It's that time of year. Airdrie and Cochrane RCMP would like to remind the community of motorcycle safety tips:

For motorcycle drivers:

Prior to driving a motorcycle take a motorcycle safety training course.

  • Stay out of blind spots! Make sure other drivers see you.
  • Be alert at intersections. Make eye contact with other drivers/riders before making your move.
  • Protect yourself with the right gear and an approved motorcycle helmet.
  • When it comes to other drivers, your speed can be easily misjudged.
  • Ride defensively and make every effort to enhance your visibility.
  • Be aware of what is going on behind you to avoid deadly rear end collisions.
  • Showing off and speeding do not pay off.
  • Sharing the road is one of the keys to having other road users respect you as a motorcyclist.

For drivers of other vehicles:

  • Share the road – Use your mirrors, shoulder-check, look twice for motorcyclists at intersections or when changing lanes.
  • Never underestimate the speed of a motorcycle. Their size makes their speed deceptive.
  • Respect the motorcyclists' space on the road and allow plenty of space. Even the slightest contact can cause a collision or injury for the rider.
  • Eliminate driving distractions by putting away your cell phone and other electronic devices while driving.

In Alberta, the month of July has the highest amount of collisions with Saturday being the most accident-prone day and the hours of 3 pm -7 pm taking up 1/3 of all collisions.

In 2004-2008, almost 94% of all motorcycle collisions were with a passenger vehicle, e.g. cars, pick-up trucks or mini-vans.

The majority of collisions, 60.4%, were the error of the driver of the motor vehicle. A motor vehicle making a left-hand turn across the path of traffic resulted in the highest number of collisions and improper lane changes was the cause for the second highest.

Cochrane RCMP will be out in a variety of areas setting up Alberta Check Stops in an effort to promote motorcycle awareness over the next few weeks. They'd like all drivers to practice and promote motorcycle safety and awareness with friends, family and neighbours in an effort to reduce motorcycle collisions.