Robert Renfroe barely saw it coming. In 2005, He was riding his 1999 Honda motorcycle west on Highway 50 when a young woman turned across his lane in her car. He plowed straight into her vehicle.
“It sent me over the handlebars and into her windshield,” Renfroe remembered. “You don”t have time to even react. It”s like looking up and seeing a train coming at you; you just grit your teeth and bear it.”
Luckily, Renfroe escaped with a couple of bulged and torn discs in his back and, most importantly, his life.
Last week, John Hall of Columbus wasn”t as fortunate. He was killed when Julian Lopez, allegedly driving under the influence, made a left turn from Highway 45 onto 31st Avenue into Hall”s direct path. Hall hit Lopez”s 2004 Dodge Stratus and died shortly afterward from the extreme head and chest trauma he sustained.
Lopez, who is being charged with vehicular manslaughter, is still in custody. His bond is set at $1 million, said Terrie Songer, the public information officer at the Columbus Police Department.
The recent fatality has raised important questions about motorcycle safety and what steps can be taken to reduce accidents. T.F.C. Brian Mobley, the public affairs officer with Troop G of the Mississippi Highway Patrol in Starkville, said an increasing number of people have been turning to motorcycles. Statistics are only available up to 2008, but from 1998 to that year, motorcycle-related fatalities increased from 2,294 to 5,290. Mobley thinks more people are riding to save some extra money in tough economic times.
“A lot of people are resorting to motorcycles because they can go to work all week on two gallons of gas,” Mobley said.
With an increase in ridership, there”s an inevitable increase in accidents.
“It hurts, especially when it”s nothing you did,” Renfroe said. “One of my biggest qualms with people driving is them not paying attention. They don”t bother checking their mirrors. That”s happened to be several times on Highway 45. You”ve really got to be on your toes because cars, most of the time, are not watching for motorcycles at all.”
Renfroe, now 30 and a welder at Thompson Welding Service, has ridden motorcycles since he was 17 years old. For him, part of the problem is how little drivers understand about motorcycles.
“I can be up to a cruising speed in a matter of seconds,” he said. “Cars don”t really understand that they move as fast as they do, so they pull out in front you, and that sends you right into the back of them.”
Plus, motorcycles create a relatively small target on the road, and even when drivers are glancing up before they make a move, they might not spot a rider.
“There”s not a whole lot to see,” he said. “They”re not looking for something as small as a motorcycle. They”re looking for an F-150 or a semi truck or something like that.”
Renfroe thinks that many accidents can be avoided if drivers simply look both ways like they were taught as children.
“Look twice,” he said. “Look left, look right and look left again. Something can come up real quick. Don”t assume nothing”s there. The childhood rule applies to adulthood, and something really serious is at stake.”
Seven months after his accident, Renfroe was back on the road.
“It”s something that”s just in you,” he said. “It”s something you”ve just got to do. You”ll have to kill me first.”
Because car drivers often don”t know what to look for, or they aren”t paying attention, much of the responsibility to drive defensively falls on the shoulders of the motorcyclist.
“I try to watch the other guy and protect myself,” said Randy Hudson, a motorcycle rider for the past 38 years and a body shop manager at Waters Truck and Tractor Co. in Columbus. “You also have to be aware of the roads when they get wet. These yellow and white lines on the highway just get slick as butter when the water”s on them.”
Even after a crash 20 years ago, motorcycle riding is something Hudson can”t shake.
“It”s not that bad, to me,” he said. “I know it”s out there. You”ve got a lot of new riders that haven”t ridden very long, and they don”t know the ways of the road. That”s why a lot of them are getting run over. Of course, I could get run over tomorrow.”
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