New Jersey motorcyclists may have heard of this common tip: to avoid motorcycle injuries, you should lay your bike down. However, is this practice really as safe as people seem to think? Will it really save you from further injury?
According to Ride Apart, this may actually not be a safe option. Laying your motorcycle down is the practice of turning your motorcycle to the side to avoid colliding into something directly. This is supposed to be a safe option that will allow you to avoid taking a direct impact to your entire body or bike.
However, some believe that it isn’t effective at stopping the bike from moving forward, nor is it better for lowering injuries. In fact, the side of the bike will have less traction on the road than the tires, meaning it will come to a stop less quickly. You’ll also receive some nasty road burn for your attempt, which may not seem like a big deal, but you can develop fatal infections or even deep bone infection depending on how severe the burn is.
Instead, experts suggest relying on your bike’s system to keep you safe. Rely on the brakes to do their job, and know how your motorcycle works so that you can guide it into a safe braking scenario without locking your system up or sending you flying over the handlebars. By keeping these tips in mind, you can avoid the damage of an accident as well as the unnecessary damage that you may obtain from road burns.