May…We Tell You About Motorcycle Awareness Month?

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, in an effort to expand the public’s appreciation and general knowledge about the plight of motorcyclists and the challenges that arise from sharing the road with bikes, decided that May of each year would be Motorcycle Awareness Month. Annually, they seize the opportunity to distribute information and statistics to the public in an organized fashion in the hopes of reducing accident and fatality rates and increasing driver skill.

This is an initiative that is particularly important and valuable because it aims to correct one of the biggest ongoing threats to motorcycle riders: the drivers of car and trucks. There is a common misperception that motorcyclists are reckless and that they cause most of the accidents in which they are involved.

This is an initiative that is particularly important and valuable because it aims to correct one of the biggest ongoing threats to motorcycle riders: the drivers of car and trucks. There is a common misperception that motorcyclists are reckless and that they cause most of the accidents in which they are involved.

Plans of Action

Although they have not yet announced what the focus of their safety campaign will be for this year, the themes that they have covered in previous years remain as significant as ever for the safety of motorists and motorcyclists alike. Taking these considerations to heart and keeping those in mind when you are out on the highway can help you to remain safe and to be vigilant when you are riding or sharing the roadway with a motorcycle:

• The warm weather of the late spring and summer draw many more motorcyclists onto the roads than are usually present, so be on the lookout.
• Because motorcycles are generally less than one-fourth the size of small cars, it is easy to miss them and to inaccurately gauge their speed and rate of closure.
• Despite the fact that a motorcycle does not fill an entire lane, motorcyclists should be mindful not to force themselves next to cars, and drivers should allow a motorcyclist to have the entire width of the lane to allow for safe maneuvering.

Contact Us

If a driver has failed to follow these safety steps, contact Iowa motorcycle accident lawyer, Pete Leehey, at 877-209-9452.