motorcycle accidents

The traffic here is alarmingly chaotic. And often bumper to bumper jammed. Motorcycles behave in exactly the way they never would back home. At home, the driver will be out far from the shoulder, almost in the other lane zealously guarding his space lest a car try to take it from them. It forces other cars on the road to acknowledge they are there (because it's like they are taking up the space of a car - youknowwhati'msayin?). Also, they would never take the middle of the road (i.e. the space between  two lanes) for fear of accident (except for my dear friend from minor hockey who eventually, years later, gave up his literal motorcycle racing career).

Here, when traffic is moving, the motorcycles skirt to the shoulder because they are going to lose any battle. The traffic here is unforgiving. A car driver (most of them, anyway) would see a motorcycle coming towards them and decide they could get in their lane because they are bigger. The motorcycle will move. And they do. Further, when traffic is jammed up, the motorcycles come off their spot on the shoulder and go down the middle of the road, with only the small vehicles able to get anywbere.

Helmets are either more rare or more common than you would think. I can't decide which. We saw the aftermath of one motorcycle accident where the driver had no helmet. It was not good.