Motorcycle professionals use the phrase “dress for the crash”…yes, as a safety researcher, we’re seeing a darmatic increase in motorcycle crashes – injuries and fatalities!

Sorry, but as a safety educator, especially in transportation…from my research and “on scene” observation, “motorcycles” are one of the most dangerous forms of transportation. In fact, they’re usually the messiest to clear and investigate. What doesn’t help, are the poor excuse for a helmet “skull caps-beannie cap” type helmets! Wear a full helmet! But then again, that only protects the head to a point – but not the torso of the body….especially when striking an object at a high rate of speed.

Examples:

From San Diego Police:
Date: December 16, 2004 – 9:14am

17TH STREET at C STREET, EAST VILLAGE

Type: SERIOUS INJURY COLLISION

Synopsis:
P-2 was a 56-year-old male driving a 2001 Harley Davison Electra Glide Classic motorcycle eastbound on C Street. P-1 was a 19-year-old female driving a 1999 Nissan Sentra southbound on 17th Street. P-1 stopped at the stop sign but then proceeded into the intersection into the path of P-2 who struck her broadside. P-2 was wearing a “half shell,” helmet that did not fully cover his head. He suffered a skull fracture and has a brain injury. He was transported to UCSD Hospital for treatment. P-1 did not have any injuries. Traffic Division is handling the investigation.

-0-

Date: November 12, 2004

From the California Highway Patrol El Cajon Office:
On November 12, 2004 at approximately 12:50 PM Mr. Jeffery Abbey (51, San Diego) was traveling e/b on SR-78 on a 1999 Suzuki SV650 at approximately 40-45 m.p.h. Mr. Abbey entered into a right curve that was posted with a suggested speed of 30 m.p.h. Mr. Abbey was unable to negotiate the curve and crossed over the solid double yellow line. Mr. Wayne Jones (65, Ramona) was traveling w/b on SR-78 in a 1998 Chrysler Town and Country van at approximately 40 m.p.h. Mr. Jones observed the motorcycle cross over the double yellow lines directly in front of him. He swerved to the right. However, he was unable to avoid colliding with the motorcycle. The force of the collision fully ejected Mr. Abbey from the motorcycle where he collided with the windshield and A-Pillar of the van.

Mr. Abbey was wearing a leather jacket and a full-faced helmet. However, he sustained major trauma to his head, face, neck, and chest. Mr. Abbey was transported by air ambulance to Palomar Hospital in Escondido where he is in critical condition. Mr. Jones as well as his three female passengers were uninjured. Both vehicles were towed from the scene.

-0-

Date: Sunday, May 2, 2004:

Names Released Of Fatal Motorcycle Crash Victims

(Ramona) – Authorities Monday released the names of two people killed in motorcycle crashes over the weekend. A man who died in a motorcycle crash on a remote road in Ramona was identified as Stan Hutchinson of San Diego. Hutchinson crashed on state Route 78 near Ramona Trails Drive at about 3:30 p.m. Sunday. He was not wearing a helmet.

(Pauma Valley) – 53-year-old Patricia Diane Skiver of Oceanside died when she failed to negotiate a curve and slammed into a guardrail on Cole Grade Road at about 1:40 p.m. Sunday. She died at the scene of the crash.

On Saturday, May 1, 2004:

(Fallbrook) – Two people who died Saturday when their motorcycle went out of control on Mission Road have been identified as David and Susanita Ward of Oceanside.

The motorcycle slid across the road and into a pickup truck about 7:10 p.m., the Medical Examiner’s Office said.

-0-

Date: March 27, 2004

Location: 66TH @ MADERA – ENCANTO

Type: SERIOUS INJURY MOTORCYCLE COLLISION

Synopsis: 30 yr old David Smith was riding a motorcycle on 66th St at a speed too great for conditions. He hit some sand and lost control. He struck the curb then a utility pole. He sustained fractures to both legs. He was transported to a local hospital. Traffic is investigating.

-0- Date: December 30, 2004
Location: 4126 EXECUTIVE DR, UNIVERSITY CITY

SERIOUS INJURY CRASH-MOTORCYCLE

Synopsis: P-2, a W/M 24, riding on a Yamaha motorcycle was W/B on Executive Drive in the number one lane. P-1, a W/F 23, driving a Honda Civic was going E/B when she decided to make a U-turn. As she turned she collided with P-2 in the number one W/B lane. P-1 suffered a compound fracture to his right femur and was transported to the hospital for treatment.

I highly recommended to take a professional motorcycle riding course, and when riding “be alert and be prepared”!

Just the facts….

February 21, 2004

Report links alcohol abuse and fatalities from house fires

The Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has issued a special report citing a significant link between alcohol abuse and residential fire deaths and between alcohol and the risk of unintentional injury, including car accidents, falls, drowning, homicide and suicide.

“This important issue of our Topical Fire Research Series underscores an often overlooked connection between alcohol abuse and fire injuries and death,” said Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response. “We hope this report helps educate fire officials and the public about this problem so that campaigns that have been so successful in warning about drinking and driving can bring similar attention to drinking and fires.”

According to the report, “Establishing a Relationship Between Alcohol and Casualties of Fire,” developed by the National Fire Data Center, part of FEMA’s U.S. Fire Administration, up to 40 percent of residential fire death victims are alcohol impaired. In addition, nearly half of adult emergency room patients treated for trauma are alcohol impaired, and burn victims with high blood alcohol levels are more likely to die from their injuries than victims with no alcohol impairment.

“This report also makes an important note that smoking combined with alcohol abuse exacerbates the risk of fires, fire injuries and fire deaths,” said U.S. Fire Administrator R. David Paulison. “Smoking and drinking is a particularly dangerous combination since smoking materials offer a ready-made fire threat and alcohol consumption decreases one’s chances of detecting and escaping a fire.”

Two related case studies are also being released, further exploring the connection between alcohol abuse and fire deaths. One case study reviewed fire data for Minnesota, which collects alcohol use data as part of its ongoing injury surveillance system. In Minnesota, from 1996 to 2002, 36 percent of the state’s fire fatalities had alcohol levels of 0.1 or higher. The second case study looked at data collected by the Ontario, Canada, fire marshal. According to that case study, 19 percent of fire fatalities from 1995 to 2001 were alcohol impaired.

Contact MADD! They helped me and my family when my father was killed by a DUI driver in June of 1992. They helped us through the court system since we didn’t have a clue on our rights, on what to expect or what to do next! Thank GOD for Paula Meyers of MADD in San Diego!

For MADD in San Diego click here: MADD San Diego Or call them at (760) 746-6233. By email it’s info@maddsandiego.org.

If you’re the victim of a DUI driver, or you’ve lost a loved one to a D.U.I. driver take action and call MADD at 1-800-GET-MADD…or click here and go to their National website of MADD You’ll be working with others who’ve been through the pain you’re going through – you’re not alone!

*We must work together to stop the madness on our roadways…people are basically getting away with murder, even though they’ve heard over and over “don’t drink and drive!

In your loved one’s memory “speak out”! Vote to have laws strengthened when it comes to DUI’s. Speak at the MADD-V.I.P.- (Victim’s Impact Panel) program. Contact Paula Meyers to speak at one of the VIP meetings. There are many other ways to support your local MADD Chapter, or MADD’s message. Even having a MADD bumper sticker sends a powerful message to those around you…it’s a reminder to others NOT to drink and drive, and don’t ride with someone who’s been drinking!

When you have a party, educate others you don’t need alcohol to have a good time…or make sure they designate a driver, stay the night or call them a cab. There’s a lot we can do to save lives by educating others of our loss! If you lost a friend, keep that friend’s death from going in vain by stopping others from drinking and driving – and never ride with someone who’s been drinking!

Also, as parents, we can also look at ourselves! Sadly, in the last several years, we’ve found more and more “parents” injuring and killing their own families while driving under-the-influence. What ever happened to priorities! My family’s safety means more to me than alcoholic beverages! So I don’t drink alcoholic beverages – it’s that simple! I’ve chosen to be a good safety role model for my daughter and others. So what are your priorities? Or, are you willing to take the risk? The risk of your family’s life!

Remember, you don’t have to be drunk to kill or injure. Alcohol is a “drug” – a “depressant”…a drug that immediately dulls the senses needed to be a safe driver! Also, always protect yourself and your passengers by always buckling up and driving “alert”! Expect the unexpected!

New Study – From CNN News Service – April 14, 2004

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Heavy social drinkers show the same pattern of brain damage as hospitalized alcoholics — enough to impair day-to-day functioning, U.S. researchers said Wednesday.

Brain scans show clear damage, and tests of reading, balance and other function show people who drink more than 100 drinks a month have some problems, the researchers said.

“Socially functioning heavy drinkers often do not recognize that their level of drinking constitutes a problem that warrants treatment,” the researchers, at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee and the University of California San Francisco, wrote in their report.

“The enrollment criterion for heavy drinkers was the consumption of more than an average of 100 alcoholic drinks per month for men over 3 years before the study (80 drinks for women),” they wrote in the report, published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

One drink is usually defined as a serving of spirits, a glass of wine or a can or bottle of beer.

Dieter Meyerhoff of UCSF and Dr. Peter Martin of Vanderbilt examined 46 chronic, heavy drinkers and 52 light drinkers recruited using newspaper ads and flyers.

They used magnetic resonance imaging to look at physical brain structures and also measured various brain chemicals associated with healthy brain function.

Standard tests of verbal intelligence, processing speed, balance, working memory, spatial function, executive function, and learning and memory were given to the volunteers.

“Our heavy drinkers sample was significantly impaired on measures of working memory, processing speed, attention, executive function, and balance,” the researchers wrote.

Heavy drinking damages your brain ever so slightly, reducing your cognitive functioning in ways that may not be readily noticeable. To be safe, don’t overdo it. — Message from drinking study

Measures of brain chemicals and structures showed some of the same damage seen in alcoholics who are in the hospital or treatment centers, they said.

The study is unusual in that most studies of brain damage from alcohol are done in people who have undergone treatment.

“What our findings indicate is that brain damage is detectable in heavy drinkers who are not in treatment and function relatively well in the community,” Meyerhoff said in a statement.

Martin and Meyerhoff said the study showed evidence of brain impairment, even if the drinkers cannot see it themselves.

“Our message is: Drink in moderation. Heavy drinking damages your brain ever so slightly, reducing your cognitive functioning in ways that may not be readily noticeable. To be safe, don’t overdo it.”

Meyerhoff said that for most adults, moderate alcohol use translates to up to two drinks per day for younger men, and one drink per day for women and older people.

(Note: FACT: Alcohol is a drug – a depressant – drinking too much, especially to the point of drunkenness or passing out is considered “over-dosing” on a depressant. Look at the word “intoxication” – in the middle of that word is the word “toxic“, and too much alcohol creates “blood-alcohol poisoning. Yes, people have died drinking too much, or as this study shows can and have suffered brain damage. – Monica Zech)

Truth is stranger than fiction, just when I think I seen or heard it all comes the following news story. It drives home the words “brain damaging effects of alcohol: Warning – the story is shocking:

Family Of Decapitated Man Seeks Mercy For Driver

POSTED: 12:24 pm EDT September 1, 2004

MARIETTA, Ga. — The family of a man decapitated in an alleged drunken driving accident is pleading with authorities to free his best friend, who was behind the wheel and apparently didn’t notice that his passenger had been beheaded.

Francis “Frankie” Brohm, 23, was killed Saturday night on the way home from a bar with his high school friend John Hutcherson.

Hutcherson is jailed on $100,000 bond charged with first-degree vehicular homicide, driving under the influence and failing to stop at the scene of a fatal accident.

On Tuesday, Brohm’s family appealed to Cobb County District Attorney Pat Head, saying they support Hutcherson’s release on bond.

“They don’t want to see him in jail,” said Brohm family attorney David Lipscomb. “Their position is he needs to be out to receive whatever treatment is necessary, put his life back together.”

Police say Brohm was drunk and hanging out the passenger side window that night when Hutcherson veered off the road. Brohm hit a roadside telephone wire, severing his head, but Hutcherson kept driving home and went to bed, leaving Brohm’s headless body in the truck.

Brohm’s body was discovered by neighbors the next day, and Brohm’s head was still on the side of the road. Hutcherson was apparently unaware of what had happened to his friend.

The families of both men are very close, lawyers said.

“It’s just a horrific accident, and we are all just in mourning right now,” said Margaret Hutcherson, John’s mother, in an interview with the Marietta Daily Journal. “(Brohm has) been a part of our family just like Johnny was a part of their family. I feel like I’ve lost a son.”

The Brohm family left Tuesday for Francis Brohm’s Friday funeral, which will be held in Louisville, Ky.

2004 by The Associated Press

-0-

When this story was first reported: More shocking details….

Police: Man Drives Home After Passenger Decapitated

POSTED: 11:44 am EDT August 30, 2004

MARIETTA, Ga. — A drunken driver hit a telephone pole support wire that decapitated his passenger, then drove 12 miles home and slept in his bloody clothes, leaving the headless body in his truck, police said.

A neighbor walking with his young daughter Sunday morning discovered Daniel Brohm’s headless corpse in the truck in John Kemper Hutcherson’s driveway and called authorities, said Cpl. Dana Pierce, county police spokesman.

Officers found Hutcherson asleep inside his home. He was visibly drunk and his clothes were bloody, authorities said. They later found Brohm’s severed head at the crash site.

“It’s hard for one to imagine that you would drive miles from a crash site to your home, turning in various directions, and yet not know what has happened to a passenger sitting next to you,” Pierce said.

Hutcherson, 21, was charged with vehicular homicide, driving under the influence and failure to stop at an accident with death or injury. He was jailed on a $100,000 bond; it was unclear Monday whether he had an attorney.

Police said Hutcherson and Brohm — friends since high school — were drinking at a bar Saturday night and left after Brohm said he felt sick.

Brohm, 23, apparently was leaning out of the window when Hutcherson hit the support wire about a mile and a half from the bar.

2004 by The Associated Press

*Proving yet again why “alcohol” is the number one problem in society!

Testimony of Sam Collins
President, International Youth Council
Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention Program
U. S. Senate Subcommittee, Teen Suicide
Senator Christopher Dodd Presiding
9/7/01

I used to think that suicide would never affect my life. I felt this way until my freshman year in high school. I remember a friend of mine, Jesse. My older brother and his older brother were best friends. We also had the same geometry class. Jesse was a year older than me and seeing as how I was a freshman in a sophomore class he looked out for me. I remember one time we all went to the beach and he taught me how to skimboard. Most of all I remember walking in the door from practice one night. As I walked down the hallway my older brother approached me with tears in his eyes. He told me that Jesse had taken his life. I have never been so lost in my life. I’d dealt with death in my life, but never of a friend. Especially under the circumstances of suicide which caused me to feel helpless. Should I have called him that day? Should I have hung out with him more? Should we have talked about more serious problems than geometry and girls? The saddest part is that no one had any answers. Even if somebody did they weren’t about to talk about them. Nobody talked about it, least of all the adults. Everyone who worked for the school acted like he just disappeared one day, or he never existed at all. I was forced to sit in my geometry class and stare at the empty desk next to me where Jesse used to sit for the rest of the semester. Finally a couple of weeks later the principal announced that we had lost one of our fellow students. Lost is the appropriate word because to the school employees, he was simply lost. Jesse was stolen from me.

The reason why the Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention Program works is that we as youth understand the ever present threat of suicide among our peers. We know how tough it is growing up. I know that statistics say that one in five youth consider suicide, one in ten attempts. I’m willing to bet that far greater numbers of youth than we can imagine have considered suicide. I remember one night during my senior year in high school I was driving home dealing with thoughts of my parents divorce. I don’t remember if it was raining or if I just remember it that way because of all the tears in my eyes. I wondered what would happen if I let my truck drift off the road. Other accidents had occurred on this road so I figured that mine would be written down as an accident too. Nobody would have known it was suicide. That night would have ended in suicide if it hadn’t been for the Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention Program. So believe me when I say that I have been to the edge. I have seen every side of suicide. I have lost two friends to suicide, and I almost lost my own life to suicide. The amazing part of my story is that I’ve seen people saved from the shadow of suicide as well. That is what makes my losses seem a little less in vain. I have spoken to thousands of youth about suicide. Due to my involvement with the Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention Program I’ve had many conversations with teens at the breaking point of their life. All it took was one person to show they cared. That is why the Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention Program works. It lets people know that no matter how tough things get, and for teens these days things can be tough, someone will always be there who cares about them.

The problem that the Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention Program runs into is adults. Even though adults are suiciding in large numbers, they still don’t like to say the “s word.” The problem is that many adults still believe all the myths about suicide; number one being talk about suicide, and you’ll cause suicide. As Dr. David Bergman, author of Kids on the Brink and director of a youth treatment center can tell you, “talking about suicide is the first step to preventing it, to breaking down the terrible isolation that a person considering it feels.” The problem with suicide prevention is that most adults don’t want to have anything to do with it until it is too late. It takes a modern day tragedy to get adults to look at the world in which they live. Teenagers understand how difficult it can be to be young. We look out for each other and talk to each other.

The Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention Program works because of its simplicity. Our message is that “it is okay to ask for help.” Although our overall goal is to prevent suicide this program helps intervene before it is too late. Kids these days need to know that they will be taken seriously when they ask for help. The problem is that a lot of kids don’t know how to ask for help and these yellow ribbon cards empower kids. Remember when you were taking Algebra and after the teacher had explained the problem three times you still didn’t get it? If it was that hard to ask for help on math, think about how hard it is to ask for help with feelings of depression and suicide. The sad fact is that in most cases the parents will be the last to know if a kid is having suicidal thoughts. Their friends will start to see the signs first. The Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention Program works in large part due to the belief in personal involvement at every level of the community. First, by creating the greatest safety net, peer support. Second, by letting the school and community as a whole let teens know there are people who care. We don’t ask any of the kids involved in this program to be counselors.

All we ask of anyone involved with yellow ribbon is to be a friend. If you can’t give the person the help they need, get them to someone who can. Although our program is usually found in schools, we hope one day that everyone will have a yellow ribbon card. One thing I tell kids when I give presentations is that the card doesn’t have an expiration date. Whether it is two weeks from now or twenty years from now, they will always know that “it is okay to ask for help”.