May is “Motorcycle Safety Month” in Iowa but the safety message isn’t just for those riding the two-wheelers. The Iowa Department of Public Safety says two-thirds of all motorcycle\vehicle crashes involved operator error by the vehicle driver. Duane Ripple of La Porte City is a nearly 30-year veteran rider. Ripple’s seen drivers in cars often do unsafe things. He says you kind of have to have the attitude that you’re invisible and the people in cars don’t see you. Ripple says he always advises riders to do what they can to be noticed by cars and trucks that’re supposed to be sharing the road. He says you can’t have too many lights on a motorcycle. He says he’d rather have a light that irritates a motorist, than to have them pull out in front of you. The D-P-S says motorcycle fatalities have increased by 70-percent in the last four years. They’re asking motorists to do a better job of watching for cyclists and ask riders to use the proper techniques that make them more visible to other drivers.
