July 2020 Newsletter
From the President:
As I contemplated the topic for this month’s president’s message my thoughts turned to some unfortunate accidents my friends have had on their motorcycles in the last month. No doubt, riding is dangerous. But there are things we can do to make it safer and we can use others misfortunes as a learning opportunity for ourselves.
First, there was a group that I used to ride with every week in So Cal. They were headed up to Yellowstone, Tetons, and back through Colorado. On the way they stopped in St. George and we met for dinner. It was nice to see them again. Somewhere near Yellowstone the weather turned nasty and started snowing on them. Before they could get off the road several bikes slid off the road and rolled. Fortunately, the worst of the injuries was broken ribs. Everyone was able to ride home. What’s the lesson? It’s pretty obvious here, when you’re on 2 wheels, don’t mess around with snow. If you try to push it to find a good place to stop, you may end up stopped when your bike slides off the road.
Second, a former member of the Star chapter I rode with in So Cal was returning home from a ride with friends. He was almost home when the car in front of him pulled off to the right and then suddenly made a u-turn, running right into the motorcycle. The bike was totaled and the rider was pretty banged up. It reminded me of a math professor I had at Utah State. He always walked with a limp. One summer I had an internship at Thiokol, along with one other student and this professor. It was about a 90 minute drive each way from Logan so the 3 of us carpooled. As we got to know the professor better we learned the limp came from a motorcycle accident he’d been in years ago. It was a car that did the same u-turn thing right in front of him. I’ve always remembered that and I’ve always watched for cars doing that to me. If someone pulls off the road to the right, I’ll slow down and even stop if necessary until I know what they are doing. I’ve actually had a car do the u-turn in front of me, but because I was ready for it, it wasn’t even a close call.
Third was another member of my Star chapter. He was doing a pre-ride with one other chapter member when he hit a deer. He broke his thumb and a few other things, but luckily he walked away. This is a tough one. How do you avoid hitting something that just comes out of nowhere? The accident happened where it wasn’t common to see deer or a common time of day. There are still a couple of things in our control: protective gear and speed. Wear your protective gear all the time. When you’re riding in deer country, slow down. This gives you more time to react and it gives you a better chance of surviving the crash. When riding in a group, increase the distance between bikes to allow time for riders to react to the bike in front of them reacting to the deer.
Be safe out there.
David Long