Start of the season for bikers
The first warm spring days are drawing scores of motorcycle fans onto the roads. However, this is when both bikers and car drivers need to pay particular attention and look out for each other. Car drivers need to get used to motorcycles being back on the road again, and bikers need to consider this learning phase in their own riding behavior. Car drivers often misjudge the speed, acceleration, and distance of motorcycles and can easily overlook two-wheeled vehicles because of their slim outline.
The spring months are the most dangerous time of the year for bikers, which is why they should be particularly careful at the start of the new season.
Achim Kuppinger, a motorcycle expert at DEKRA
The greatest danger lurks at crossroads, junctions with side roads, and exits. Critical situations often arise when a car wants to turn left just as a motorbike starts to overtake. To ensure that nothing happens, it is best for car drivers to check their rear-view mirror twice. Bikers can protect themselves by driving carefully and defensively, making sure they are clearly visible, and avoiding the blind spot behind other vehicles. Moreover, in spring, roads are more likely to be dirty and have patches of grit and frost damage, all of which may heighten the crash risk.
“Following the winter break and months driving a car, many motorcyclists need to warm up – just like their bikes,” says Kuppinger. Little used car parks or roads are suitable for getting back into practice. It has proven useful for riders to perfect their feeling for weight, balance, and handling by doing driving school exercises like figures-of-eight, avoiding an obstacle, emergency stopping, slow driving, and stopping without dismounting. The safety package is rounded out by a technical check of the motorcycle and the rider’s clothing such as leathers, boots, kidney belt, gloves, and helmet. It can still be quite cold in the spring months, so warm clothing is also needed.
Prepared like this, the first springtime tour can start.