After a motorcycle-related crash took the life of a local young man Tuesday, an Emergency Medical Center first responder wants to warn all drivers about the dangers on the road with both motorists and motorcyclists.
“You’ve got to drive as though everybody is out to get you,” Director of EMS for University Medical Center Tom Little said. “If I ride that way and I position myself in traffic so that if a car changes lanes, they won’t change into me. If they break suddenly, I have a safety margin to break or avoid the accident, or I’m just aware of what people are doing. So I’m driving for them as well as myself.”
Little is an experienced first responder in the Lubbock area and has been driving a motorcycle for the last 40 years. From his perspective, he said there is more that drivers can do to stay safe on the roads.
“We’ve spent a lot of time and energy trying to convince motorists to look out for motorcyclists,” Little said. “As the EMS director, as well as, a fellow motorcycle rider, I think it’s important that the motorcyclists understand that we have some responsibility to stay safe ourselves.”
He urges motorcycle riders to be defensive drivers on any road.
“We get hit because people can’t see us, they can’t detect us, and they just don’t know that we’re there,” Little said.
He also recommends wearing defensive gear like a helmet, protective clothing, boots, and neon vests.
“The top reasons we see motorcyclists get in wrecks that we see, is that they’re sitting at intersections and get rear ended,” Little said. “There’s not a lot we can do about that because the bikes are small. They blend in the traffic. Most of the bikes like mine are black bikes and blend into the other scenery around us and people can’t see us.”
“Over 50 percent of motorcycle accidents are alcohol involved,” Little added. “So it’s important that we need to make sure as a biker that we’re not drinking and riding a motorcycle at the same time.”
As motorcycle-related crashes increase around town, Little said, ” Be prepared to take evasive action every time there’s another car around you.”
