Do riders make better drivers ???

super googan

super googan

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I know riding has made me a much better driver compared to most.

28 years riding has turned me into a paranoid, mirror checking, non tailgating, threat detecting, madman.

I'm just as paranoid behind the wheel as I am on the bike.
 
Absolutely, people who only drive cars only see other cars. I drive trucks for a living and it's like you're invisible.
 
I think I do. At least when I'm about to change lanes in the cage, I do a head check and not just look at the mirrors.... or like MANY up this way, just don't look and expect the world to stop for YOU. :rant: I'm definitely more aware of motorcycles. :yes:
 
I would guess that long term motorcycle riders could statistically be shown to have fewer accidents in their cars (car miles driven compared to miles driven by non riders).

Overall, one of the largest populations of MC riders in the States are young men riding sport bikes. I would guess that they could be statistically shown to have more car accidents than average.
 
I think so. In the car I'm a pretty mellow driver and I'm always checking blind spots.

On the other hand I keep getting tickets on the bike. Not in town but on the back roads. More track days is the answer!

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I think if you apply the same techniques that you employ while riding the bike while driving the car it will make you a better driver. And by better I mean better than the teens texting, the soccer moms turning around to yell at the kids or the Sunday drivers that only look forward...
 
NJFZ1 said:
I think if you apply the same techniques that you employ while riding the bike while driving the car it will make you a better driver. And by better I mean better than the teens texting, the soccer moms turning around to yell at the kids or the Sunday drivers that only look forward...
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I'm not sure all my riding techniques make me a better cage driver. ;)

knee-drag-car.jpg


But I've seen improvement in the bathroom...

knee-drag-toilet.jpg


:p Sorry, but I couldn't resist :nana:

Ultimately, yes, I do think riding makes you a better cage driver, maybe not all the time, but most of the time. I feel more aware of my surroundings.
 
Riding MAY make you a more aware driver but it doesn't make you a more skilled driver.

That said, I also don't think that your average weekend warrior is any better off behind the wheel of a car because he rides 20 times a year on his (insert any bike here). Certainly, riding a lot and putting an effort into improving your riding will definitely keep those skills sharp.

There's a smugness about riding a motorcycle in Western society that somehow equates to people thinking they are driving Gods because they ride bikes sometimes.

Pick a random country where there are few cars and millions of bikes and risk of death every mile you travel, plop that person into a car over here and they're not any better off than the rest of us.
 
I don't think riding has anything to do with how you drive, you are either good or bad at both.

I do think the roads would be safer is ALL cager had to take a skills test like we do for motorcycles, at least here in California. I think this because 50% of the drivers out there would not qualify, the DMV could then give them instructions on how to acquire a rapid transit pass.....

I think the biggest problem with road safety is it is too easy to get a drivers license.

And it is too easy to keep a DL. As much as it pains me to say this, the DMV should force driving test on people as they age to make sure they can still physically drive safely AND have not developed some seriously dangerous habits.
 
If nothing else it will make you aware of other m/c's or pedestrians much more so than a cage driver. I can honestly say I've never pulled out in front of another m/c or encroached in their zone while driving a car for the simple reason I know what it is like being on two wheels. You are more cycle aware.
 
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Evitzee said:
You are more cycle aware.
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I do agree with that.

I started riding on Dirtbikes back when I was a teenager, and even though I did not get a street bike until 6 months ago, I have always been very cycle aware and I am sure it had to do with my dirt bike experience.
 
Klurejr said:
I don't think riding has anything to do with how you drive, you are either good or bad at both.

.
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I agree.....^^^^

I don't agree with the previous poster that motorcyclists in the West feel their driving is superior simply because they ride motorcycles.

Some people LIKE driving, some people enjoy being good at it, take pride in it. To me, for those people, the natural progression is a bike. When compared to a car, a bike produces a more satisfying biproduct of driving. So I agree that you are either good or bad at both, I just find myself surrounded by people that started riding to expand their love of driving and driving well.

So the vast majority of riders I know personally are better drivers no doubt.
 
Klurejr said:
I don't think riding has anything to do with how you drive, you are either good or bad at both.

I do think the roads would be safer is ALL cager had to take a skills test like we do for motorcycles, at least here in California. I think this because 50% of the drivers out there would not qualify, the DMV could then give them instructions on how to acquire a rapid transit pass.....

I think the biggest problem with road safety is it is too easy to get a drivers license.

And it is too easy to keep a DL. As much as it pains me to say this, the DMV should force driving test on people as they age to make sure they can still physically drive safely AND have not developed some seriously dangerous habits.
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I agree wholeheartedly. I know that I tend to be an aggressive driver when I'm in a cage, but I also know that I keep my eyes out for bikes more than I used to now that I've been riding for a while. I've also had my share of close calls on my bike and one moron who did actually hit my car with his SUV because he "put on his blinker so it gave him the RIGHT to move into the other lane". The cop gave him a field sobriety test.....LOL!!
 
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