Helpful tips for Motorcycle and Scooter Highway Placement
Whether you have done your CBT, or maybe you have got a full license gained by way of a direct access training course, the probability is you’ve been trained to get used to riding in the middle of the road. Plenty of people who ride scooters too will tend to ride next to the kerb side of the road as they feel they are unable to keep up with all the traffic. This is simply not the right place to be!
To cover off 50cc mopeds first, even though you may feel irritating holding up the traffic on faster roads, sitting over to the left really encourages drivers to overtake in potentially dangerous situations where they will believe they are able to ‘squeeze’ through, what this means is they’re usually very close to you and would possibly not leave enough room should anything unanticipated happen. Riding in the correct position on the road can make the driver overtake only when it is 100% safe to do so because they will need to overtake on the other side of the road and will most certainly not desire a head on impact. Your safety is critical over the car behind arriving at his or her location promptly.
So where must you place your self on the road as bikers / moped riders? The answer to that is all over it, you ought to put yourself in the position where you should see the most and be seen the most. Say for instance you are approaching a left hand bend, the best place to be is actually over on the right hand side of your lane in about a ? position, you will be able to see further around the bend should there be any hazards halfway around, cars coming towards you will see you sooner, and whilst they really should not be on your side of the road it’s good for them to know you are there. It will also stop drivers overtaking you dangerously when they are blind as to what is coming around the corner in front of you. The exact same applies for right hand bends but visa versa, you need to be over on the left hand side of the road to help you see further around on the right.
This riding technique can sound strange to begin with and quite a few riders begin to turn in prematurely, however, you shouldn’t turn in unless you are able to see fully around the bend. Planning ahead is the vital thing to making this work and you ought to always be looking well ahead up the road and preparing the following bends whilst always searching for dangers, rather than watching the bumper of the vehicle infront. Doing this, it is possible to get yourself in the proper position before you even get to the bend and it will all just be one clean motion.
You will find exceptions for this rule however, the idea of riding safely and quickly is to develop a protective ‘bubble’ surrounding you, and you do not want anyone entering that bubble, so you look well ahead to place your bubble in a position that will make sure people see you and you see them, avoiding them from entering it. Say for example you are approaching to a right hand bend and there’s a T-Junction right before to your left, blocked by hedges, cars will tend to poke themselves out a little to see the street better since they have a large bonnet infront of them. So where you may normally be over to the left in anticipation of your right hand turn, it could make sense to stay more towards the right of the road to avoid the car that might pull out of the junction. 9 times out of 10, there won’t be any car, but planning for there to be one means when there is, you are in an appropriate position to see it and even more importantly for them to see you and keep them out of your bubble. Road conditions are another exception, if there is mud or ice on a patch of road, possibly loose gravel from a resurfaced road, then it is sensible to avoid it and remain on the clear patches of road.
Always remember the 2 second rule, motorcycle and moped brakes are no where near as good as a car and if you are any closer than 2 seconds behind the vehicle in front, should they brake harshly you’ll have trouble stopping in time.
For a complete guide to cheap moped insurance please check out the following tips to buying cheap moped insurance.
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