Three motorcyclists were killed in separate accidents during the Lone Star Motorcycle Rally in Galveston, which drew up to 500,000 bikers to the island over the weekend.I've been riding a motorcycle for ten years. I still have my Kawasaki that Beth's learning on and I love my Harley. But one thing I remember from my Motorcycle Safety Course on the three things that lead to accidents and injuries. Handle them and the chances of you being seriously injured shrink immensely.
In the first accident at 3:50 p.m. Friday, a Houston man was injured when his 2003 Yamaha struck a school bus broadside, pinning him beneath the bus in the 1200 block of 26th Street, Galveston police said.
The cyclist, Guy Dale Stratton, 51, was taken to John Sealy Hospital, where he remained in critical but stable condition late Sunday, a hospital administrator said.
Police said that Stratton may have failed to stop at a stop sign when the accident occurred and that he was not wearing a helmet.
At 10 p.m. Friday, a man and a woman died when the 2011 Harley-Davidson they were riding on crashed on the feeder road of Interstate 45 in Galveston, police said. Witnesses said the motorcycle was traveling at a high rate of speed when the driver struck a curb and lost control, according to reports. A 34-year-old male and a 27-year-old female were pronounced dead at the scene. Their identities were withheld until family could be notified.
They were not wearing helmets, police said.
Deadly crash
Shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday, Mathew Taylor, 19, was killed when his 1994 Yamaha motorcycle collided with a pickup at 51st Street and Harborside Drive, police said.
Taylor was westbound on Harborside and entered the eastbound lanes to avoid traffic when he collided with a 1985 Chevrolet truck, reports show. Witnesses said the biker was traveling at a high rate of speed when the crash occurred. The driver of the pickup was taken to UTMB-Galveston as a precaution, police said....
1. Use Protective Clothing, especially a helmet. About five years ago I did a motorcycle accident where the rider hit a car and the top of his head hit the side of a fire hydrant, pushing almost an inch into his skull. I asked the attending physician "Will he live?" and the doctor said "Yes, he will live. He's gonna be here for at least two months. Months of physical therapy. And it's too early to know about the nuerlogoical damage." Now this man was wearing shorts and a t-shirt and I asked "Doctor, if he was wearing a helmet what would be the difference?" His answer, "Well, he'd probably walk out of here in about 12-16 hours...he'd be looking at a couple months of physical therapy for the soft tissue injuries around the spine...cuts and abrasions would have to be handled, but again he would walk out of here..."
2. Get proper training. Make sure you are taught by someone who knows what they are doing, i.e. not your cousin Billy Bubba but someone who is a certified instructor.
3. Alcohol and bikes don't match!. Enough said.
As an aside, don't get a bike that is too much to handle.
God be with their family and friend now. But let their experiences teach you what not to do. At least two of the incidents show no helmet.
Those basic safety tips are sometimes neglected by some motorcycle riders. Some of them may find it uncomfortable to wear a helmet while others may frequently forget to wear theirs. Some people, however, are just simply lazy.
ReplyDeleteStephen
ReplyDeleteGood points. War stories from the street showing the difference a helmet makes. Two separate motorcycles accidents with two early 20s males wearing shorts and a t-shirt.
In case one the rider got hit by an idiot in a four wheeler on US-59 (who then flew off) and when I was speaking to him at the hospital I made the comment “If you weren’t wearing the helmet it’s safe to say you would be dead.” The attending physician said “Best casing it we would be in emergency surgery.”
In the other case the ridge hit the fender of a vehicle and flew over the hood, then the top of his head his a fire hydrant. It went almost an inch into his skull. At the hospital I asked “Will he live Doctor?”
“Yes, he will live. He’ll be here for a couple of months, it’s too early to tell on the neurological damage, months of therapy after that. But he will live.”
I then asked “What if he had been wearing a helmet?”
“Oh, he’d be walking out of here in about 12-14 hours...probably two-three months for the neck injury...the cuts, etc. But then again he would be walking out of here.”
Hopefully more people do the smart thing.