A crash happens at the speed & suddenness of a LIGHTNING STRIKE! Once the "crash sequence" starts, there's only a split second to react. And if that's where you start practicing safety...well, let's just hope it's not too painful when you meet the pavement--or a solid object--up close and personal.

In flying, there's always a "chain" leading up to an crash. Same's true on a motorcycle. You can't prevent an accident in that final split-second prior to the pain. You have to break the chain before the crash is all over you. A good example--you're on a bike trip and you stop to have a quick beer or two. Trust me, you've started a chain!

Accident chains are always made up of things like riding tired, daydreaming, riding "not sober", "gottagoitis", poor maintenance, "mindwanderingitis", bad riding habits (yeah, we all have some), too much speed, and more you can probably name pretty quickly. And almost always, it's a combination of these things that leads to tragedy. Break the chain anywere along its length..and you usually avoid the crash.

Several aggressive steps you can take:

Always have your brain ahead of the bike. If you don't react to an obstacle until it's right on top of you--You're down!

In airplanes, we call it SA. Situational Awareness. You MUST (not should) ALWAYS be aware of what's in front of you, what's to your sides, and what's behind you. Any less focus...and you're in serious danger! Like airplanes, motorcycles are EXTREMELY unforgiving to inattention, impairment (drinking), lack of focus, lack of--or poor--training, and plain old stupidity. (You know, "Hey, watch this!")