saving actions.
Dooring Accidents
Dooring hazard is an urban risk that occurs very suddenly and at low speed. Despite these circumstances, the risks can be severe. When a driver or passenger opens a parked door directly into your pathway, a collision occurs. A fleeting moment of thoughtlessness turns into something solid and immovable. When the door abruptly stops your motorcycle, you will go flying over your handlebars. The impact is usually severe as you hit the ground or the vehicle that opened that door.
The crash that could have been entirely prevented arises due to the occupant’s complete lack of situational awareness. The driver or passenger looks only to the curb side and ignores the simple act of checking their side mirrors or taking a quick look over their shoulder before exiting. They forget that the door they swing open is several feet out into the lane of travel, without realizing that the large profile of their vehicle makes it easy for a smaller profile to be missed if they perform a quick and inadequate check. This moment of inattention creates a fatal trap for you as you pass by.
You should avoid this hazard by purposely creating a large gap between your line of travel and all parked vehicles. When riding your motorcycle, always try to stay in the centre of the lane (or even a bit closer to the centre line if conditions allow). Always try to ride as far away from the reach of any car door as possible. It is essential to examine parked cars for signs of occupancy. Look for illuminated brake lights, exhaust vapor, or people visible from the windows to let you predict an opening door before it happens. Be ready to do an immediate controlled swerve or emergency stop the moment the door starts to swing out.
Head-On Crashes
A head-on collision is one of the severe and least survivable accidents. A collision occurs when a vehicle hits you while travelling in the opposite direction. These violent, high-speed collisions often result from the other driver crossing the center line, producing a near-instantaneous stop. It does not matter the speed of each vehicle individually. It is the sum of their speeds that causes the massive impact force. With no crumple zone to reduce impact, you will suffer serious or fatal injury.
Driver impairment or negligence is often to blame for these accidents. A driver who is drunk or on drugs is less able to maintain lane discipline, potentially drifting into your lane unexpectedly. Most importantly, a distracted driver or one who falls asleep loses awareness of his/her spatial position, potentially encroaching into your lane. Moreover, risky passing maneuvers in no-passing zones can often result in a quick head-on collision when the driver misjudges the approaching distance.
You have to keep a steady focus on the horizon at the farthest distance. Similarly, keep looking at the road for any vehicle that is unsteady or looking suspicious. If you see a car drifting or expect a risky pass, instantly move to a position that maximizes the distance between your bike and the threat. That position is all the way to the right third of your lane.
Simultaneously, you must develop an escape plan. Search for space on the shoulder or verge and be ready to take evasive action off the pavement if an oncoming vehicle infringes on your lane. Only this aggressive preparedness can offer any genuine protection against this sudden threat.
Intersections Accidents
Crossroads are tricky parts of the road, even if you have a green light or priority. Drivers will run a red light or blow through a stop sign. They may slam on the brakes to make a lawful left turn, but accelerate when the light changes in their favor. When traffic moves at a significant rate of speed through these junction points, you are at risk of severe broadside impacts. As a result, you will incur crushing injuries even when you legally had the right-of-way.
Driver impatience and the calculated taking of risks by many drivers in signal timings contribute to this risk. Drivers often hurry through the yellow light, not wanting to slow down or risk getting caught at a red light. They think they can rush through before the cross-traffic starts going. Sometimes you come across drivers who do "rolling stops" at stop signs. Alternatively, a driver may become so obstructed by traffic or distracted that they miss or ignore the signal altogether. Since your motorcycle is smaller and more difficult for the driver of the larger vehicle to see, you are the most likely to be missed if he/she suddenly run a clearly visible traffic signal.
You need to treat every intersection, regardless of whether it has a traffic signal or not, as a collision point and defend against it. Ensure you have a robust defensive technique. Close the front brake and clutch lever just before the intersection. This will cut your reaction time to zero. When the traffic signal turns green, do not accelerate immediately. Instead, take a crucial moment to visually check to the left and right for any rogue, non-compliant vehicles trying to “beat the light”. Position your motorcycle in the lane where you maximize visibility and deliberately leave yourself an escape path to the side should an immediate threat materialise unexpectedly.
Find a Personal Injury Attorney Near Me
You can learn to consciously anticipate and avoid danger, making each ride safer by mastering these defensive tactics. However, no rider can control every negligent driver's actions, distracted pedestrian, or regular road hazard. If another party fails to fulfill his/her duty on the road and, as a result, you sustain injuries, you should focus on recovering. You need a strong defense to protect your health and rights.
At Jacksonville Personal Injury Attorney, we are here to get you the compensation you deserve, so you can focus entirely on healing and getting back on the bike. Call us today at 904-800-7557 for a free consultation.
