Nice weather offers reminder of motorcycle safety

Off the Wire
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After five months of snow, sleet and ice, the warm weather of the past few days has marked the unofficial start to motorcycle season.
Dale Parsons has performed so many motorcycle inspections over the past week that he needs more stickers from the state. He's seeing a lot of bikes back on the road and hopes riders are easing back into it.
"You need to practice your skills. You need to make sure your braking is up to snuff, make sure you can swerve safely and under control if you need to," said Parsons.
Several fatal motorcycle accidents from 2009 have been on Donald Staton's mind this week - especially when he's at an intersection.
"How I ride is to expect that person to not see you, that they're going to pull out in front of you - you're invisible to them," says Staton. "I wish it wasn't that way but more and more it's becoming that way."
Motorcycle safety is a two-way street. If motorcyclists need to be more careful - so do car and truck drivers.
Traffic and right of way rules are the same for motorcycles and cars, something Parsons says drivers at intersections need to keep that in mind.
"Motorcycles are a little more difficult to judge the speed - especially if they're coming straight at you - so you need to give it a little cushion to make sure you have enough time to make that turn safely," said Parsons
Driver inexperience, unsafe speed and Inattentive drivers (both those on motorcycles and in cars) were cited as top causes for accidents involving motorcycles by the New York State - something Parsons and other safety course instructors across the state are hoping to reduce.
For more information on the First Motorcycle Safety Program in Groton NY - www.firstmsp.com
For more information on Abate, a New York State Motorcycle Safety Advocacy Group - http://www.abateny.org

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