|
|
The driver was charged with an illegal lane change while Tipton, an air brush artist at Milburn's, a custom paint shop in Pasadena, lost his life.
On Oct. 29, Stewart Jackson was killed when his motorcycle hit a piece of debris in the road allegedly placed by four juveniles and two adults as a practical joke.
This Saturday, a fundraiser will be held to benefit the family of Brandon Hart, who lost his life in a motorcycle accident in San Leon.
Unfortunately, those incidents are not isolated.
"People don't seem to realize that motorcycles are everywhere and they need to be aware," said
Karen Chillemi, a member of Bikers Against Child Abuse (BACA) Gulf Coast and an advocate for biker safety and pubic awareness. "Look twice, if you look one way and don't see something coming, check again because motorcycles can come up on you fairly quickly. You don't see them as much as you would a big Excursion."
According to a 2005 study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,
4,008 motorcyclists were killed on U.S. roads in 2004, an 8 percent increase from 2003.
In their yearly Traffic Safety Assessment for 2006, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that motorcycle deaths have increased for the ninth straight year.
The 4,810 motorcycle deaths in 2006 surpassed pedestrian deaths at 4,784 for that same year while motorcycle fatalities increased by 234 (5.1 percent) over 2005 (4,576). In addition, 88,000 motorcyclists were injured in accidents in 2006, an increase of 1,000 from 2005.
"There are a lot of motorcycles on the road and cars are becoming more sound-proof. You throw in a few loud radios and bikers are totally invisible to them," said Chillemi.
Tipton's accident prompted his family and friends, along with various biker groups, to promote a closer discussion on bikers' safety.
Seventy-one year old Stacy Huggins has been riding a bike for over half his life, and to him those numbers reveal more about automobile drivers than about bikers or legislation.
"I've gone across people's front yards avoiding cars that are turning into me," he said, "I've had people pulling right in front of me or changing lanes in front of me. You really have to watch out for them because they really don't look for bikes."
Huggins, a retired lab technician for Johnson Space Center, can recount many incidents involving himself and friends, of brushing close to catastrophe because of a driver's carelessness.
"I was coming home one day on a residential street when a driver pulled up at the stop sign," he recalled. "I was sitting there with three lights on in front and right when it was too late, she started pulling across the street and there was no way I could have stopped. She never saw me, but she heard my brake and stopped about three-fourths of the way across the road. I was able to veer in front of her and stop close to the car."
When he stopped the bike, the woman mouthed the words, 'I didn't see you', said Huggins.
Huggins, who was riding a red Harley, believes that incident, and others like it, are more a matter of close attention and awareness than blocked vision.
"I don't think she looked," he said. "I had three lights in front, how could she not see that?"
Huggins was not hurt that day, but believes he could have been.
"We try and educate people to look and look again," said Huggins, who is a member of the American Motorcycle Association, Texas Motorcycle Rights Association and the Christian Motorcyclists Association.
While these groups and others advocate protective legislation for bikers, they also work to remind motor vehicle drivers to keep their eyes opened for more than cars.
While statistics don't have names attached to them, the families of Tipton, Stewart and Hart suffer immeasurable personal loss.
"You're talking about a lot of heartache that goes along with them," said Chillemi.
For Huggins, the advantage of riding a motorcycle is the feeling of freedom and the wide open spaces.
Bikers, he added, also respect the rules of safety on the road and simply expect that courtesy be extended to them.
"It's more about educating drivers than it is about legislation," said Huggins.
For more information on Saturday's fundraiser for Brandon Hart, call 281-538-6395.
