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We’ve all heard those aggravating, “I didn’t see him,” stories about car drivers who turned in front of motorcyclists. While that doesn’t make it right, it also doesn’t help you when you’re bouncing off a car. Because visibility and perception are the causes of intersection accidents, they’re also the keys to avoiding them.
- Run with your high beam on during the day. This catches other drivers' eyes and makes you appear closer. It also helps separate you from the increasing number of cars with daytime running lights.
- Wear a brightly colored—Day-Glo, yellow, orange, white or red—jacket.
- Wear a helmet painted a single bright color.
- Position yourself where drivers waiting at an intersection can see you as you approach.
- Use large vehicles, such as trucks and buses, as shields and pass through the intersection next to them. Cross-traffic might not see you, but they will see a bus—and they won't turn in front of it.
- Be aware of what you can't see. A larger vehicle ahead of you, even an SUV or mini-van—can conceal a small car that's about to turn in front of you. Never commit yourself to an intersection until you can see all potential threats.
- Unless you believe a car may turn in front of you, maintain a constant (but prudent) or very slightly slowing speed as you approach the intersection. Drivers may not anticipate acceleration and feel there's room to get in front of you. If they perceive that you're slowing, they may believe you're going to turn or stop and that it's okay to pull out.
- Don't signal for any turn you plan to make immediately after the intersection until you are clear of the intersection, and be sure to cancel your signals immediately after any turn, since a forgotten signal tells a driver that you're going to turn and he can pull out.
- If there's only one potential threat in the intersection, gradually move to the opposite side of your lane or an adjacent same-direction lane.
- Don't proceed just because you believe you have made eye contact with the driver who was beginning to turn in front of you. We've seen many, many letters from injured riders who said, "We made eye contact, but he just kept turning…."
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