nath981

Need feed back before submitting to motorcycle advocate groups. Is this how you see it?


Do Road Repair Practices Unnecessarily Endanger Motorcyclists?


The short answer is that several widely accepted methods of road repair unequivocally pose hazards specific to operators of two wheel vehicles. In other words, road maintenance practices, apparently deemed safe for all vehicles licensed to travel public roadways, are in fact unsafe for only one type of licensed vehicle, i.e., the motorcycle. I submit that this anomaly is blatantly discriminatory and needs to be ended.

What particular road repair methods cause dangerous conditions for the motorcyclist? Tar and chip, crevice sealing and linear partial lane repair are some of the most common maintenance procedures that serve to destabilize two wheel cycles. For the unfamiliar, tar and chip is a thin layer of hot tar covered by a layer of fine gravel and is a whole road repair; crevice sealing refers to pouring hot tar into and onto cracks to prevent further degradation of the road surface; and partial lane repairs are typically linear strips of asphalt, usually 2-4 feet wide, that serve to renew part of a lane and result in a line at the juncture of the repair and the road.

Why are these remedial measures designed to maintain/improve road surface particularly dangerous to motorcycles, yet relatively safe for all other licensed vehicles? To answer this question, it is necessary to understand how two wheel vehicles need to use the travel lane in different ways than autos and others that do not require leaning or tilting to negotiate curves. Autos, trucks, etc., travel with their tires straddling the sides of their lane, basically use the whole lane, and thus do not move about much within their lane. Contrast this to a motorcycle which needs to lean for turning. This tilting to the side maneuver dramatically increases the width of the vehicle profile, thereby requiring use of the center of the lane to avoid oncoming traffic. Utilizing the center of the lane is hazardous on a recently repaired tar and chip road since all other vehicle tires straddle the sides of the lane leaving gravel piled in the middle, the primary area motorcycles use for travel. Since the center of the lane is laden with loose gravel, the motorcyclist, in order to avoid losing control, must move back and forth to either side of the lane, into one of the tracks packed down by larger vehicles. The problem with this strategy is that to negotiate a left hand curve, for example, the rider must cross the loose gravel in the center of the lane to the right track to keep from leaning into oncoming traffic and conversely, back again across to the other track to avoid vehicles/obstacles on the edge of the road. Lose debris at intersections, driveways, other, also threatens stability mitigating the ability to decelerate and turn.

Another repair that specifically targets motorcycles is filling cracks with hot tar that becomes unstable in tepid weather and very slippery during rainy conditions. This forces the motorcyclist negotiating a turn to adjust his/her position within the lane in an effort to avoid losing traction or regain control if a slide occurs at times when there is no way to avoid these random tar strips.
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Finally, partial lane repairs typically manifest as long lines of uneven and disparate surfaces that meet near the lane center, again the main travel area of two wheel vehicles. This repair often results in tire squirm or wobble that forces the motorcyclist out of the center in order to regain stability.

Therein lays the uniqueness that distinguishes motorcycles from all other licensed vehicles on public roads and demonstrates how these common road repair methods serve to destabilize two wheel vehicles. Motorcyclists know all to well the nature of aforementioned hazardous conditions, but heretofore have been powerless to precipitate actions to remedy these discriminatory practices. Therefore, it seems that legislation designed to address these inequities is likely the only reasonable course of action. I urge motorcycle groups and organizations to take the necessary steps on behalf of their member constituents and indeed all riders using public roads.

Little_Horse

are you asking if we agree with the article?

All I can say is I hate tar and chip roads, they are just about as dangerous as gravel roads. Many times it can even be difficult to maintain the speed limit or keep up with cars while riding on them. If legislation would pass to stop using it as a method of road repair I would be happier and safer.

nath981

What I was wanting to know was if you agree that motorcyclists need to use the middle of the road or cross over the middle to avoid oncoming traffic because of their wider profile during lean, contrary to all others. If this is correct, and given that we pay for public roads with taxes/licenses/registrations, that these adverse road conditions caused through repairs are discriminatory against one vehicle type, motorcycles.

PUSHrod

I'm not sure what the intent of the original post is. Urging motorcycle groups to take necessary steps...? Because of tar strips and loose gravel?

Dude, get a grip!

The predatory interest rates on your mastercard are more of a threat to your riding pleasure. The political thrust of our three tiers of government towards an overall nanny-state is abhorrent. We can't have it both ways, we can't demand personal freedom without taking personal responsibility for our actions while practicing that freedom. In Florida we are free to ride without a helmet, I take responsibility when I ride by wearing a high quality lid.

Frankly, if a person is unable to cope with the changing conditions of the environment in which he rides, then perhaps he should just stay in a nice, air bagged, safety mandated cage.

autoteach

I would like at least 200ft of warning. Most of the roads where this is occurring in WI have about 10 ft of warning. I am not joking. there was a recent road that was tar and chipped that ends at a t intersection. The warning sign was on the road that was tar and chipped. If you were navigating that turns at reasonable speeds, you would have gotten the warning while laying on your side! I didn't take the road home for over 3 months on the motorcycle.

nath981

I want to thank you for your feedback, but I probably should have stated that this a concern for more northern climes. I've ridden in fla and drove a rig all over the state, and the roads are indeed a relative non-issue for you.

nath981

+1 on the warning. That's ridiculous!

I did a couple hundred miles today and several of my favorite roads are littered with gravel, mostly in the middle of the road and in the middle of the lane.

The point I'm trying to make is that we pay for public roads, yet can't use the roads the way our vehicles are intended to, that is, primarily riding the center of the lane. If we are legal to use public roads, shouldn't safe repair methods be used, instead of safe for every other vehicle except for ours.

Now, if a motorcyclist on a curvy road incurs the common scenario of gravel in the center and has to cross the gravel to get into the opposite track and slides into oncoming vehicle, then he is automatically liable for all damages. This is pure bullshit.