I pick up the morning paper and the headline says “ AFTER FATAL MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT, FAMILY RALLIES AROUND SURVIVOR.”
I’m terribly sorry for the loss of yet another motorcyclist, and incredibly happy that all his family, friends, and fellow riders are there to support each other and to support the love of his life as she struggles in her recovery from her own injuries, and I wish her all the best as she has a very long road ahead of her.
Two beautiful people out on a beautiful ride on a beautiful day, until carelessness intervened.
So here’s my point: this was no “accident.”
An “accident” is like a gust of wind blowing the tree branch down on your truck, or the dog jumping up and knocking something over; those are things that you cannot predict and cannot prevent.
This was a *crash.*
The driver of a left turning vehicle can easily predict, and thus can easily prevent, a *crash* by taking an extra second or two to look twice before turning.
It’s that simple. It’s that easy. It’s that important.
It’s something we need to make all drivers more aware of, to create better safety habits, to save lives. Until we do, we’ll continue to lose more great men and women who were out innocently enjoying the ride. These crashes are predictable and are preventable.