Motorcycle Accidents On the Rise as Spring Arrives
By: Cassidy Hodges
Updated: April 8, 2012
It starts with the warm weather.
"Anytime you put more people on a road whether on motorcycles or cars, you're going to find that we're working more crashes, more wrecks as it goes on," says Deputy Doug Gay with the Benton County Sheriff's Office.
And Deputy Gay has seen his fair share of crumpled metal.
"It pains us every time we see someone who has crashed a bike and injured themselves or god forbid killed themselves," says Gay.
Even though, there's just two wheels, a bike only complicates driving.
"Riding a motorcycle is multitasking at a very very high level," says Gay.
But he says the burden of safety rides on bikers.
"Motorcycles accelerate faster than cars do, they maneuver better than cars do and they stop quicker than cars do so if a motorcycle becomes impacted by a car or truck, unfortunately it's going to be riding on the motorcyclists shoulders," says Gay.
According to Deputy Gay, most wrecks are single vehicle accidents that happen on corners. It's the moment a driver doesn't think they're going to make it around a curve and looks off the road preparing for a crash.
"The motorcycle's eyes are our eyes we give it the vision and it will go what ever place we look," says Gay.
So in his spare time, he teaches motorcycle safety classes because he says education can sometime mean the difference between life and death on the road.
"Unfortunately a lot of people feel like they've been riding long enough that they can mitigate nearly any problem. I have nearly 40 years plus riding experience and I still haven't stopped learning," says Gay.
If you're interested in taking motorcycle safety classes, contact Pig Trail Harley Davidson in Rogers at 479-636-9797 or click here.
"Anytime you put more people on a road whether on motorcycles or cars, you're going to find that we're working more crashes, more wrecks as it goes on," says Deputy Doug Gay with the Benton County Sheriff's Office.
And Deputy Gay has seen his fair share of crumpled metal.
"It pains us every time we see someone who has crashed a bike and injured themselves or god forbid killed themselves," says Gay.
Even though, there's just two wheels, a bike only complicates driving.
"Riding a motorcycle is multitasking at a very very high level," says Gay.
But he says the burden of safety rides on bikers.
"Motorcycles accelerate faster than cars do, they maneuver better than cars do and they stop quicker than cars do so if a motorcycle becomes impacted by a car or truck, unfortunately it's going to be riding on the motorcyclists shoulders," says Gay.
According to Deputy Gay, most wrecks are single vehicle accidents that happen on corners. It's the moment a driver doesn't think they're going to make it around a curve and looks off the road preparing for a crash.
"The motorcycle's eyes are our eyes we give it the vision and it will go what ever place we look," says Gay.
So in his spare time, he teaches motorcycle safety classes because he says education can sometime mean the difference between life and death on the road.
"Unfortunately a lot of people feel like they've been riding long enough that they can mitigate nearly any problem. I have nearly 40 years plus riding experience and I still haven't stopped learning," says Gay.
If you're interested in taking motorcycle safety classes, contact Pig Trail Harley Davidson in Rogers at 479-636-9797 or click here.
