Motorcycle News Headlines: Bright Colors Save (Many) Lives, Avoid Lane-Change Crashes

How to cut crash risk by over a third. New technology may prevent lane-change crashes. News Flash: You are getting older. File a flight plan. More...

Bright Colors Save Lives
A new study confirms something that we should already know: If you wear bright-colored clothing and helmet, you significantly reduce your chances of having an accident on a motorcycle. Just wearing a white helmet instead of a black one reduces your chances of an accident by 24 percent, according to this study. And wearing a bright helmet and jacket reduces the risk by more than a third. That black jacket may not be your friend.
Newswire
Web MD

Iteris and Nissan Address Unintended Lane Changes
Any motorcyclist who has been riding a while has probably been the victim of a vehicle unitentionally changing lanes into them. Unintended lane changes are rated as the number-one cause of highway traffic fatalities, with as many as 23,000 deaths a year - percent of the U.S. total- attributed to them. A new technology, called the Lane Departure Warning (LDW) system, invented by Iteris and scheduled to to be incorporated in Nissan vehicles later this year may help prevent these crashes. Simply put, the LDW system alerts the driver if he is changing lanes without signalling. Besides preventing unplanned lane changes, the LDW technology increases the chances that a driver who fails to see a motorcyclist will at least give you some warning before trying to occupy the space you are using.
USA Today
Motorcyclist Magazine
Information Week

Michigan Motorcycle Safety Study Finds More Older Riders in Crashes
This study by the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning mostly confirmed what we already know- that older riders (in this case defined as those age 45 and up) are a bigger percentage of the motorcycling population and constitute a growing percentage of the riders who crash and who die in motorcycle accidents. However, it does not tell us if older riders are disproportionately represented in crashes and fatlities because it does not have any exposure data. It looks at registrations, but that gives no information about how often, how far, and under what circumstances the bikes are used- and who rides them. It does note that there is a spike in accidents on sunny weekends between 3 and 9 pm, which suggests that alcohol could play a role and that casual riders might be overrepresented in those accidents.
MLive.com. MI

Russian Bikes Are Hot in Iraq...
The Iraqi army had ordered 1500 Urals just before the Coalition invaded the country. They arrived too late for their intended customer, but the opposed twins are finding plenty of customers. The question is, can you get one with a machine gun?
Moscow Times, Russia

And Japanese Bikes Are Built in Russia
Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha models will all be assembled in the same plant near Kaliningrad by Balt Motors. The factory, which was built with Chinese assistance, can make up to 20,000 motorcycles and scooters a year.
Pravda, Russia

Why It Pays to Let Someone Know Where You Are Going
Every riding season brings several of these stories. An injured motorcyclists spends hours or days lying where he fell because no one knows where he rode or even that he rode. Not all of the victims survive the wait. The moral: Tell someone about your plans and when you'll be back.

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If you have questions or comments about the stories referred to here, email Motorcycle Cruiser's web editor at Art.Friedman@sourceinterlink.com or at ArtoftheMotorcycle@hotmail.com.