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SEE or SIPDE - A Spring Review Of Riding Strategies

The Riding Season is here! I\'m sure you\'re as happy as I am. Many of us have to put our bikes away for several weeks during Winter, and each Spring brings a special joy when we get to hop on for the first time and hit the road.

Before you do, though, spend a few minutes reviewing your riding strategies. Motorists haven\'t seen bikes on the road for a while, and will not be very quick to recognize you. It\'s your job to make sure you avoid trouble.

The Motorcycle Safety Foundation teaches an active riding strategy called: SEE

Search

Evaluate

Execute

Search—Actively observe your surroundings—look up ahead, behind, to the left, to the right. Make sure you\'re looking far enough ahead to give yourself time to react, at least 12 seconds. If you are just concentrating on the car in front of you, you\'re going to miss what\'s happening further ahead, and that could be dangerous.

The best place to be most of the time is far enough toward the center line of the road so that you can see several cars ahead. If you need to move around your lane to get a better look at something, do it. Sometimes you can look through the back window of the car ahead and get a good view through his windshield.

The point is to never be surprised. Every driveway, cross street, and alley is an intersection, and intersections are the most dangerous places for a motorcyclist.

Evaluate—Why does that car have his brake lights on? Or why is he slowing down? Is he going to turn without signaling? Does that left hand turner see me? How can I be sure? Am I following too close? Could I stop in time if this guy stops short? What lane do I want to choose to get through this intersection? Do I see a person in that parked car ahead? Is he going to open his door or pull out into traffic? Is that dog on a leash?

This is the constant chatter you should hear from your brain when you ride. You need to constantly ask yourself what might happen in the next few seconds. Are you in a dangerous spot? If so, how can you get out of it?

You need to constantly scan at least 12 seconds ahead of the spot you\'re in right now. If your eyes are glued to the pavement 3 feet in front of your tire, you\'re never going to be prepared enough to avoid trouble. Searching out 12 seconds ahead will give you time to avoid most situations that might become dangerous. For example: there\'s an alley up ahead. If you\'re staring at your front tire, you won\'t see it until you\'re on top of it, and will have to take drastic measures if a car pops out at you. But when you scan ahead, you\'ve already reduced your chances for trouble because you approach that alley fully aware that it poses a threat. You slow down a little, and cover your clutch and brake levers just in case. If a car pokes out all the sudden you\'re prepared for a quick stop or maneuver.

And, of course, you need to monitor who\'s behind you as well. Does the guy in a pickup truck with a cell phone glued to his ear see you stopped at the light? Frequent rear-view checks are essential.

Execute—Once you\'ve asked that last question, the next thing you need to do is answer it, then do it. You observe a box in the road up ahead. You judge that it\'s empty because it seems to move a little when a car goes by it. You decide to swerve to avoid it, keeping in mind that a little wind or another car might cause it to move, so you slow down first, and then execute your swerving maneuver. Or, you decide that the best thing to do is to stop, get off your bike, and remove the box from the road.

By actively applying the SEE strategy, you\'ve given yourself time to react to a potentially dangerous situation.

Other strategies have different acronyms; some prefer SIPDE:

Scan—Actively observe your surroundings

Identify—Potential hazards

Predict—How others will behave

Decide—How you must react

Execute—Do it!

But no matter the acronym, it all boils down to the same thing: Motorcycling is a MENTAL activity and your brain needs to be fully engaged in the moment while you\'re riding.

Gear Up! Ride Safe!

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