Riding Safety

After I had my Vespa incident, I've made a list of rules to follow to ensure safety in the future. Here they are:

• Reduce night time rides.
• Make more effort to return home while it's light.
• Reduce rides in bad weather (wet roads, fog). If there's an urge to ride, try to stick to subdivision.
• Possibly, take MSF course again - to learn emergency moves. Maybe you can take course on your own bike - and skip the 'clutch' portion :)
• Protection: kneepads, shoes, body armor (tried that for a couple of weeks and stopped - too much hassle :)
• More priority to stopping on yellow. can practice it even in car.
• Go slower when entering intersection.
• Use 'high beam' most of the time.
• See if headlight can be upgraded.
• Don't be shy to use the horn to let drivers know you are there.
• See what bike color is most visible on the road - this could be higher priority than 'the color I like'.
• Avoid highways as much as possible.
• Avoid jammed streets.
• Avoid streets with lot of parallel parked cars (less visibility).
• Wear bright vest all the time.
• See if there's "glow in the dark" clothing.
• Read safety tips online.
• Try a full face helmet.
• Not a drop of alcohol when riding.

I've made this list in 2002 and I've been following most of these rules. No new accidents since then *knock on wood!*