The Personal Blog Of
Boston Motorcycle Lawyer

Getting Back On a Bike After a Fall
December 21, 2009

They say that if you ride a motorcycle long enough, you will fall or have some sort of accident. That’s probably a fair statement to make. I have been driving cars for 25 years and I’ve had a few fender benders over the years.

Motorcycle accidents however, are completely different.

Some motorcycle accidents are very minor and occur at slow speeds. Typically the bike falls on its side and the biker escapes with just a few scrapes.

Other accidents are more serious. Bikers are run off the road by careless drivers, cut off, side-swiped, or rear ended with alarming frequency. In these types of motorcycle accidents, bikers wind up with road rash, broken bones, and other types of serious injury.

If this happens to you, I pray that you escape with injuries that you can fully recover from. Then, I hope you decide to get your bike fixed (or replaced) and keep riding. No biker should let a motorcycle accident come between them and their love of motorcycles.

Here are some tips to keep riding after an accident:

• Talk about it: Often it helps to talk about the accident with other bikers so they can help you get over what happened. Talking about it can help purge feelings that can prevent you from riding.

• Analyze what happened: When talking to people about the accident, take a very close look at what happened. Were you speeding, driving aggressively, distracted, or intoxicated? Answers to these questions can give you the specific reasons on why the motorcycle accident occurred and how you can avoid them in the future.

• Get back on ASAP: I suggest getting back on a motorcycle as quickly as you are able. By doing so, your skills will not have eroded and you may still have some confidence. The longer you wait the harder it will be.

• Start slowly: When it’s time to get back on your motorcycle, start slowly. Start with a few practice rides when traffic is light. This is to rebuild and re-establish your confidence. Once you feel more secure, you can start riding your motorcycle in increased traffic.

If for whatever reason you feel you cannot ride a motorcycle safely and confidently, then don’t. It’s better to move on to another hobby than to be on a motorcycle with mixed emotions. Besides, even without riding you can still enjoy hanging out with your biker friends at motorcycle events.