A little more safely, please.

From http://www.examiner.com/motorcycle-in-oakland/are-safe-roads-possible

In the Bay Area (probably more than anywhere else) there seems to be a need for some basic guidelines or etiquette regarding motorcycle riders, cars and how everybody deals with the rules of the road. Accidents, poor judgement, injuries and death are a daily occurrence on the roads through Oakland and San Francisco. The general attitude towards this seems to be that these roads are a dangerous place to drive and the situation isn’t likely to change anytime soon. However, there does seem to be a few contributing factors that if addressed, will help us ride on safer roads.
Cars:Inattentive drivers are one of the leading causes of accidents in the Bay Area. If you listen to the traffic/accident report during a standard commute day, you will inevitably hear at least one car vs. motorcycle related accident on the 580 or 880 highways. Accident cause? Usually inattentive car drivers who disregard the rules of the road. Cell phone use, applying makeup, frustrated driving due to lateness, non usage of signals or non announced, abrupt lane changes by cars have all contributed to the death and injury of many motorcyclists. http://www.motorcycle-accidents.com/pages/stats.html
Motorcycles:Remember that while riding a motorcycle, you are at a disadvantage for many different reasons. You are a small, unprotected target and can sometimes appear out of nowhere from the perspective of car drivers. You can help to keep yourself safe a number of different ways. Think back to the early lessons that most of us learned when we were learning to ride. Stay out of cars blind spots, scan ahead and plan for a means of escape if things go wrong, avoid mirror fixation. Go and take a motorcycle safety course if you need a refresher on all these safety procedures. http://ca-msp.org/ And of course, wearing all your safety gear can help in case of a mishap.
There are many things we can do to improve safety and prevent motorists from becoming statistics. Start thinking about it for you own sake and the sake of the people you share the road with.