How to Stay Safe While Riding a Motorcycle

A motorcycle is a vehicle that incorporates an engine, two wheels and a place for the rider to sit. The earliest motorbikes had steam-powered engines but they eventually gave way to gasoline. The first commercial design was a three-wheeled model built by Edward Butler in Great Britain in 1884.

The main reason people ride motorcycles is for the exhilarating experience. It’s far more dynamic than driving a car: your body is part of the machine and your movements affect how it moves, from steering to acceleration. The speed you can reach is also far higher, with even modest sports bikes able to out-accelerate most cars on the road.

Nevertheless, riding is an inherently dangerous activity. The most skilled riders are able to exploit their machines’ incredible capabilities on race tracks, but the vast majority of motorcyclists are not racing professionals, and they share public roads with drivers of other vehicles. That’s where most motorcycle crashes occur.

The best way to keep yourself safe while riding is to avoid taking risks. Stick to the speed limit, obey traffic lights and signs, and leave a good distance between your bike and other vehicles. And, of course, wear appropriate safety gear. Motorcycles are also not particularly aerodynamic – their exposed wheels and engines, with the rider sitting down in them, generate a lot of drag compared to the smooth, streamlined designs of most modern cars. That doesn’t matter so much at lower speeds, but as you start to approach 60mph or more, it becomes a significant factor in how fast you can go.