Roger Bostic, a rider coach certified by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF), is affiliated with us. Having a certified safety instructor is invaluable in representing individuals in accidents. More importantly he is a resource for safety practices. Feel free to contact Roger atroger@MotorcycleInjuryLawCenter.com for any safety matters, including safety seminars and riding instruction. Here is a recent article about being safe on a motorcycle written by Roger:
As a motorcycle rider I have been asked many questions about how to ride a bike. The one that is asked most often is what is the secret to riding a motorcycle?
I have learned that there is only one thing you need to know to operate a motorcycle well. “Look where you want to go and not where you don’t”.
The part of the human body that controls our sense of balance is located in our inner ear. Our inner ear is located behind our eyes.
By “Looking where you want to go and not where you don’t” you will find that the motorcycle will go where you are looking. If you look down the bike will try to take you down. If you look left the bike will move left. One of the biggest causes of single bike crashes is a rider enters a corner a little too fast and he rolls off the throttle. The bike will respond by standing up and going in a straight line. The rider then looks at the rock in the ditch across the road from him and that is where the rider and his bike end up, in the ditch crashing into the rock.
By keeping our head and eyes up and looking ahead we have more control and more time to avoid potential conflicts with objects that are ahead of us. If we look down at an object that is beside us there is nothing we can do at 20, 30 or 40 miles per hour, it is just too late to respond to the object.
As riders there are lots of other skills we need to practice. In order to prefect these skills we need to “Look where you want to go and not where you don’t”. “Head and eyes up” is a chant that the students of any Motorcycle Safety Foundation Basic Rider Course get tired of hearing. I have been told by members of my class that after the first day is done that they go home and hear me yell “head and eyes up” in their sleep.
Source: Roger Bostic, Member of the Motorcycle Saftey Foundation
