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SALT LAKE CITY — Another motorcycle fatality this weekend underscores an alarming surge. Forty-five motorcycle deaths set a Utah record last year and we are on pace for more this year.
Nathan Christensen could have been one of those statistics, but he's alive thanks to a helmet and a full set of now-shredded motorcycle safety gear.
"Those are pretty much the things that saved my life," Christensen said Monday.
Fortunately, Christensen was decked out for safety when a motorist made a U-turn in front of him at about 45 mph.
"(I) hit into the side of her and T-boned her, flew about 30 feet from the impact site and landed," he said.
He broke his leg, his knee, six ribs, his shoulder blade and a couple of vertebrae, and suffered a concussion. Ironically, he was on his way to a motorcycle training class when the accident happened.
"(Drivers) don't suspect that we're out there, when we are," Christensen said.
Courtesy Nathan Christensen
Last year, the 45 motorcycle fatalities represented 17.5 percent of all Utah highway fatalities — more than one in six. Seventy-two percent of those crashes were caused by rider error.
Motorcycle riders complain that motorists don't see them, while motorists complain that motorcyclists ride recklessly.
"They're both correct," said Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Donavan Lucas.
Even though he's been riding a couple of decades, Lucas and his fellow troopers regularly practice their skills. That's what he recommends for all riders, especially those who ride in the mountains and canyons.
"If you're going too fast, beyond your abilities as a motorcycle rider, you're going to straighten out and go off the side of the road, or a cliff, or into a vehicle," Lucas said. "Go back and relearn how to ride your motorcycle."
Christensen agrees with the trooper's advice. "If you don't learn your bike, and take the proper safety courses to how to navigate properly, then I feel that's what contributes to a lot of accidents," he said.
Lucas said motorcyclists need to maintain their bikes, train regularly. and ride within the limits of their machines and the law. Motorists, he said, need to keep their eyes open for motorcycles.
For information on motorcycle safety and a list of education and training courses, visit ridetoliveutah.org.
