As we gear up (in more ways than one) for Motorcycle Safety Month coming up, we’d like to just throw a few statistics out at you.
These aren’t meant to scare anybody, but to provide a sobering reminder that while motorcycles are 3% of the registered vehicles on the road in the United States, they make up 15% of traffic fatalities.
The reality is that those statistics aren’t surprising—when we factor in what happens in a car crash vs. a motorcycle crash, it’s pretty easy to understand that the protections offered in an enclosed vehicle are significantly greater than that of a motorcycle.
And there’s plenty we can do to mitigate the damage of an accident. Gear. Proper gear. Quality helmets. But the single most important thing that we can do is to do everything we can to prevent accidents in the first place.
Steps We Can Take to Make Riding Safer
Alcohol and drugs. We’re not going to do a deep dive into statistics here—just don’t do it. You already know that these things don’t mix with riding.
Stay alert. Make sure you’re riding when you’re in good physical and mental condition—don’t ride when you’re so tired you’re struggling to stay awake. Don’t ride when you’re distracted.
Ride within your limits. The common adage is ‘ride your own ride,’ and we agree. Don’t push it to the point of an accident.
Advanced training. The Motorcycle Safety Foundation—and other organizations—offer a breadth of courses beyond basic foundational skills that can help you improve your skills and avoid bad situations on the road.
But one of the most frustrating aspects of riding a motorcycle is that, even though we can do everything we can to try to prevent an accident—sometimes it isn’t up to us. Distracted drivers are everywhere, folks are on their phones, and sometimes: unfortunate situations find us.
Brake Free and Motorcycle Safety Month
Our entire existence is based on preventing accidents from happening in the first place by increasing rider visibility on the road.
Stylistic decisions aside—we wanted to make riders more visible without sacrificing style—there are two key elements to how we try to prevent accidents that involve other drivers.
Smart Brake Detection
It doesn’t matter how you’re slowing down—engine braking, regular braking, or emergency braking—Brake Free lights up whenever it detects a decrease in speed.
Now, it works both in conjunction with your taillights and without. When you’re braking by actuating a brake lever, both your taillight and your Brake Free illuminate.
When you’re decreasing speed in any additional way—even without actuating your brake lever—your Brake Free illuminates.
The added benefit is that Brake Free sits at eye-level with vehicles on the road, offering significantly increased visibility over your taillight alone.
Best-in-Class Visibility
100 ultra-bright LEDs make sure your Brake Free stands out, night or day. It’s that simple: it’s bright as hell. It will increase your visibility.
So as we head into motorcycle safety month—we understand that it’s imperative to make sure we are as safe as possible should we find ourselves in the unfortunate circumstance of an accident. But let’s not just leave it to that: let’s do everything we can, both on our own and for the drivers around us, to avoid accidents in the first place.
If you haven’t yet: now’s an excellent time to order your Brake Free ahead of Motorcycle Safety Month. As riding season starts again, drivers take some time to get re-accustomed to motorcycles on the road again. Help them out, stay safe, and stay seen on the road.
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