A motorcycle is not only a vehicle with inherent danger but also a unique form of transportation that can serve as both hobby and daily ride. Riders select a riding style that matches their preference, whether that be cruiser, enduro, naked, sport, or touring, and the cycle’s character shapes the riding experience as much as the rider does.
There is existing discussion about how motorcyclists are perceived by other road users. Motorcyclists are not pedestrians or cyclists, yet they move faster, which can make them harder to notice. This perceptual gap sometimes leads to risky interactions on the road.
In some cases drivers unintentionally provoke dangerous situations. For example, before turning left, a driver might hug the right lane or before turning right drift toward the left, a habit that can mislead a rider about whether it is safe to proceed. This dynamic often means that riders pay more attention to signals and mirrors than to a potential change in the vehicle flow or the need to create space between vehicles. Such realities can be resistant to simple fixes, just as it is unrealistic to expect all motorcyclists to merge into the traffic stream without maintaining adequate distance from other vehicles.
To gauge how much control motorcyclists have on the road, Za Rulem, a long-standing automotive publication, consulted traffic safety experts and data from the MVS Group and their analysis unit. Roadside cameras exist to identify and document violations by motorcyclists, but the scope is not unlimited. The MVS Group notes that today Moscow region traffic violations by motorcyclists are monitored by more than 850 modern photo and video systems. These complexes primarily capture violations in the direction of travel, visually identifiable as penalties issued against the rear of the vehicle, essentially a rearward enforcement mechanism.
Regarding lane positioning between rows, there is no defined concept of riding between rows in traffic rules, hence the photo and video systems do not manage that behavior as a separate category, according to the MVS Group. They do monitor other high-risk actions, however, including crossing solid lines and other lane violations, which are detected by the same camera network as speeding, unsafe lane positioning, and the use of special lanes.
Alexander Dombrovsky, head of the Department of Road Safety and Analytics at MVS Group, explains that the National Road Traffic Safety Center data show motorcyclists often attempt to exceed speed limits. The consequences of such violations can be severe, with the risk of a crash increasing sharply when faster speeds are combined with risky lane behavior and reduced following distances. In many cases, the most dangerous outcome is vehicles entering the oncoming lane, a violation associated with a high fatality rate.
Serious crashes involving motorcyclists have historically been significant. In the Moscow region in the previous year, roughly 400 motorcycle-related crashes occurred, resulting in 71 fatalities, which accounted for about 9 percent of all road deaths in the region. Current statistics indicate that riders account for a substantial share of traffic injuries and fatalities during the motorcycling season.
In terms of overall accident patterns, collisions formed the largest share of incidents in the Moscow region last year, representing about 70 percent of all crashes with 41 fatalities and 266 injuries. Other common outcomes included impacts with obstacles and vehicles leaving the roadway. These trends highlight the particular vulnerability of motorcyclists on busy roads.
A still image from Unsplash by Yasser Abu-Ghdaib