May is Motorcycle Awareness Month, and riders are encouraging motorists to ‘look twice, and save a life.’
Atlanticade Motorcycle Festival Chairman Dale Hicks says with nice weather finally here, riders are heading back out on the roads.
“We’re one of the earlier motorcycle events that take place in the region,” says Hicks. “So we thought it was a good idea if we can lend our name, and some of the marketing things we do to that theme of ‘look twice and save a life.’”
He says when accidents happen between a vehicle and a motorcycle, there’s often one major reason why.
The motorist will say ‘look I didn’t even see the bike, it was just, bang, it was there and I didn’t see it’”, says Hicks. “So it’s about them being aware that the bikes are back out on the road, and to look for them, people are used to looking for bigger objects I guess.”
He adds getting into a collision on a motorcycle as compared to a car is a very different situation.
“You can have a fender bender [in a car] at an intersection somewheres, and your front end is crumpled up, and my front end is crumpled up, but chances are we might walk away from that, or just have a few bruises,” says Hicks. “But if that’s not a car, that’s a motorcycle that’s collided with that vehicle, the chances are there’s serious injury and maybe even death.”
Hicks says the public can forget throughout the winter months how much harder it can be to see a motorcycle as compared to other vehicles.
He’s encouraging all motorists to take the extra time to ensure everyone’s safety on the road.