Car drivers should be more aware of motorcyclists on the road. The safety of bikers is in the hands of car drivers.

According to the Governors Highway Safety Association, over 4,000 people die in motorcycle accidents every year.

Compared to car crash fatalities, motorcyclists are 37 times more likely to die in an accident.

Although motorcycles made up only two percent of all registered vehicles in 2004, they accounted for 14 percent of all traffic accidents and over five percent of highway fatalities. Most motorcycle accidents are due to automobile driver’s unawareness.

Bikers do everything in their power to make themselves visible on the road.

They have loud exhaust pipes that can be heard long before the bike can be seen. They utilize daytime headlights, loud horns and bright reflectors.

In my opinion, bikers are the best drivers because they are the most attentive. Bikers are not on their phones texting, checking in on Facebook or ordering a pizza. They are not adjusting the radio, putting on make-up or yelling at the kids in the backseat. Bikers are just driving, which is something many car drivers cannot say.

Many motorcycle drivers take safety classes. They also take an additional driving test besides the one car drivers take.

Although they can be trained in how to handle a wreck or dangerous situation, that training offers little comfort when a car is speeding toward your unshielded body.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that when a motorcycle crashes with another vehicle, it is usually because the car driver has violated the motorcycle’s right-of-way.

Motorcycles cannot stop as quickly as cars can.

Car drivers should be mindful of this when turning or stopping in front of motorcycles.

According to the GHSA, several states reported their decreasing, or at least not increasing, rate of motorcycle fatalities is due in large part to motorcycle safety programs .

The best way to make the road safer for motorcyclists is to increase the penalties for a car hitting a biker. Car drivers need an incentive to drive safer. The penalties are higher for hitting a pedestrian if it is the driver’s fault, and I think it should be the same for hitting a motorcycle.

Bikers, like pedestrians, do not have the protective metal cage around them to keep them safe when impacted.

Often times in a wreck involving a car and a motorcycle, the biker’s body hits the car or the biker is thrown off the motorcycle at the same speed he or she was traveling when impacted.

Car drivers should be more cautious of motorcycles because it is the bikers who are at risk, not car drivers, and bikers are dying to be seen.