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Riding at night can be a completely different experience than riding during the day. Your visibility to other drivers is low during the day, and it’s even lower at night unless you take steps to be seen. As Charleston motorcycle accident lawyers who also ride, we’ve experienced the challenges of night riding firsthand and have some ideas to help you ride more safely.
Make an honest assessment of your bike.
Begin making your bike night worthy by determining how visible it is to others. Ask a friend to go out with you one night, with him or her driving a car while you ride your bike. Take your time, and ride next to, in front of, and behind the car. Your friend will have plenty of ideas for you to increase your visibility.
Clean your headlights for the most visibility for you and other riders and drivers. If you’ll be doing quite a bit of night riding, or if your bike is older, perhaps you’ll want to go ahead and upgrade to brighter headlights or add fog lights. Some riders also add extras to the bike, such as neon kits and running lights.
Is your gear up to the task?
Be sure your gear is heavy enough for the cooler night temperatures. You’ll want to make sure that it’s light colored or has plenty of reflective areas so you’ll be easily seen.
Are you ready to ride at night?
If you have difficulty seeing at night, visit your eye doctor for special glasses to help you see better—or consider limiting your night riding. If you tend to be a morning person, riding late at night may not be in your best interest, since you would typically be sleeping.
Exercise the same safety precautions you do during the day, but be even more cautious.
Leave more space between you and other vehicles, and wait a second or two longer after the light turns green before driving through intersections. If you typically lane split, realize that as ill-advised as it is during the day, it can be downright dangerous at night.
Assume that other drivers cannot see you, and that they are sleepy or drunk.
Inattentive, drunk, or sleepy drivers are more abundant at night—especially after the bars close in your area. Just as you should always assume other drivers cannot see you, assume that any driver you encounter at night is impaired.
What precautions do you take when you ride at night?
For many bikers, their favorite childhood memories revolve around their family and motorcycles or dirt bikes, and they pass this love along to their own children. If you’re new to biking and would like to get your children involved, here are a few tips.
Begin as early as possible.
Young children tend to be fearless, and the motorcycle will fascinate them. If bikes are part of their lives from a tender age, they are less likely to be afraid of them and more likely to enjoy riding them.
However, if something goes wrong, the child may become so fearful of motorcycles that he or she never rides again. If you are new to riding yourself, you may wish to wait a year or so until you’re confident in your riding ability—or ask a biker friend to help you introduce your kids to motorcycles.
Ignore the naysayers.
Well-meaning family members or friends may try to discourage you from teaching your children to ride. Remind them that this is no different from taking them fishing, skiing, hiking, or go-cart racing. As motorcycle and auto accident lawyers who handle all types of accident cases, we know that many outdoor activities can be dangerous to children without appropriate adult supervision and common sense. Biking is no more or less hazardous than other activities.
Start slowly.
If you’re ready to introduce your child to biking, you can try several things:
- Take your child to a motocross track or other dirt bike gathering to watch—preferably one where children are riding.
- Introduce your child to other kids who ride.
- Buy your child some protective gear and allow him or her to get used to it.
- Ask your child to help you wash or work on the bike.
- Sit on the bike while it’s off, put the child in front of you, and let him or her grab the handlebars and pretend to ride.
- Start the bike, safely set the child on it, and let him or her acclimate to the sound and feel.
- Take the child for a short ride across the street.
Be ready to stop at any time.
Do not push your child to go farther than he or she is willing. This is not to say that you shouldn’t encourage your child to face fears, but if he or she expresses extreme reluctance or has a fearful reaction, back off a little and try again later.
Every child reacts to bikes differently, and each has his or her own timetable for learning to ride. Be aware of your child and adjust accordingly. What tips would you offer for teaching kids to ride?
The upcoming holiday is one of the most important to us here in the U.S., and safety is the last thing on our minds. However, every year people are hurt or killed during the celebration. For example, drunk driving increases in the few days surrounding the 4th of July, especially when it falls near the weekend. A little caution can go a long way in keeping you and your family safe.
Safe driving tips
- Always wear your seatbelt, and make sure your passengers do too.
- If you plan to drink, have a designated driver. If you drink, don’t drive.
- Increase your following distance and your awareness of other drivers. Stay off your cell phone and pay extra attention to the road.
- Minimize your time on the road between midnight and 7 a.m.
- Turn on your headlights so other drivers can see you.
- Report any suspected drunk drivers to law enforcement. Put emergency and non-emergency numbers in your cell phone and hand it to your passenger to make the call.
- Make sure your car is in good condition, that all tires including the spare are properly inflated, and that you have a first-aid kit, roadside tool kit, water, food, and a flashlight.
As you know, fireworks are legal in South Carolina, but any firework can be dangerous if handled carelessly. Sparklers, often thought to be “safe,” can reach temperatures of 2,000 degrees. Common sense will help you use fireworks responsibly.
Handling fireworks safely
- Don’t set off fireworks in any enclosed area.
- Wear safety glasses.
- Keep a hose or several buckets of water nearby at all times.
- Make sure hair is tied back and clothing isn’t loose, especially when using sparklers.
- Don’t combine fireworks hoping for a big show.
- If you have a dud, wait at least 15 minutes, hose it down, then pick up with a shovel and soak in a bucket of water.
- Always buy fireworks from a vendor. Don’t use homemade fireworks.
Have a happy and safe 4th!
We’ve written several blog posts in the past that inform our readers about motorcycle safety tips. Today, we’d like to share a great video on how to find a motorcycle helmet that works for you and provides you with the most comfort and protection possible.
As we all know, it can be a challenge finding a helmet that fits in your price range and protects you from injuring yourself. In the below video, you’ll find out what features to look for when helmet shopping and understand what elements make a helmet effective.
See below for this video:
As you might already be aware, there is no South Carolina law that requires motorcyclists to wear helmets. However, although you’re not required to wear helmets, it’s always a good idea to wear one for safety purposes. Motorcycle accidents are just that, accidents. You can’t prevent the way others drive on the road. Even if you’re a highly experience biker, there is always the chance of being involved in a motorcycle accident with a motor vehicle or other bike.
Image above taken from Motorcycle-Superstore.com.
When you wear a helmet, not only can you prevent severe brain damage, but you can also prevent death. If you’re ever in a motorcycle accident and your head smacks the ground, curb, or any other brain object, the brain rattles against the scull, which can cause internal bleeding or swelling—all of which can lead to death or lifetime brain injury. In order to prevent impact, a motorcycle helmet is required.
A helmet is comprised of an outer shell and an inner lining that works by absorbing energy. The inner lining is the most important component of a helmet, since it is the element that absorbs the impact. The lining controls the movement of your head and absorbs energy that would force your head from side to side.
And it’s always a good idea to get a full-coverage helmet to prevent facial abrasions in case of an accident.
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Nothing is worse than a frigid snow storm to inconvenience a motorcyclists to purchase a full-coverage helmet. Snow pelting your face at 65 mph, is not a feeling you want to experience. A full-coverage face-shield on an open-face helmet will block the snow, but you run the risk of having more water droplets drip onto your face.
You also want to be sure to stay warm and dry. When you become wet and cold your mind begins to doze, reducing the mental awareness you need to stay alert on the road.
Once you’re dressed appropriately, you now need to focus on traction.
No matter what, if ice starts forming on the road or there’s a wintry snow / ice mix, you want to be sure to get off the road. If you slip or another car slips, you run the risk of facing personal injuries—and there is no four-wheel drive that will protect you or other drivers from slipping on ice.
How much? The easiest way to test traction is to feel for it with your rear brake.
Assuming you know how much deceleration you can develop on dry pavement before the rear tire breaks loose, you have a gauge of what’s available if you repeat the test when the road is covered with snow. This also assumes that you have a reasonable amount (say 3/16 of an inch) of tread depth. If you do this at moderate speeds on a flat, straight road, it won’t become a thrill ride. Avoid locking up the rear wheel on a steeply crowned road, where it will tend to slide downhill and out of line.
You also can do a couple of things to improve traction. Premium aftermarket tires are virtually certain to give better wet-road grip than original-equipment tires. Also, a slight increase in tire pressure also improves the wet-weather traction of any tire.
**Image above taken from Fun-Christmas-Ornaments.com
Uricchio Law Firm would like to wish all of our loyal blog readers safe and happy holidays! We’d also like to share with you some tips on how to stay safe and avoid personal injury this holiday season:
1. Travel Safely: Whether you’re traveling by motorcycle or motor vehicle, be extra alert and focused. With more volume on the roads and in shopping centers, it can be quite overwhelming.
2. Don’t Leave the Tree Lights On: If you’re not home, your tree lights should not be on. For years, tree lights have been the culprit of many house fires during this time of year.
3. Take Proper Precautions During Icy Winter Storms: No car, not even a four-wheel-drive car, can stabilize on ice. Be sure to practice caution while driving or walking, and be on the lookout for black ice (which looks like a dark patch of pavement).
We hope you enjoyed our safety tips for this holiday season and we wish you a very merry Christmas and happy holidays!
The weather in the South can be unpredictable. Storms can pop-up out of nowhere. Motorcycle riding in the rain safely is a matter of dressing properly, understanding traction, making sure you can see, and making sure that you are seen.
Gear-Up:
Image taken from the Motorcycle Superstore website
**Image to the right taken from the Motorcycle Superstore website.
Seeing and being seen are bigger concerns than traction.
The key element in being able to enjoy a day riding in the rain is good rain gear. These days virtually all rain-suits from
reputable motorcycle-accessory firms will keep you dry in a torrent. The factors that set some apart are ease of entry, conspicuous colors, and comfort.
There is nothing like a hard, biting rainstorm to convince someone of the advantage of a full-coverage helmet. Rain drops can hurt at 65 mph, so you want your face covered. You may also not want the dark lenses of your sun glasses. A full-coverage face-shield on an open-face helmet will block the rain drops, but lets more water get onto your face and drip down the inside of the shield of a full-face helmet.
Staying comfortable is important. Furthermore, if you get wet and cold, fatigue erodes that mental edge you need to stay ahead of the traffic around you.
Stick Like Glue:
Once you have dressed for the rain, you have only two motorcycle safety issues to confront: traction and vision. Traction seems to be the primary concern for most riders, usually because they aren’t sure how much grip they have available. While some surfaces–metal fixtures such as manhole covers and bridge gratings, painted areas, and places where built-up oil and grease have not washed off–become much slipperier when wet, you can actually call on a surprising amount of traction on clean asphalt or concrete.
How much? The easiest way to test traction is to feel for it with your rear brake.
Assuming you know how much deceleration you can develop on dry pavement before the rear tire breaks loose, you have a gauge of what’s available if you repeat the test when the road is wet. This also assumes that you have a reasonable amount (say 3/16 of an inch) of tread depth. If you do this at moderate speeds on a flat, straight road, it won’t become a thrill ride. Avoid locking up the rear wheel on a steeply crowned road, where it will tend to slide downhill and out of line.
You also can do a couple of things to improve traction. Premium aftermarket tires are virtually certain to give better wet-road grip than original-equipment tires. Also, a slight increase in tire pressure also improves the wet-weather traction of any tire. Increasing your tire pressure by five p.s.i. or less helps to cut through the film of water and prevent hydroplaning. Just don’t take that to mean you can venture out on bald tires with a bit more air in them.
Some situations should be confronted with extreme caution. Railroad tracks are extremely dangerous when wet. The standard advice is to try to cross railroad or other metal tracks at a right angle, even in the dry. When they are wet, this is imperative.
Otherwise, you risk having the tire slip into the groove alongside the track, which will immediately ruin your whole day.
Other large metal road surfaces or metal sections running parallel to your direction of travel — some expansion joints, for example — are equally hazardous and should be approached cautiously and upright. A thin strip of metal can usually be crossed while leaned over mildly; tires slip then catch again after crossing. However, a large metal surface such as a bridge grate, a manhole cover or a cattle guard, may permit the tire to slip too much to recover traction. Painted surfaces can be almost as slippery as metal.
Did you find these motorcycle safety tips helpful? If so, share them with your friends on Facebook.
Image taken from http://www.sccja.sc.gov/
Motorcycles vs. car collisions, which frequently result in serious injury and significant property damage, present a unique challenge for law enforcement officers. With more and more motorcycles on the roads, the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy has implemented live crash testing into their curriculum so the officers can understand the dynamics of a motorcycle collision.
According to Dale Smith, Traffic Safety Program Manager at the Academy, sixty-five percent of all motorcycle collisions involve another vehicle failing to yield right of way and pulling out in front of a motorcycle.
The course teaches students how to calculate collision speeds, write a reconstruction report and prepare a court testimony in an effort to prepare them for what they will face in a real life scenario.
Count on News 2 recently ran a segment on the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy’s crash test training. Click here to view the story.
We’d love to here what you think of this crash test training segment. Let us know in our comments section.
If you haven’t seen this video, I would highly recommend it. As a lawyer in Charleston who represents many injured bikers or in the worst case scenarios, the families of bikers killed in wrecks, I am all too familiar with the tragic consequences of accidents involving motorcycles. I have also, unfortunately, been injured while riding my bike and have experienced, firsthand, the dangers of not being seen by other drivers.
See video below:
