If you ride a motorcycle, you need to accept that drivers struggle to see you when you’re on the road.
Part of this is due to the narrow profile and small size of a motorcycle compared to other vehicles on the road. Part is because drivers might not be looking for you. Worse, even if they are, inattentional blindness can mean they look straight through you. Inattentional blindness occurs when someone is trying to focus on something important, and that causes them to accidentally overlook other things.
Using turn signals increases the chance you’ll be seen
If you are a driver, you should assume there are motorcycles out there that you cannot see, such as ones hidden behind larger vehicles.
Road users often do not see each other until it is too late to take evasive action. Therefore, turn signals are both ways to signal other drivers about an action and a way to get their attention. Turn signals can double the opportunities for road users to see each other. For example, you are driving a car and move right. If you do not spot the motorcyclist about to overtake, you might knock them off. Signaling gives the motorcyclist a chance to see and avoid you, even if you failed to spot them.
When you’ve been injured in a motorcycle wreck
As a motorcyclist, you have the right to ride in safety and the right to be angry if a driver causes you to crash. Yet, if a crash happens, you will come off worse, regardless of whose fault it was. Assuming you are invisible does not excuse a driver for causing an accident. Yet, it can reduce the chance the accident occurs and lessen the possibility you need to claim compensation for injuries.
