Excerpt from: Motorcycle Lawyer
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| January 17, 2007 | | Why do motorists make left turns in front of motorcycles? | Interesting letter in this month's AMA Journal suggests a slight weave before an intersection to keep the cars from turning in front of you. No real evidence, but the author suggests anectdotally that the maneuver looks crazy enough to get attention.
I am wondering whether it is really true that automobile drivers make left turns that cut off motorcycles more than they do to automobiles. Since I began wondering this, I have noticed that they also do it to other cars with some frequency.
It may be that the real difference is the extra amount of time it takes a motorcyclist to react to a vehicle making this maneuver. Of course, this is because the motorcyclist can't simply stamp the brake, like the driver of a car with ABS brakes can do. Instead, the motorcyclist has to balance the ability to steer with the ability to brake. Additionally, without the protection of a car body, the motorcyclist must consider more carefully the available options that avoid crashing into the car. Similarly, the motorcycle rider takes longer to consider going in front of, or behind the car, because of similar concerns with the offending vehicle as well as other traffic.
The new safety report that seems to be coming will be an interesting read on these and other topics that haven't been thoroughly studied since the Hurt report.
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