Vehicular accidents are quite common and there are probably a countless number of reasons why they happen. Motorcycle-related accidents occur quite often and we can attribute it to a myriad of reasons as well. But why are motorcycles seemingly more prone to accidents? Let me share my observations.
Whenever I go out and drive my car, I always see motorcycles on the road and I drew a conclusion that most of the accidents related to motorcycles that I’ve seen on TV was the fault of the driver of the motorcycle. It’s mostly unintentional but other people are really looking for danger. One reason why people choose motorcycles over other vehicles is that they can squeeze through traffic to reach their destination faster. But a lot of them do it at high speeds.
The bad thing is, even if the traffic is moving, majority of the motorcycles I’ve seen still try to overtake or cut other vehicles. That’s a very risky move and should not be performed unless needed. It’s not a written rule here in our country but motorcycles should be on the outer lane where there usually are slow vehicles. If you clip a car, you will most likely lose your balance.
Sadly, there are still overly irresponsible motorcycle drivers out there that can’t even follow simple safety precautions such as wearing a helmet, using signal lights, making sure their lights are working, having more than 1 extra passenger, driving on the wrong side of the road, etc.
Motorcycles accelerate quickly and I see a lot of drivers who tend to abuse this ability. They try to outrun cars or even outrun each other. I’ve raced with cars before and learned something. Don’t race just for the heck of it. Unless you have an important purpose, don’t do it. That’s just me though.
Driving skills also come into play. You may miscalculate a turn or the distance between you and another vehicle. Couple this with speeds that you can’t control on a 2-wheel. Well, this is part of experience and at some point most of us have experienced accidents during our early days of driving. Don’t get me wrong though. Veteran drivers are susceptible to accidents too.
Accidents due to mechanical problems are not that common compared to human errors. I’ve seen one who blew his back tire along a major highway. He was driving at around 50 kilometers per hour and totally lost control of his motorcycle. The good thing was he was not injured and was only fazed by what happened. I stopped beside him and asked if he was ok and he said he was fine and will call someone. We then moved on.
Also, even motorcycle drivers who are very responsible can be involved in an accident. We don’t have control over other vehicles on the road but at least, as a responsible driver, you can greatly reduce the risk of anything bad happening. It really comes down to the discipline of the driver. The risks of having an accident are great but with lack of attention to safety, the chances of severe trauma or loss of life is significantly increased.
Source:
GMA Channel 7
24 Oras – primetime Philippine news channel
