Ottawa Personal Injury Lawyer on Motorcycle Safety

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Reduce the Risk of Motorcycle Accidents with these Tips from an Ottawa Personal Injury Lawyer

Any one of Ottawa’s personal injury lawyers knows that sometimes, there is no avoiding a motor vehicle accident. Chance events, unforeseen conditions, unexpected malfunctions-all of these things can contribute to a collision or other accident. While you can always count on an injury lawyer to protect your best interests after an accident or injury where another motorist or party was involved, prevention is preferable when possible. Especially on a vehicle like a motorcycle, where the primary risk to your safety is your fellow drivers on the road, a careful attitude can prevent and reduce accidents. Even if some accidents can’t be avoided, many can. Here’s how:

Learn Safety and Technique in a Professional Setting

Knowing how to effectively and safely drive a motorcycle will go a long way to ensuring your safety. Because of this, you shouldn’t entrust your learning to a friend or family member-unless of course they are themselves a professional instructor. Take driving lessons from an experienced and qualified instructor, and take a motorcycle safety course as well to learn the basics that may one day save your life. Even seasoned drivers can benefit from a refresher safety course.

Watch out for Weather

Universally considered the most boring conversation topic, motorcyclists certainly feel otherwise when considering its implications. Every time you get on your bike, make sure you know the day’s forecast-and be prepared in case it’s wrong. Knowing the limits of your skill as a rider is important. If you can’t drive carefully in rainy conditions, then don’t try. On the road, surrounded by traffic, is not a good place to push your limits.

Be Visible

As we mentioned earlier, and as any personal injury lawyer in Ottawa will tell you, the biggest threat to your safety as a motorcyclist is the people in the cars around you. The best you can do to counteract this is to make yourself visible to them. If your bike doesn’t have a bright or reflective colour on it, make sure your riding attire does. Take turns slowly-there may be cars rushing through them unexpectedly, and they may not be looking for anything smaller than one of their own kind. When you come close to a car, especially from behind, try to stay out of their blind spots. Don’t assume they can see you unless you know for sure, and drive accordingly.

Don’t Drink and Drive

This should be obvious, but even if you think you’ve got a high alcohol tolerance, that “just a drink or two” you had with your coworkers can be all it takes to impair your reflexes enough for an accident to happen. And if you or someone else is injured, and you have alcohol in your system, chances are you could be convicted in the court of law.

If the worst should happen and you find yourself injured in an accident while riding your motorcycle, don’t hesitate to contact an Ottawa personal injury lawyer immediately.