There are a lot of dangers to watch out for on the road, including potholes, pedestrians, inattentive drivers, cyclists, et cetera.  With so many things to watch out for, it can be difficult to spot every potential problem that comes along.  One of these possible hazards that a lot of people don’t take into account is that of a motorcyclist.  This inattention and lack of knowledge often leads to events that can be frustrating and dangerous to the biker, as well as to the average automobile driver.

I’m not saying this with any prejudice, as I myself drive both a motorcycle and a car.  The truth is that I’m looking at this entire situation from a motorcyclist’s perspective, and then taking into account the point of view that automobile drivers have.

Let’s start with a biker’s view.

1. Bikes stop faster than cars.  It doesn’t take a genius to figure this out, since bikes are monumentally smaller than full-sized vehicles.  The fact is that people need to actually pay attention to this point, because it means serious danger (mostly to the motorcyclist) when a bike is being tailgated.  If there’s a problem ahead, the biker will be able to stop much faster than other vehicles, which means that the biker has a higher chance of being squished when a car plows in from behind.

1. There is no worse feeling than having a car creep up beside us in a lane.  I’m not sure how people don’t realize that a motorcycle is actually considered another vehicle, but this does happen.  When a car pulls up beside us in our lane, it poses a huge danger to the biker, because we have nowhere to go in case of an emergency.  I have actually been in the position where someone has tried to force me off the road when I moved into the right tire track to avoid hitting road kill.  Why would you do something so stupid?  Just don’t.
2. Motorcyclists really should avoid dirt roads, but sometimes it’s not possible to avoid them.  If an automobile driver sees a motorcycle cruising down a dirt road, just slow down.  It hurts like hell to have a rock come flying up, and it’s terrible to have dirt flying into our faces.  Like I said before, we shouldn’t be on the dirt roads to begin with, but sometimes it does happen.
3. This isn’t really a driving issue, but it is a huge part of etiquette: Don’t touch the bike.  It doesn’t matter if you just wanted to look at it, wanted to feel how heavy it is… whatever your excuse is.  Don’t touch it.  It’s expensive, and there will be hell to pay if you drop it.

Now, let’s look from the average driver’s point of view.  Here are some things for motorcyclists to remember:

Don’t stop unnecessarily fast. 

Bikers know that there is other traffic on the road, and they also know the difference in stopping speeds between vehicles.  Why ask for an accident?

Give some warning when stopping. 

When a motorcyclist hits the front brake, the brake lights don’t come on.  The biker has to hit the back brake for there to be any visual aid for other drivers to see.  With this being said, proper etiquette and driving technique for the biker dictates tapping the back brake a couple times to get other drivers’ attentions to say that the bike is slowing down.  Don’t just coast.

Stay in your lane. 

What on earth makes some motorcyclists believe that it’s okay to zoom between stopped vehicles to get ahead?  Stay in the proper lane, in the line up like everyone else.  If the biker is dumb enough to weave around through slow traffic, then that person deserves to get into an accident.

Avoid unnecessary revving. 

Yes, you have a bike; yes, it makes lots of noise; yes, people will notice you when you rev ridiculously… In fact, they’ll notice you so much that you might get flipped the bird, and you deserve that.  Don’t be stupid.  Enjoy the bike, run it like necessary, and don’t work to aggravate everyone around you.