~ by Jim Crum
“Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t after you.” — Joseph Heller, author of “Catch-22”
Nobody has ever accused me of being an optimist — I’m more often accused of the opposite — but that’s never more true than when it comes to my expectations about other drivers on the road, especially when I’m on a motorcycle.
I call it having a bit of healthy paranoia. It means assuming that the other drivers will either fail to see me, turn in front of me, brake hard in front of me, or make a sudden lane change without signaling.
I don’t give them the benefit of the doubt. Not because I have an innate sense of distrust for my fellow human beings, but because if we get into an accident, I lose. Always.
I’ve worked in hospitals and invariably, whenever I would arrive by motorcycle, my coworkers would scold me or roll their eyes and say, “Don’t you see what happens to the motorcycle riders they bring in here?!” I would mostly shrug this off or defend the many benefits of motorcycle riding, but these exchanges also deepened my resolve that good health begins with avoiding accidents.
My initial Motorcycle Safety Foundation training taught me well. I learned ways to scan for obstacles and to deal with them individually in my mind. I learned how to determine and maintain safe following distances and how to plan for escape routes that might be needed in a variety of situations.
I constantly scan the roadside for animals or vehicles that may leap into my path, and I slow down or speed up as necessary to separate the hazards associated with fixed and moving obstacles, such as a large truck approaching a narrow bridge at potentially the same time as me.
When I come to a stop in traffic, I do so with a plan for an escape route off to the side or even onto a sidewalk if need be, in case the person behind me does not see the stopped traffic and heads toward my tail light without sufficient stopping time.
A bit paranoid? Maybe, but thanks to my training, I survive another day. I have used these basic principles for years to avoid accidents both while driving cars and riding motorcycles, and they have saved my life countless times.
When on the road, regardless of the number of wheels beneath us, I think it’s wise to have a healthy amount of paranoia, as long as it isn’t so much that it prevents us from riding at all, because that would be a “catch-22.”
Jim Crum is an avid motorcyclist, an active member of the Motorcycle Owners of America (bmwmoa.org), a former MSF riding coach, a farmer (@TinyvilleFarm), blogger, and podcast editor. He has a background in psychology, accounting and data analysis, and he lives on the Hāmākua Coast of the Big Island of Hawaiʻi .
