(Seguin) – The month of May is the traditional start of riding season. With motorcycles more prevalent on local roadways, Guadalupe County leaders are doing their part to help keep riders safe.
Members of the Guadalupe County Commissioners Court has proclaimed May as Motorcycle Awareness Month.
Texas has been confirmed as having the highest rate of fatal motorcycle accidents per registered motorcycle with 6.2 deadly motorcycle crashes per 1,000 registered motorcycles.
Sharing his own personal interest with riding and safety is Commissioner Pct. 3 Michael Carpenter. Carpenter says it’s important to help increase public awareness on the dangers of riding if car drivers are not extra careful.
“As a motorcycle enthusiast myself. We were all just one errant left hand turn away from disaster and the purpose of this is just anyone who sees this, just to be aware that we are out there, and we are vulnerable when we are on our motorcycles. We do everything to make sure that we don’t put drivers of other kinds of vehicles in a position of danger for them and this is all about requesting that same care that we give when we are riding from all other of the motorist,” said Carpenter.
Among the motorcycle groups invited to help celebrate the court’s signing of a proclamation was Brothers in Arms, the Seguin Chapter. The group of primarily veteran riders was represented by President Jerry Ramirez.
Ramirez says action like this by local leaders is vital to maintaining safety on the roadways.
“Texas ranks number three in the country for the number of registered motorcycle riders. With that comes the flip side. We have more riders on the road. There is more chance for an accident. We rank number two in traffic accidents and fatalities in the nation. The San Antonio Metropolitan area ranks number two right behind Houston. You made a comment about the left turn. That’s the number one cause of accidents for motorcycles is the left turn. Motorists don’t see the riders coming when they make a left turn. A lot of it has to do with the misjudgment of speed and the distance of motorcycle. So, how do we raise awareness of motorcycles? TxDot has a very aggressive program. You see it out there. The Watch Out for Motorcycles, Share the Road Programs – they have the marquees in all the major thoroughfares in San Antonio and it brings attention to it. Another way is through proclamations like this. So, when city and county governments get behind motorcycle safety awareness, it really raises awareness within that community. So, we thank you for that,” said Ramirez.
Representing the Thin Blue Line Motorcycle Club of New Braunfels is Stephen Luman. Luman says as an organization that gives back to the community, the chapter is thankful to have such support.
“I’ve been with the Thin Blue Line a couple of years. We have a very large organization. We are pretty much worldwide, almost 50 chapters and we are in three different countries and so we are a pretty big group and we do appreciate you guys recognizing us. It’s just one turn away from disaster like this past weekend, we had one of our fellows go down and so we rallied around him and that’s what we do as a group, we support law enforcement. A majority of us are law enforcement. We have a few civilian law enforcement supporters. We go out and raise money and we help fallen officers all over the state of Texas and in different states. So that’s kind of what we do, and we appreciate you recognizing that,” said Luman.
Also representing the group was Wayne Lehman, the former chapter of the New Braunfels group and now a member of the national board of directors and president’s charter. Lehman says as a group, they’ve experienced tragedy – tragedy that often times could have been prevented.
“On the safety issue, July 2020 I think a lot of you are aware of this, we have our annual birthday party in Bandera, Texas every year and we have upwards of 500 to 800 people come up and one of the rides that we had sponsored on that Saturday morning, the ride included about 60 people, and they were hit head on by a drunk driver coming across the road. We lost three members that day and within a week, we lost a fourth member and we had numerous other individuals injured so we are out there and the thing my dad always told me a long time ago, ‘you are going to be the first one to the scene of an accident and the last one to leave’ and generally, it’s not the motorcyclists that created the problem. It’s the motor vehicles,” said Lehman.
Among those injured in that incident was Blue Line member Floyd Kittle. Kittle says he hopes folks will see these proclamations as more than just a written ceremony. He says they are real attempts at making sure that we each take care of one another.
“As Wayne was talking about, that was a pretty horrific day. The things that you are doing here as county commissioner at the grassroots level, this is what needs to happen. These types of things, these proclamations need to happen all over. People start to become aware of what is going on with motorcycles out there being on the roads and being able to share the roads with the motorcyclists – making them think for just one second, maybe they can take a double check – doing these types of things is what makes people take that double look – you know what, I’m going to look one more time’ and these little things like this, no joke, can save lives. Thank you very much,” said Kittle.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, motorcyclists were about 28 times more likely than passenger vehicle occupants to die in a motor vehicle crash in 2020. The proclamation comes just two months before the drivers hit the road during the deadliest month that is reported for accidents. July is the deadliest month with 13 percent of all fatal motorcycle crashes happening in July, and 49 percent of fatalities occurring between June and September.