How to Pass a Motorcycle
A car is following a motorcycle on the highway. The driver of the car wants to pass. How is it properly done?
HINT: Most people do it wrong.
Let’s start with the idea that a car should never follow closer than three seconds behind a motorcycle. Why? Because the average person takes 1.5 seconds to recognize and react to danger. This means that half the three-second safety cushion is gone just starting to react to the danger. If the car is closer than three seconds behind the motorcycle, chances are greater for a collision.
The pass of the motorcycle should begin with the car trailing three seconds behind. That means the car waits for oncoming traffic to clear the car before starting the pass. The car should not close the three-second safety cushion until it’s safe to start the pass.
Imagine the situation where the three-second cushion has been closed to one or two seconds. A deer jumps out in front of the motorcycle. The biker brakes hard. Chances are, the car is going to rear-end the motorcycle. This obviously turns out very badly for the biker. So … stay three seconds back until it’s safe to start the pass!
Once the car has passed the motorcycle, it needs to stay over until it is three seconds ahead of the bike. Too often, cars pass motorcycles and immediately change lanes in front of the bike with no more than a one-second cushion. This cuts off the biker’s vision of the roadway, which is a big deal. Motorcycles are far more vulnerable to dead animals, blown tire tread, and other roadway debris. Changing lanes too soon after passing a motorcycle robs the biker of his ability to react to roadway debris.
A good rule of thumb after passing a motorcycle is to not change lanes until the motorcycle is visible in the rearview mirror. This makes it far more likely the three-second safety cushion will be there after the pass is complete.
This may seem like common sense, but it’s done wrong most of the time. By the way, the same rules apply when a motorcycle passes a car. Always keep that three-second safety cushion until it’s time to start the pass, and don’t pull back over until three seconds ahead of the car. Your life may depend on it.
