It is very common to have a motorcyclist killed or injured by a collision between a car and a motorcycle. A research study has been looking at why automobile drivers fail to give priority to the motorcycle and whether or not the motorcycle is conspicuous enough. Many times the car driver says, “I looked but didn’t see the motorcycle . . .” before crashing into the motorcycle.
The study looks into whether or not drivers fail to yield for motorcycles less than they do for cars on the road. Intersection collisions were compared to car-on-car and car-on-motorcycle crashes. It was found that when the vehicle approached the motorcycle from a perpendicular angle, it saw the motorcycle and gave it priority. When an automobile makes a left turn, however, they often fail to give priority to an oncoming motorcycle. There was no difference between drivers who just had an automobile license and when automobile drivers also had a motorcycle license.