A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days

This post is not in keeping with the usual Chequer-Board tone of Chicago-style (in several senses) wit, but I'm going to go with it anyway.

According to the database released to accompany a new report on motorcycle safety, Henry County, Georgia had two fatal motorcyle accidents in 2006, two in 2005, and three in 2004.  The database only goes up to 2006, but I can tell you that there was at least one fatal motorcycle accident in Henry County in 2007.  The victim was my brother-in-law.  He would have been 39 this past March.

And before you ask: yes, he was wearing a helmet; yes, he had plenty of experience with bikes; and no, there was not a motorcycle-ignorant car involved in the accident, as best I know.  He was going very fast.  He lost control somehow.  That was enough.

Look -- I've never driven a motorcycle, but I've ridden on the back of one, and I can appreciate how exhilarating an experience it can be to be just you and the bike and the wind.  And if my brother-in-law were still here he probably wouldn't appreciate the lecture.  But to take a stat from the report: 42% of motorcyclists killed between 2002 and 2006 were not wearing a helmet at the time.  That means that a majority of the motorcycle riders killed between 2002 and 2006 were wearing helmets.

Look, you say (at least one guy said this on the Times blog post that alerted me to the report): it's my life, I know the risk.  My brother-in-law knew the risks just fine.  He'd already lost one girlfriend to a car -- not even a bike -- accident.  You know who didn't know the risk?  His youngest daughter.  She's five.  She can't spell risk.

You are not obliged, by the way, to post a comment here to tell me how stupid Chris was.  I know.  I've known for almost a year.  My family knows.  Everyone who loved him knows.

So if you are going to buy a bike: one, have fun with it; two, at least wait until your children are going to be old enough to remember you; three, get lots of life insurance first.