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By Adrian St.Onge

AROUND THE CITY

Hatters are cautioned as motorcycle season begins

May 28, 2024 | 2:06 PM

As summer approaches, drivers will see more motorcycles take to the streets.

While motorcycle incidents account for roughly 10 per cent of vehicle fatalities in Alberta, motorcycle instructor Tony Litousky said there’s easy ways to avoid deadly scenarios.

“Some of them are novice. Some are concentrating on clutch control or braking and they might not be paying enough attention to the motorist,” Litousky said.

“Just have a little bit of patience with them and give us a little bit of space to we have time to react and there’s no bumping into each other,” he added.

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Sergeant Stacey Fishley of the Medicine Hat Police Service said that the city only had three injuries related to motorcycles in 2023.

Zero injuries related to motocycle crashed have occurred so far this year, something Fishley said it in part due to defensive driving courses being offered.

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“You take your basic course and there’s an advanced motorcycle training course as well,” Fishley said.

“They will help you learn how to properly ride a bike, make sure you’re safe,” he said.

“There’s defensive ways to prevent being in collisions. I’m 100 per cent behind any motorcycle safety course a person takes before they start riding.”

Fishley said that driving to conditions, proper training, a mechanically sound vehicle and proper safety gear are crucial to staying safe.

Ultimately, it comes down to awareness of your surroundings.

“Biggest thing that motorists have to remember is that motorcycles and mopeds are smaller. They’re a small vehicle on the roadway so everyone has to be hypervigilant about looking around and not being complacent,” Fishley said.

“They have to be able to see these vehicles coming and vice-versa, they motorcycles need to make themselves more visible that way they can stand out in traffic so that the users of the road can see them,” he said.

Litousky said quality biking gear can make the difference between a bad tumble and a life-changing injury.

“You gotta have gear that’ll protect you. There’s some stuff out there that looks like good leather that isn’t,” Litousky said.

“If you go down, you got asphalt to deal with and now all of a sudden, friction is involved. Friction is heat and if it can’t handle the heat, it’ll disintegrate,” he said.

Sergeant Fishley added that the motorcycle season is long, but with proper protection and awareness, riding can be a fun and economical way of travel.