Motorcyclists have a lot on their plate when it comes to safely navigating the roads. Things that might pose just a small danger to drivers of other vehicles will often pose a much larger threat to motorcyclists.
This can even include seemingly small things such as left turns. Though dangerous for everyone, they have a particularly negative impact on motorcyclists.
Right vs. left turn crashes
The NHTSA discusses the impact of left turns on the safety of motorcyclists. First of all, left turns serve as more dangerous than right turns for just about everyone. This is due to the fact that right turns allow a person to turn into the flow of traffic. They do not have to worry about going against traffic, as is the case with left turns.
However, it might surprise people to know just how big of a difference exists between the dangers of left and right turns. Only 6 percent of all crossing-path crashes happen due to right turns.
On the other hand, 53 percent of these same accidents happen because of left turns. This is over ten times the amount of crashes that happen because of right turns. In other words, motorcyclists have a ten times greater chance of getting hit when turning left than right.
Dangers motorcyclists face
Motorcyclists not only have to worry about the usual issues such as turning against traffic. They also have to worry about drivers not seeing them or thinking they can overtake a motorcycle to get ahead of it, and thus attempting to cut off a turning motorcyclist before they can make their turn.
These moves are dangerous to the motorcyclist and can easily lead to an increase in crashes on a whole.