The Erie Times News suggests that riders go to Pennsylvania’s Motorcycle Safety Program website and we join in that recommendation. In fact, we’ve posted a copy of the Motorcycle Operator’s Manual on our website. However, we think it is important to remind people that motorcyclists are usually not at fault in these accidents. On the contrary, the most common thing we hear from car drivers is “I never saw him.” So, car drivers should read these articles and heed them as notice that they need to be more aware of motorcyclists and the danger that careless car operators create for the men and women who ride on two wheels.
We’ve posted information on our site to help car operators understand that they share the road with motorcyclists and need to make a conscious decision to be alert to and cautious about their presence. Some of those resources include:
Ten Things All Car and Truck Drivers Should Know About Motorcycles
and
Ten Tips for Sharing the Road with Motorcyclists
We encourage motorcyclists to take action to protect themselves but we firmly believe that the root cause of most motorcycle accidents is negligence by car operators and so we encourage car operators to take responsibility for themselves and read and learn about motorcycle safety.
Also, we’d really like to see other media outlets (like the Erie Times News) recognize this. Too often media simply advise motorcyclists to get training and ignore the elephant in the room, i.e. that it’s car drivers who are usually the cause of these tragic accidents.