Motorcycle riders are over-represented in fatal accidents. In 2022, motorcycles were involved in 15 percent of all traffic fatalities. Because of this, it’s important to know how drive safely around motorcyclists.
You may be wondering about the recommended following distance between your vehicle and a motorcycle. This article will go into detail about how much distance you should leave between yourself and the vehicle ahead when it is a motorcycle.
How much distance is it recommended to leave between your vehicle and a motorcycle?
You might be wondering, “how much following distance should you leave between your vehicle and a motorcycle?”
When you drive behind a motorcycle rider, it is vital to keep a following distance which is appropriate in order to ensure safety for both you and the motorcyclist. It is recommended to keep an adequate space cushion of two seconds in between your own vehicle and the motorcycle in front of you.
In addition, it is advocated by some experts in safety to extend this cushion to a gap of three or even four seconds. The purpose of this is to provide for additional reaction time which accounts for possible sudden movements by the motorcycle. You should also maintain a proper cushion between yourself and vehicles in the next lane, since if a motorcycle in your own lane suddenly stops, a vehicle in the lane next to you may block your escape route. This is also a reason why lane sharing is a bad idea for motorcyclists when group riding.
Whatever distance you choose to follow at, ensure that this distance is adjusted according to your driving conditions. As an example, we recommend that you increase your following distance as your speed increases. The reason for this is the amount of time to stop increases as your speed increases.
You should maintain a safe distance behind the vehicle ahead of you even when stopped. The reason for this is it provides a space cushion if a vehicle ahead starts backing up for any reason.
The Importance of Maintaining a Safe Following Distance
Maintaining a safe distance between yourself and the motorcycle ahead of you gives you adequate time in order to respond to sudden traffic condition changes. This may include road obstacles, slowdowns or sudden stops. Keeping the proper distance helps to prevent rear-end accidents. Rear-end accidents are some of the most common accidents for motorcycles and other vehicles.
A typical driver has a reaction time of about 1.5 seconds. However, this reaction time may vary based on situational awareness and individual reflexes. By keeping a safe distance behind motorcyclists, when they suddenly swerve or brake, you will be given adequate time to appropriately respond.
It’s especially important to drive safely around motorcyclists since motorcyclists see their risk of dying in an accident increased by 28 times, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. They also see their risk of being injured in an accident increased by four times.
How to Measure a Safe Following Distance
In order to measure your following distance, pay attention to the vehicle in front of you. When the motorcycle or the rear bumper of the vehicle ahead passes an object in front of you, like a sign, pavement marking or another landmark, start counting. The amount of time it takes for you to pass that object is your following distance.
For you to be maintaining a safe following distance, at the very least, two seconds should pass, but three or four seconds would be ideal.
When to Increase the Following Distance Between Your Vehicle and a Motorcycle
Drivers of vehicles such as passenger vehicles should know the right times to increase the following distance between their vehicles and motorcycles in front of them. You should slow down and increase your following distance when:
The Weather Is Bad
Weather which limits visibility may make it hard to see possible problems. Roads which are slippery can also prevent your vehicle from quickly stopping. Increase how much space you keep behind a motorcycle when weather is poor.
Traffic Is Heavy
Leave extra space ahead when traffic is heavy. Heavy traffic causes vehicles to stop and start suddenly, increasing the possibility of collisions.
Exiting or Entering a Highway
When merging with slower or faster traffic near an entrance ramp or exit ramp, you can improve the ability you have to safely exit and enter highways by leaving additional room between your vehicle and any other vehicles.
Driving Large Vehicles
Large trucks and vehicles which tow heavy loads will need additional time for stopping because they weigh more.
Being Tailgated
When other vehicles follow you very closely, you need to ensure additional space is between yourself and a motorcycle ahead of you to give you the opportunity to change lanes or let the tailgating driver pass you. Keeping to the right, except when passing, on roads with multiple lanes allows other drivers to pass you safely, and is also mandated by law in some states.
Steps to Take After a Motorcycle Accident
If you are involved in a motorcycle accident, you should:
Get to Safety
Analyze the situation you’re in. Analyze your surroundings. Are you hurt badly? Are you in the path of harm? Get off of the road and out of traffic if possible. Check if others were involved and help them reach safety if you’re able to.
Don’t Remove Protective Gear
Shock, endorphins and adrenaline can lead to people not feeling pain or injuries after motorcycle crashes. Stay aware of this. You should wait until medical help arrives before you remove your gear so as to avoid worsening any injuries.
Call 911
Call 911. Report your accident once you reach safety and before you remove your gear. Police and paramedics might arrive at your accident scene, depending upon the severity of the accident.
Seek Medical Attention as Quickly as You Can
Immediately seek medical attention even if you do not think you are injured. It can take months for some injuries to display symptoms. It is vital for your health to seek treatment immediately. It is also critical to seek treatment immediately to protect your ability to recover financial compensation from insurance companies for your injuries.
My seeking medical attention, you make sure that your injuries are documented by healthcare providers. By waiting too long in order to have injuries documented, you can give insurance companies the opportunity to claim your injuries weren’t caused by your accident. This may prevent you from recovering adequate compensation for your injuries.
Gather Evidence
Take plenty of pictures of the scene of the accident, your injuries, vehicle damage, etc. Write down some notes and ask the police to write up a police report and provide you with a copy of the report. Talk with any other drivers involved and obtain their insurance and contact information. Obtain contact information for any of the accident’s witnesses.
Keep Conversation to a Minimum
Keep all conversation at the accident scene to the bare minimum necessary to obtain contact/insurance information. Insurance companies can use any of your statements at the accident scene against you. Don’t admit fault. Don’t apologize.
You should also not speak to any insurance companies representing others involved in the accident, ever. Leave this to an attorney representing you.
Adjusters for insurance companies are trained to trick you into saying things which imply you’re at fault for accidents or imply that your injuries are not as severe as you are claiming. When adjusters successfully manipulate you like this, they can take advantage of your words in order to pay you less compensation or none at all.
Call a Lawyer
Lawyers can handle all correspondence with insurance companies for you so you don’t have to worry about incriminating yourself when talking with adjusters.
Lawyers can also handle every step of the claims process for you so all you need to do is focus on recovering from your motorcycle accident injuries.
Studies show that injury victims who hire lawyers recover way more money after motorcycle accidents than those who don’t, even after attorney fees are taken into consideration. The reason why is that insurance companies won’t offer you what you deserve unless you can make them, and the only way you can make them is to sue them over a low ball offer. Since they know you can’t sue them and win without a lawyer, if you don’t have a lawyer, all you will see from the insurance companies is low ball offers.
Injured in a Motorcycle Accident? Call a Lawyer Today
Call us today for a free consultation if you or a loved one has been injured or killed in a motorcycle accident. We can help you recover financial compensation after a motorcycle crash for medical bills, lost wages, loss of earning capacity, pain, suffering, wrongful death and more.
We will handle your motorcycle accident case without charging you any fee until and unless we recover compensation on your behalf. The only fee we’ll charge to handle your motorcycle crash case is a percentage of any recovery we obtain for you. We won’t charge any upfront fee or out-of-pocket fee to handle your motorcycle accident case.
If you can’t afford to get your motorcycle crash injuries treated, we can get you to the best doctors in California who will treat you without charging you until your case ends. Doctors do this for our motorcyclist clients because they know we get great results for those we represent.
We have been representing victims of motorcycle crashes since 1990 and have recovered over $750,000,000 for our clients. Our vast experience in handling motorcycle crash cases just like yours means we can recover the most possible compensation for you.
Call us today for a free case evaluation.
Jeffrey Nadrich
Jeffrey Nadrich is a nationally-recognized California plaintiff’s personal injury attorney. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley and UC Hastings College of the Law. He has successfully represented thousands of injury clients over the last 40 years.
