Safety is one of people’s biggest concerns when they purchase their first motorcycle. There’s a good reason for that concern. There are about 4,000 motorcycle fatalities per year in the U.S. alone. However, those numbers could be reduced by about 1/4th if the riders were wearing helmets.

Likewise, the numbers would drop tremendously if riders realized that the following safety myths about motorcycles were untrue:

1. Slow streets are safer
This too is a common mistake made by new riders. An ad offering to sell used bike accessories, or a full motorcycle, will typically attract a lot of attention. And those new riders will often decide to spend some time learning the ropes in what they assume is a safe environment, such as residential streets. But it’s important to remember that these streets often have traffic going in both directions. On top of this, the other drivers are often distracted and not really watching out for anything other than large cars. In short, residential and slow streets aren’t any safer than the highway. Oftentimes slow streets are actually more dangerous.

2. Lane splitting is always a safe practice
When some people see the words sell bike online they’re typically quite enthusiastic. And many people’s interest is first piqued after they see a bike weaving through stalled traffic. It seems like the ultimate example of freedom. And most people maintain that it’s safe. Unfortunately, people tend to forget that drivers are inherently unpredictable. When lane splitting we need to count on the attention of drivers to both our right and left. And people tend to zone out and forget that objects other than cars exist on the road. What’s more, a mistake on a rider’s part becomes far more dangerous if he or she is lane splitting.

3. Laying your bike down will slow your speed enough to avoid a crash
People often assume that laying a bike down is the best way to mitigate risk during an impending collision. The idea is that this maneuver will slow the bike down and reduce the kinetic force involved with the crash. Unfortunately, what’s really happening is that riders are ensuring the full weight of a very heavy vehicle is now pushing them into hard pavement for an extended period of time. During the whole experience, the rider will also suffer from the ground essentially acting like sandpaper. The collision itself will pose some real danger. But laying a bike down almost always adds to the total risk rather than decreasing it.

4. Good riders never need to practice with a new bike
If you’ve mastered one bike then you’ve mastered them all, right? The reality couldn’t be any further from the truth. It’s true that an experienced rider will carry a lot of this skill from one bike to the next. But think about how much work you need to put into breaking in a new pair of boots. You obviously have a lot of experience walking. But each boot requires a period of adjustment. And there’s a whole lot more involved with a bike than a boot.

5. Full-face helmets block peripheral vision and impair hearing
There’s a lot to think about when “selling my bike online”. But one of the most important decisions is whether or not to provide a helmet along with the motorcycle. An experienced rider might not understand the importance of this type of inclusion. He’ll already be well aware of the fact that helmets save lives. But new riders often assume that helmets will impair their hearing and block their peripheral vision. And this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Helmets typically make it easier to hear since they block airflow. On top of this helmets are required by law to allow for a wide range of vision.