06-06-2016, 02:12 PM
I still remember the first time (and thankfully only time) I saw a motorcycle fatality in person. Summer of 2007, on my way up the NJ Parkway with a few of my younger cousins in the car, I was taking them to the Ocean City boardwalk for the night. Suddenly, we hit awful traffic...we crawled probably a mile or two at 5 mph.
When we eventually reached the problem area, I saw the accident scene: a sportbike had taken an entrance ramp a little too quickly, and lowsided right into oncoming traffic. On the roadway, there was a white sheet laid over the body, with an outline obviously being that of someone wearing a helmet and riding gear.
I later found out his name was Edison Lopez; you can still find his obituary online today. It's a name and scene I'll remember vividly for the rest of my life.
It freaked me out a bit, as I had just purchased my first bike a few years earlier, and my confidence level was not all that great yet.
Nonetheless, maybe that event has made me a better rider.
At the beginning of each riding season (if there is such a thing), I remind myself of the following fact:
There are people somewhere out there, right now, living normal lives just like me, that are going to die on a motorcycle this summer.
It has happened every summer since motorcycles were invented, and this year will very likely be no exception.
I could absolutely be one of those people; it's a risk we all accept....but I will do my absolute best to avoid such a fate.
Never, ever become complacent with your riding. Always SEE ahead....Search, Evaluate, Execute.
When we eventually reached the problem area, I saw the accident scene: a sportbike had taken an entrance ramp a little too quickly, and lowsided right into oncoming traffic. On the roadway, there was a white sheet laid over the body, with an outline obviously being that of someone wearing a helmet and riding gear.
I later found out his name was Edison Lopez; you can still find his obituary online today. It's a name and scene I'll remember vividly for the rest of my life.
It freaked me out a bit, as I had just purchased my first bike a few years earlier, and my confidence level was not all that great yet.
Nonetheless, maybe that event has made me a better rider.
At the beginning of each riding season (if there is such a thing), I remind myself of the following fact:
There are people somewhere out there, right now, living normal lives just like me, that are going to die on a motorcycle this summer.
It has happened every summer since motorcycles were invented, and this year will very likely be no exception.
I could absolutely be one of those people; it's a risk we all accept....but I will do my absolute best to avoid such a fate.
Never, ever become complacent with your riding. Always SEE ahead....Search, Evaluate, Execute.