Save a life, stay alert while driving

Star News

Editorials

On a recent summer afternoon, the driver on a motorcycle was heading south on Hwy 13 in the city of Medford when a car turned in front of him to enter a parking lot. He ended up being airlifted with serious injuries. The driver of the vehicle told police she had not seen the motorcycle or driver before the collision.

The story is not a unique one to this area. Across the state headlines report similar incidents as the body count continues to rise. Nationally, August is the most dangerous month for motorcyclists, 14% of all fatal motorcycle crashes occur over this month each year.

In Wisconsin in 2022, 1,921 motorcycle crashes were reported in the state, of those, 78 crashes were fatal, killing a total of 80 people. Wisconsin is on pace to surpass those statistics in 2023. To put this in perspective, about 4% of every motorcycle crash in the state ends in a fatality, this is about 10 times the fatality rate of all other motor vehicle collisions combined.

For every crash that sends someone to the hospital or to the morgue, there are dozens of more near-misses. Where, for the grace of God, a collision was avoided at the last second.

Despite the back to school sales and the little bit of reds and golds showing up in area trees, summer is far from over. With nice weather comes people on motorcycles. Whether enjoying a ride with friends or doing their daily commute, motorcycles are all over.

While there are many factors that contribute to any crash, when it comes to motorcycles, many of the usual suspects are largely absent such as poor weather condition. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Authority, most fatal crashes occur during the week and 24% occur between the hours of 3 and 6 p.m. These are the peak times when motorcycle drivers are sharing the road with other motorists.

Motorcycles are smaller than the average vehicle, so they can be harder to see on the roads and it’s easy to misjudge their speed and distance. Use caution when traveling near motorcycles.

The challenge is in getting all motorists to stay alert and to share the road.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation Driving near motorcycles offers these tips for drivers to make the roads safer for everyone:

• Look twice for motorcycles; many crashes happen when drivers pull out from a stop sign, turn left, or change lanes

• Keep a safe following distance from a motorcycle; they have a shorter stopping distance so if a motorcycle needs to stop suddenly, you need more room to avoid a collision

• Avoid distractions and drive sober Road safety is a responsibility of every driver and together we can work to end preventable accidents, injuries and deaths.