WCMessenger.com: Be aware of motorcycles

I would like to ask drivers to be aware of motorcycles during these warmer months. Most of you know how dangerous the highways are in Wise County. It is bad enough when you have an accident in a car, but your chances of survival on a motorcycle are a lot less.

I choose to wear a helmet when I ride a motorcycle. Some riders choose not to for different reasons and it is a sensitive issue among the biker community. All I know is that the odds are in your favor if anything goes wrong and my purpose for this letter is to save lives, not stir controversy.

We have a variety of different vehicles in this growing county. You never know what you're going to meet on the next curve.

We have motorcycles, cars, pickups, SUVs, trucks related to the rock industry, trucks related to the oil and gas industry, etc.

Wise County roadways require total concentration and any distraction from your vehicle could be your last. Try and keep those cell phone conversations to a minimum and please do not text message or calculate your GPS while moving. Try not to eat or apply makeup while moving. I know this may sound strange, but I have seen people doing it.

I see the weekly traffic accidents in the Messenger and it is a thousand wonders why we don't have more. Driving is serious business and it is a privilege, not a right. Please be courteous to other drivers no matter what they drive, and when the four lanes of Highway 380 ever open, then please remember that the right lane is the slow lane.

Driving defensively has never been more important; please be safe out there no matter what you are driving.

Galen Wiley
Bridgeport