Lethal left turns: Florida biker’s near-death experience caught on camera
NEED HELP AFTER A MOTORCYCLE CRASH IN CENTRAL FLORIDA? CALL WHITTEL AND MELTON
FORT PIERCE, Fla (BIKER DAD) –Will Dover loves riding his motorcycle, and documenting his rides with his 360 degree camera. But recently while riding to work in Florida, he documented something else: a problem that’s the number one killer of bikers on American roads. A driver took a left turn in front of him, and almost took him out for good.
You can see the video in the player above, along with the frightening statistics on left turn crashes.
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He wants as many people to see the video as possible to raise awareness for bikers and increase safety for everyone. Florida is the deadliest state for motorcycle crashes. This is mainly because it’s riding season all year. But also there are so many visitors and new residents that many drivers just don’t even know where they are going.
Dover isn’t able to work and has set up a Go Fund Me to help pay the bills. You can help by clicking here.
The U.S. Department of Transportation reports that only 6% of crossing-path crashes involve right turns, compared to 53% of left turns. The number of accidents has virtually doubled! To put it another way, turning left at an intersection is MORE DANGEROUS than turning right at the same intersection. The most obvious benefit is that right-turning drivers are spared from having to cross any oncoming lanes of traffic. Therefore, when making a left turn, motorcycle drivers must be alert not just to approaching traffic in the opposing lane but also to their left to make sure no one is attempting to pass them on the left in their own lane.
Drivers frequently admit after an accident that they were honest when they said, “I didn’t even notice the motorbike when I turned in front of it.” The “left turn problem” has a significant impact on depth perception. A typical commuter may encounter several thousand cars in a day, but other drivers don’t perceive motorcycles the same way they see other cars and trucks. They see how many motorcycles. One? Two? Ten? Whatever number it is, it’s a very small part of the daily driving experience. In addition, due to their size, motorcycles tend to blend in to their surroundings, and it is much harder to see and judge their speed when turning in front of them.
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