Thanksgiving is a time when you can get together with family members who you haven't seen in a year to enjoy good home-cooked food. There's nothing quite like the taste of turkey, dressing, and cranberries. But it's also the nation's busiest travel day of the year, with millions of motorists hogging the roads. If you plan to commute by motorcycle this Turkey Day, we have a few tips to help you reach your destination accident-free. Whether it's a short 20-minute commute to the other side of town, or if you're driving 100+ miles, safety should be your top priority.
Plan Your Route Ahead of Time
Before hitting the road, you first first plan a route with minimal traffic. Taking the same route you normally take could place you in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Check out Google Maps or your GPS navigation system for alternate routs. Sure, you may have to drive additional miles, but at least you won't be stuck on the roads with thousands of other cars sitting bumper-to-bumper.
According to ABC News, here are the top 10 worst roads for traveling this Thanksgiving:
- I-95 from NYC To Washington D.C.
- Westbound Massachusetts Turnpike
- Chicago Borman Expressway I-80/I-94
- NYC Throgs Neck Bridge and Whitestone Bridge
- San Francisco I-80 East
- Atlanta I-285
- Washington D.C. I-495
- Dallas I-35
- Detroit I-75
- Miami Palmetto Expressway
Gear Up!
I'm sure this is common sense to most people, but you should don the appropriate safety gear before hitting the roads on your motorcycle this Thanksgiving. Even if you drive safe and cautiously, you can't predict what the million plus other idiots are going to do. Some of them may cut you off or veer into your lane without checking (happens all the time, unfortunately). And if you aren't looking out for these morons, you could end up spending your Thanksgiving in some backwoods hospital. Make sure you gear up in a helmet (even if your state law doesn't require it), along with a pair of thermal-insulated gloves to keep your hands warm.
Pre-Trip Inspection
You can read more about how to perform a pre-trip motorcycle inspection on our previous blog post, but it basically consists of checking the tire tread, tire air pressure, oil, fuel, lights and coolant. It only takes a couple of minutes to perform a quick inspection, and doing so could mean the difference between breaking down on the side of the road and safely reaching your destination.
