UHP urges safe motorcycle riding in wake of 22 deaths since May

Niki Yeaton has seen too many motorcycle deaths and accidents this summer.

Yeaton, a 31-year-old clinical nurse at University Hospital, sees motorcyclists in and out of her emergency room on a regular basis. Most wound up there due to driving under the influence. But the deadly cases have something else in common — the driver not knowing their limits, or the bike's, because of a lack of safety training. Most, she says, also weren't wearing a helmet.

Twenty-two motorcyclists have died since May on Utah's roads and highways, according to the Utah Highway Patrol. Only two were teenagers. Most were between 40 and 60 years old.

"They rode when they were in college, and they think they're as good as they were then — but they're not," said Dale Bell, a motorcycle safety instructor in Salt Lake City.

In most of the 22 cases, the rider took a turn too quickly, a product of not remembering, or never taking the time to be taught, the safe way to ride a motorcycle, said UHP Col. Daniel Fuhr. UHP's motorcyclists spend 120 hours in training before ever riding one of the agency's bikes alone on the job.

To curb Utah's motorcycle deaths, Fuhr, Bell and Yeaton urged Utahns at a Harley-Davidson shop Thursday to wear a helmet, leather or heavy nylon clothing and to navigate turns slowly. They particularly stressed enrolling in a safety education course no matter the rider's age. Not only for the rider's life, but for the lives of his or her loved ones, Fuhr said.

"Not everyone dies," Yeaton said. She's seen motorcycle accident victims lying in a coma for days as their families wait by their bedside hoping for the best. Then, when the rider wakes up, the brain damage forces them out of a job and into a nursing home to spend the rest of their days. "You lose your relationships. It's not just you. It has an impact on the family, and the people you ride with."

Yeaton, a motorcycle rider since 2003, said taking a safety course was the best thing she ever did.

"I don't want to see you in my ER as a patient. I want to see you on the road — safe," she said.

e-mail: mmcfall@desnews.com