If you ride your motorcycle along the same well-worn track every week in Covington, there’s less of a chance that you’ll get into an accident. For example, you probably know exactly what’s waiting for you around every blind corner.
However, what if you approach an unfamiliar blind corner? How can you prevent accidents when you get surprised by what’s on the other side?
How blind corner motorcycle crashes happen
First, it’s important to understand how blind corner motorcycle crashes happen. Perhaps you’re riding your bike and enjoying turns and curves of a track of road. Then, out of nowhere, you find something unexpected in your path. Maybe it’s sand, ice, gravel, dirt, dry leaves or a patch of oil. Whatever it is, your tires start to slip.
Many motorcyclists have laid down their bikes in these situations, which can cause them to slide out of control into oncoming traffic, a telephone pole or a tree. As you can imagine, the injuries are often catastrophic and deadly in blind corner crashes.
How do you avoid a blind corner accident?
The best way to avoid a blind corner motorcycle crash is not to get surprised. When you have more time, you have more opportunity to avoid a potentially slippery situation. A great rule of thumb while approaching a corner is to go slowly into it and pick up speed on your way out of it, after you’ve had a chance to survey what’s on the other side of the corner. Also, take the corner as wide as possible, which will give you more range of vision.
An advanced tactic involves applying some extra brake to the front tire as you move into the curve. This puts more weight on the front tire, flattening it in a subtle way to give it more traction and surface contact. The extra contact could help with traction if you encounter unexpected conditions on the other side.
Who’s liable if you encounter dangerous road conditions?
In some cases, a city, state or municipality might be financially liable if a motorcyclist gets hurt by slippery road conditions. As such, motorcyclists hurt in blind corner accidents caused by gravel, ice, leaves, oil or other debris that has been left in the road may want to investigate their legal rights and options.