Motorcycle Safety Essentials: Strategic Lane Position

Safety in traffic often begins with where you ride you motorcycle in the lane. The right lane position provides visibility, escape routes, and more reaction time. From the October 1999 issue of Motorcycle Cruiser magazine.

For better or worse, the motorcycle commuter probably won't hear the traffic news.

"Watch out for heavy back-ups on the I-433 loop. There's a multicar crash blocking the number-one and -two lanes near the transition to State Route 44. The back-up goes all the way to Live Oak with heavy spectator slowing on the northbound side as well. The Highway Patrol says to expect delays for at least another hour."

The news carries the word about a sad modern-day fact of life -- congestion is everywhere. Even when you're just trying to get away from it all on a weekend motorcycle ride, you will probably confront heavy traffic. You'll encounter drivers who cut into your painstakingly created following distance. And the more you try to follow the guidelines for having two to four seconds of space between your motorcycle and the car ahead, the more likely it is that other traffic will cut into that cushion. At times it feels like you're going backward!

The natural reaction would be to tighten up your following distance, which is what everyone else seems to be doing. That's how we end up with interstate highways clogged with vehicles platooning along at 60 mph with barely a car length between them.

There is a way for the savvy motorcyclist to effectively deal with this frustrating and potentially hazardous traffic condition. It all starts with how you position yourself to see what's happening ahead.

What You See Is What Gets You

On a motorcycle you really only have two strategic advantages over cars -- your less-obstructed view and your overall size. Don't believe the old myth that motorcycles can outstop or out-maneuver cars. That may be true in some cases under the best conditions on a very quick-steering bike, like a sportbike, but not for most people riding cruisers in traffic. The obvious choice is to focus on your strengths.

Your primary source for information when riding is visual. Very little useful feedback comes from the seat of your pants or from the other senses. From accident research we know that most of the hazards you have to deal with develop right in front of you. The road you're headed down is, after all, where you're going. It would seem like a good idea to focus much of your attention in that direction.

The Lane with Less Pain

On the streets around town, your best strategic position lies somewhere between maintaining as much separation as possible from potential left-turning drivers, having adequate distance to the right side to avoid roadside obstructions, and being able to see the road and traffic ahead. In a multilane situation this puts you in the left portion of the right lane.

Depending on your riding style (that is, whether you would classify yourself as "aggressively defensive" or a "laid-back cruiser") you might be comfortable in the classic right-lane position. Aggressive types are probably already at the front of the line in the left lane. That's okay too, as long as you recognize you are physically closer to that ever-present left-turner. That closeness limits your response choices, perhaps eliminating them altogether. For most lethal left-turner situations, braking is your only last-resort maneuver -- swerving is not an option.

It's much better to not be in the wrong place at the wrong time. You can accomplish this by analyzing the interaction of the traffic ahead and anticipating potential conflicts. Choose actions that will keep you away from these conflicts in space and time. To do that, you need to see and focus on the road well ahead of you.

Avoiding conflict

Out on an interstate highway, conditions are considerably different. A limited-access freeway, by definition, has different traffic-flow characteristics and conflict points. The most significant difference is the absence of oncoming and crossing traffic. (Well, most of the time, but let's not get hung-up on the bizarre or extreme.) Conflict points tend to be toward the right side of the highway where ramps funnel traffic on and off. If you aren't entering or exiting, stay away from these conflicts.

Once you're up to speed and in moderate-to-heavy traffic, the best place to be is in the left lane. In this lane, you limit your exposure to traffic conflicts on all sides. In the left lane you can essentially eliminate concerns to the left -- a significant reduction in area that you must monitor. In less congested traffic, just go with the flow. Follow the basic, and generally ignored, rule of the road and stay to the right except to pass.

Do the tighten-Up

When the traffic volume increases and following distances compress, engage your within-the-lane positioning tactics. Remember the line-of-sight priority. Positioning yourself in the right portion of the left lane puts you in the best place to see well ahead and adequately anticipate traffic movements that could lead to conflict. In this position you can close up behind the vehicle in front of you. You can safely sacrifice some of your following distance because you're actually responding to changes much farther down the road than if you were in the left portion of the lane and had a limited view of the road ahead.

The farther to the left within the lane that you ride, the less you can see ahead. Your forward view is dominated by the vehicle immediately in front of you. In today's traffic mix, with a high percentage of minivans and SUVs, your view ahead is even more compromised when riding in the traditional center-of-the-lane position. These high-profile vehicles are a significant challenge to visibility and should be followed with care.

By increasing forward view, you are able to see developing interactions more easily, which allows you to anticipate various situations and make necessary adjustments. You can see brake lights and lane changes earlier, so you're in a position to act much sooner than anyone around you.

Of course, when you trade following distance for forward vision you need to act promptly in response to the information you're getting or you're no better off. When you're riding in a tighter following position you can actively discourage intruding and inconsiderate drivers.

Safety-Speak

Riders immersed in RiderCourse doctrine will recognize this tactic as "compromise" in the riding tactical triumvirate of "minimize, separate and compromise." For the uninitiated, riding actions taken to avoid hazards are categorized by: minimizing the potential for a single hazard to affect you; separating two or more hazards in space and time; and finally, when the above is not possible, compromising by choosing a path of travel or action that reduces the potential for hazards.

Riding in the right portion of the lane also provides more space cushion to the left. This is useful because many highways now have little or no emergency lane or left shoulder room, just lots of unfriendly center divider. In this position, you are also going to discourage lane intrusions by drivers to your right. Finally, if the whole stream of traffic comes to a screeching halt, you are ideally positioned to take advantage of the space between lanes for additional braking distance if needed. You can also use the space ahead between lanes to escape being struck from behind by a driver who wasn't ready for the sudden stop. You're already halfway out of the way. Let someone else be the jam in the sandwich.

When applying these concepts, it is important to keep in mind that traffic conditions are dynamic -- they change constantly. Your response should change with the conditions of the road. These tactics for dealing with congested traffic are just a part of the arsenal of strategies and maneuvers you should bring with you on every ride. Combine them with the lane-positioning techniques described earlier and you've made a leap toward Road Warrior status.

Peter Fassnacht

The late Peter Fassnacht was vice president of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation. We miss him.

For more information on safe-riding equipment, strategies, techniques and skills, see the Street Survival section of MotorcycleCruiser.com.