As the clocks go back, beware of bikers in the darker months!

Now the clocks have gone back, many of us are commuting home during the darker months, which can mean the roads are far more hazardous for bikers if other road users don’t pay enough attention to what’s going on around them.

There really is no excuse and all road users must take extra care in the darker months and never let the stress of the nine-to-five routine or the jammed-up motorways impair judgement. It only takes a proper look from a side road, or a double check of a mirror, to save a biker’s life.

So, here’s a friendly reminder for road users to take extra care for bikers as the nights are darker and the days are shorter, as well as a reminder for riders to take extra care as well!

It can of course be harder to spot bikers in the darker months of the year. It can be harder to spot them when emerging from a side road or driveway, despite the fact that many bikes now have easier-to-spot lights that intentionally dazzle on approach. It can be hard to distinguish between the single light of a bike and the light of a distant street lamp. Even in darkness, you can usually see the reflection from cars, but all you can see of a biker is the blinding light of their approach.

The dangers of drivers failing to see them remain!

Changing lanes in traffic must be conducted with extra caution. Picture it – there are thousands of cars with dozens surrounding each driver in slow moving traffic. There are lights literally everywhere. It can be easy for a driver to misjudge the light of an approaching biker and make a lane-change directly in to the path of a biker.

Blind spots can be even ‘blinder’ as well

Country roads – they can be the worse. Unless drivers adjust their habits, bikers can be far harder to see on winding turns and bumps of hills. Where the roads are barely lit, the flashing beam of a biker can be mistaken for something like the distant light from the window of a cottage.

Overall, the simple point is that drivers must adjust their habits to ensure they’re not responsible for causing an accident with a biker. It’s easily done, but by paying more attention – which we’d argue is simply paying the right degree of due care and attention – can be the difference between saving a life and taking a life.

And that’s the crux of it all; it’s about saving a life or taking a life…

As we often say, we encourage bikers to be more careful as well. Riders need to slow down in darker months, and despite the fact that bikers should not expect to have to dodge the errors of other road users, it’s one of the best ways to avoid serious injuries.

Expect errors! I know it’s annoying to have to account for the idiocy of others, but that’s smart riding, and it could save your life.

Of course, as we move further into the winter months, we’re more likely to face wetter roads and adverse weather conditions as well. These factors together with the darkness make for dangerous driving conditions, and bikers are at risk.