Spring Is Coming: Are You Eager To Ride Your Motorcycle?

If you’re one of many motorcycle enthusiasts in Ohio, you’re probably itching to take your first springtime ride in 2019. After a bitter cold, long, snowy winter, the thought of getting on your bike and riding down the highway on a bright, sunny day makes you feel energized and excited. Like all good cyclists, you’ve been checking your motorcycle and making sure it’s in good shape to ride.

You’ve checked the tires, lights and all your safety gear, which you know is critical to personal safety. There’s one thing you can’t check, however, and that’s the vehicles and actions of other motorists who might share the road with you at any given time. If someone out there is driving a car with bald tires, you won’t want to be nearby when one blows. If you are, you might suffer serious, perhaps life-threatening injuries if a collision occurs.

Reduce your chances of injury

It’s always best to be proactive when it comes to motorcycle safety. Like all drivers, you’re obligated to adhere to all traffic and safety rules. The following list includes additional things you can do to help lower your injury risk while riding:

• Even if you are not legally obligated to wear a helmet, safety experts recommend wearing protective head and eye gear in order to improve your chances of avoiding serious injury.
• Remember that you must adhere to the same traffic laws as other motorists. It’s easy to go fast on a motorcycle but the faster you go, the longer it takes to stop and traveling above posted speed limits might get you a ticket, or worse, if a collision occurs.
• Make sure you’re wide awake and sober when you ride your motorcycle.
• Insist that any passenger you carry adhere to motorcycle laws regarding passengers. If the driver is required to wear a helmet, so is the passenger.
• Avoid getting caught in the blind spot of another vehicle.

If you’re riding alongside other bikers, make sure you position yourselves in staggered positions as you navigate traffic flow. Riding too close to one another may result in collision. Even if you do everything right, you might still suffer injury if a nearby motorist is negligent or reckless. Sadly, many motorcycle accidents result in fatalities.

Motorcycle accident recovery

Wearing a helmet can save your life, but it doesn’t guarantee you won’t suffer injury if you’re in a collision. Hitting the pavement doing 55 or more miles per hour can have disastrous physical consequences that leave you in pain for weeks or perhaps, even longer. In fact, you may suffer partial or full disability for the rest of your life.

There’s no reason you should bear full financial responsibility for medical expenses and other costs related to injuries you did not cause. The state agrees, and that is why accident victims are able to seek compensation for damages by filing personal injury claims in civil court.