Category: Riding Safety

California
A.B. 2972 would prohibit law enforcement officers from stopping motorcyclist based on the fact that a person rides a motorcycle or motorcycle club related clothing  without any individualized suspicion. The AMA supports this bill, which is keeping with organizations position statement on motorcyclist profiling. Also A.B. 1874 would end the transfer of funds by the state taken from the off Highway Vehicle Trust Fund to the General Fund. Currently, state law requires the Controller to transfer $833,000 a month.

Michael Theodore
National Road Captain

Some forms of posturing are actually appropriate

Did you ever think about your posture while you are riding? Have you ever asked the question is my riding posture correct?
Riding posture is one of the most over looked aspects of road riding. For most of us, the topic was mentioned in your beginning rider course ( you did take one of those right?) Yet proper riding posture can do wonders to improve control and provide all day comfort.
Even on a straight road, it’s important to place ourselves in a central position that allows the bike to move freely beneath us as we stay mostly still. For that to happen, we must sit upright and relaxed. Your  back should be should be straight but not stiff (and never slouched). Arms should be loose and your elbows relaxed, never locked. Your hands should rest lightly on your bars not griping them hard to improve feel through the bars and enable lighter steering input. Your knees should be bent slightly and lightly press against your gas tank. Having your feet your pegs/floorboards ready to bear your weight creates a more athletic position. If you have pegs on your bike and not floorboard. Place the balls of your feet the pegs when not shifting or braking.
Riders often complain of aching shoulders, sore wrist and stiff backs after even a few miles of riding. The culprit is often it’s because of poor riding posture. You can improve comfort by rolling your hips forward, which straightens the spine and absorbs shocks more efficiently. You can rotate your shoulders back instead of allowing them to roll forward; this one adjustment will greatly reduce shoulder stress and arm fatigue. Hinge forward at the waist to reach the handlebars without straightening your arms. Be sure not to place your weight on your hands and wrists. It may feel awkward at first, but it will soon become second nature.
So straighten up and ride right no slouching and see what a little posturing work can do to give you more control and less pain.

Michael Theodore
National Road Captain

Arizona
The state Senate will consider two bills that would make lane splitting legal for motorcyclist. S.B. 1007 was introduced by state Sen. David Farnsworth. This bill strikes the current language that prohibits lane splitting. S.B. 1015 introduced  by state Sen. John Kavanagh adds language permitting lane splitting and includes a requirement that motorcycle riders and passengers wear helmets.

Michael Theodore
National Road Captain

Understanding the effects of crowned roads on riding technique.

Crowned road design helps to efficiently shed water from the pavement. But it also influences the way we ride right and left curves.

Roads are engineered to disperse rainwater and minimize pooling on the road surface. The way those civil engineers achieve that is by designing roads with a crowned profile. The surface is higher in the middle (where the double – yellow is) and slopes downward to each side of the road –a bit like a pitched roof on a house. The cross slope design does much to make wet – weather riding safer. But motorcyclist should also consider how a crowned road comes into play even when the road is dry. We travel on the right side of the road here in America. On a crowned road, that means the pavement slopes from its highest point at the left side of our lane down to its lowest point on the right edge of the lane. Have you ever noticed that the left side of your bike’s tires wear more than the right? It is because your bike travels along a slanted plane for miles on end.
But here is a new slant; Think about how the crown effect comes into play when the pavement turns. In the right-hand corners, the cross slop of the road creates a banked turn within our lane, providing slightly more traction, ground clearance and more responsive steering as we lean into the curve.
Conversely, a left-hand curve has a reverse chamber as the pavement slopes away from the rider, slightly reducing traction and ground clearance and contributing to less responsive steering. This is one reason many riders find left-hand curves to be more challenging. A more conservative entry speed, combined with positioning your head and upper body toward the inside of the curve will reduce the bike’s lean angle and more than compensate for any compromise in ground clearance and traction due to the crowned road.  With a little practice, those crowned left-hand curves may become your crowning achievement!

Always keep it between the lines
Michael Theodore
National Road Captain

It’s the first place your mind goes. But it’s the last thing you should be thinking about.

I am approaching a blind left curve, as you see in the above picture. That there is a rock wall covered in green with tress on the outside edge of the road. This would attend to attract riders eyes. As you can see I set a slower entry speed into the curve with my eyes up and looking left through the curve toward the desired exit.
In this case the rock wall was like a guardrail.
I know you can’t help it. No matter how old you get, the moment your eyes spot an attractive,tight set of curves, your mind goes straight to the gutter. But be careful! There’s a good chance that’s going to get you in trouble one of these days.
I am talking about curving roads here. Left ones in particular. What is it about an obscured left – hand bend that makes it so intimidating? What is it that drawls a rider’s eyes to the edge of the road the gutter.
Often it is the concern we’ll inadvertently get our tires too close to the edge of the pavement and ride off onto the shoulder into the guardrail or wall. This is know as “edge fear”. It may may also be due to the sense we are carrying to much speed for a given corner and worrying that we will run wide off the outside of the curve. No matter the cause, the solution is the same; we must get our minds out of the gutter at the edge of the road and focus into the heart of the corner, gazing far through the curve to where the turn exit will ultimately reveal itself.
Having difficulty keeping your eyes trained on the exit? Try slowing more than usual for each corner. Don’t worry who is behind you. Entering a curve at a slower speed than you think the curve requires gives you more confidence and can remove the mid- corner anxiety common to left- hand bends.
The bottom line? Enter a corner at a conservative speed and focus your eyes and mind on where you want to go and not at the ditch where you fear you’ll go. Get your mind out of the gutter….and let pure thoughts of successfully executing that intimidating left – hander get you through safely.
Keep your contact patch between the ditches.

Michael Theodore
National Road Captain

Texas
S.B. 288 would allow motorcyclist to split lanes when traffic is congested on limited-access or controlled-access highways.The motorcyclist would be limited to traveling no more than 5 mph faster than traffic. And splitting would be permitted only when traffic is moving at 20 mph or slower.

H.B.2 would allow motorcyclists to ride on the shoulder of highway for the sole purpose of getting to the next exit when traffic is moving at 25 mph or less. The law would apply only to limited access multilane divided highways with speed limits of 50 mph or more. And the motorcyclist may not exceed 45 mph while on the shoulder.

Oregon
Senate President Peter Courtney, a member of Oregon’s Distracted Driver Task Force, supports amending state laws to create harsher penalties for driving while texting, using social media or talking on the phone. Courtney favors a maximum penalty of one year in prison, a $6,250 fine or both for first time distracted driving offenders. Multiple violations with in 10 years would increase the penalty to five years in prison and a $125,000 fine.

Michigan
P.A. 318 signed into law by Gov. Rick Syder, increases the penalties for riding a motorcycle without the proper license endorsement. Under the law, violators are guilty of a misdemeanor. The penalty for a first time violation is up to 90 days in jail, a $500 fine or both. Subsequent violations carry up to a year in jail, a $1,000 fine or both.

Connecticut
H.B. 6048, H.B.6281 and H.B. 7055, introduced in the house of Representatives would require all riders in the state to wear a helmet while operating a motorcycle or motor scooter. Current state law allows riders 18 and older to choose whether to wear a helmet. These bills would eliminate that choice.

Florida
Two bills would attempt to address distracted driving in the state. H.B. 69 would change the stat’s ban on texting while driving from secondary enforcement to primary enforcement for drivers 18 or younger. The bill also would require that fines be deposited into the states Emergency Medical Services Trust Fund. H.B. 47 would revise penalties for violations of the ban on texting while driving to provide enhanced penalties for violations that occur in a school zone or school crossing. The bill also removes the requirement that texting while driving be enforced as secondary action by law enforcement agencies.

Utah
S.B. 159 would raise the legal age for riding motorcycles without a helmet from 18 to 21.

Idaho
H.123 would prohibit motorcyclist profiling by state or local law enforcement agencies. The bill defines profiling as “the arbitrary use of the fact that a person rides a motorcycle or wears motorcycle-related paraphernalia as a factor in deciding to stop and question, take enforcement action, arrest or search a person or vehicle.”

Michael Theodore
National Road Captain

The other day I went to see about getting  proscription sun glasses a little thinner style than my motorcycle mirrored polarized proscription riding glasses. My riding glasses are perfect when I use my shorty open face helmet or my 1/3 helmet. But not with my full face or my new modular touring helmet. The new sun glasses will now fit under my new helmet or my full face with out discomfort. Why am I tell you this. Well after I left the eye glass store I was reminded of a conversation I had with a gentleman a while back when he seen my mirrored face shield on my full face helmet.
The question he asked me was. What are the benefits, if any, of a colored mirrored face shields? And then he asked me is it good for night riding? I first answered him that there are colored goggles,glasses and lenses also.And that there are different tints for night riding and Polarized lenses and mirrored for sunny day rides.

For dusk,nighttime,fog,rain and any low – light conditions, clear, non – tinted eye wear (eyeglasses) and eye protection (goggles or face shields) are the best choices.

For sunny days, tint can reduce eye strain. Gray tints are best because they simpley reduce the amount of light reaching your eyes, without distorting color.
Other tints also reduce the amount of light reaching your eyes by varying degrees, but they can distort color. That said, a yellow or amber tint may be very useful in overcast conditions to increase contrast.

Some riders prefer tinted or mirrored face shields to nonprescription sunglasses, because face shields provide more complete coverage, whereas sunlight can encroach around the frames of typical sunglasses. Some face shields automatically adjust their tint to ambient lighting conditions, and some helmets have an internal drop- down tinted visor. Without these features, you would need to carry a separated clear face shield if you’ll be riding into the evening. I have a mirrored full face helmet with a drop- down tinted visor ” see above picture” I use along with a full face modular with drop- down tinted visor I also use when riding. Along with a 1/3 helmet with drop – down helmet.

Polarized eyeglasses or goggles have benefits in most outdoor applications. Polarization allows light that comes straight toward the lens to pass though, while filtering light that comes from an angle. This reduces glare from road surfaces and other vehicles (especially chrome and glass surfaces) and minimizes the resulting distortion and “washing out” of the image-as well as potential damage to the eye. This is especially effective for wet roads, which are more reflective than dry roads. The downside is that polarized lenses can distort some of the light coming from or though instrument panel display or windshields.

Sunlight contains ultraviolet rays, which are as damaging to the eyes as they are to the skin. Generic sunglasses block varying amounts of UV rays. Prescription eyeglass lenses, whether clear,tinted, mirrored, or polarized, typically block most UV rays about 98%. Check with your optometrist to see if your lenses have this protection or if the protection can be added to your next prescription. My new pair of prescription sunglasses will be the same as my riding prescription glasses mirrored and polarized. You can also get prescription goggles to help protect against UV rays. If you don’t need prescription glasses and don’t want to use regular sunglasses a tinted or mirrored face shield will protect against UV rays.
Your eyes are the mind’s window to the traffic world. Your safety depends on the accuracy of that view.
Keep your contact patch between the lines

Michael Theodore
National Road Captain

FLORIDA
S.B.346 would require motor scooter riders younger than 21 to wear helmets while on public roads. The bill applies to motorcycles and scooters of 50cc or less. Current law allows riders 16 and older to decide whether to wear a helmet on those bikes. The proposed legislation comes a year after a failed attempt to reinstate universal mandatory motorcycle helmet use.

MICHIGAN
A new state law allows anyone with a valid driver’s license to operate an auto cycle –a three-wheeled vehicle with side -by-side seating and steering wheel. No motorcycle endorsement is needed. Three – wheeled motorcycles still require a motorcycle license to operate.

MISSOURI
The city of Columbia is considering a ordinace banning all texting for drivers younger than 21 and for commercial truck drivers. Efforts to enact a statewide ban have proved unsuccessful. The Columbia effort is part of the city’s Vision Zero plan, intended to reduce traffic injuries and deaths.

Michael Theodore

National Road Captain

STATE WATCH

NEW YORK
State officials are researching a device called a “textalyzer” that allows law enforcement to check whether a cell phone was in use just before or during a crash.The governments Traffic Safety Committee is to examine the technology as well as the questions about privacy and civil liberties its use would raise, according to the Associated Press report when plugged into a phone for about a minute can tell law enforcement agencies whether the phone’s user was texting,emailing,surfing the web or otherwise using the phone before a crash. Law Enforcement agencies like this device because they would not have to obtain a search warrent for the phone.