Most motorcycle-automobile crashes happen in intersections. In addition to the usual precautions, there is one thing you can do that will lessen the chance that you will be injured or killed in an intersection crash: As you approach an intersection, try to have an automobile on your right side.

Why? Because the vehicle on your right acts as your safety escort through the intersection. If an automobile runs a stop light or stop sign to the right, it will hit the car you’re traveling beside instead of you. Better to have the safety escort to your right, as you will have more time to react to a car running a stop light from the left. The closer you are to the center of the road, the more buffer you have for traffic coming at you from both right and left.

When pulling away from a traffic light that has just turned green, pull away at the same speed as the car on your right does. If you want to avoid getting t-boned in intersections, forget about accelerating hard from the stop light. Let that car to your right be your safety escort through the intersection.