Summerside motorcycle riders warn about road safety

Every time Jamie MacKay gets on his motorcycle there is always the question of ‘what if?’

What if someone doesn’t see me?

What if someone pulls out in front of me?

He’s been ridding motorcycles for several years and always tries to be as safety conscious as he can, but that question is always in the back of his mind while he’s out enjoying his rides.

“Almost every single person I know who rides has had a close call with vehicles that didn’t see them, or pulled out in front of them,” he said.

Recent events have really hammered those concerns home for him and other local riders.

In the past week there are been at least three serious crashes on Island roads involving motorcycles, one was fatal.

A 28-year-old man from Summerside was struck and killed as his motorcycle was travelling along Route 2, outside Kensington, on Monday.

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The recent rash of accidents has caused a great deal of concern, and sadness, among the Island’s relatively small riding community, said MacKay.

“It’s on everybody’s mind, everybody I know of that bikes,” he said.

“There’s going to be a lot of people pretty upset about it … and it’s going to play on everybody’s mind as they ride this weekend for sure.”

That question in the back of riders’ mind also doesn’t go away with experience.

Raynald Marchand has been riding motorcycles for 41 solid years and is the general manager of programs for the Canada Safety Council (CSC) and he still feels the occasional pang of nervousness while out on the road.

But that’s good, said Marchand, because complacency and distraction is the enemy of any driver of a motor vehicle.

The CSC, which advocates for safety programs in various fields, feels so strongly about this that it recently made distracted driving the focus of its national safe driving week.

“Drivers need to pay attention and stay away from all the distraction we see now in motor vehicles, from using electronics … through to being busy doing other things in their cars like eating, drinking – some people shave in the morning or put on makeup. They need to pay attention; driving is a difficult task and it’s one that requires all their attention,” he said.

For motorcyclists interested in keeping safe on the roads, Marchand strongly recommends that they attend an accredited motorcycle safety course.

Riders who’ve spent several years off a bike should be retrained.

He also stressed the need for proper clothing, safety equipment and keeping motorcycles in top working order.

For everyone else, he stressed the need to pay attention at all times and to be aware of surroundings.

Colin.MacLean@JournalPioneer.com

Summerside motorcycle riders warn about road safety