Street Riding and Traffic Strategies
This domain tests whether you ride as a strategist rather than a passenger: scanning far ahead, choosing lane positions that keep you visible, and managing space so that other drivers' mistakes do not become your crash.
Scan and predict
Use a continuous search pattern - scan, identify, predict, decide, execute. Look 12 seconds ahead in town and further on open road, and check mirrors and blind spots before any lane change or position shift.
Lane position
You are entitled to the full lane; use the portion that maximizes visibility and escape room. The left third generally puts you where oncoming and cross traffic can see you and where you can see past the vehicle ahead. The center of the lane collects oil drips from cars and is the slickest strip, especially at intersections after rain. Never ride side by side with another vehicle in your lane.
Space and following distance
Keep at least a two-second gap behind the vehicle ahead and double it in rain, at night, or when the surface is poor. Space ahead is your braking room and your view; tailgating removes both.
Intersections
Approach every intersection with the throttle rolled off and the brakes covered. Assume a vehicle waiting to turn across your path has not seen you until you have proof - eye contact, a stopped wheel, a clear gap.
Worked example
A rider approaches a green light where an oncoming car sits with its left turn signal on. Reasoning: a left-turning vehicle crossing your path is the classic multi-vehicle motorcycle crash, and a green light gives no protection. The rider slows, covers the brakes, moves toward the right portion of the lane to widen the gap from the turning car, and holds a swerve path to the right shoulder.
Traps that cost marks
Riding the oily center strip; lingering in a car's blind spot; assuming a driver who glanced once has seen you; using a two-second gap in the rain; treating a green light as a guarantee.