BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas — “Safety is our top priority at TXDOT and it always will be and that means from getting from point A to point B without having a crash,” said Bob Colwell, TXDOT public information officer.
The spring and summer seasons draw more people outdoors including motorcyclists. With the increase of riders on the roads, TXDOT is bringing awareness to their safety.
Here’s just one of many life-saving tips while you’re on roadways. Looking twice before making any turns or changing lanes is the best way to ensure you don’t miss any blind spots.
”I’ve had some near misses, some folks do the California stop, they roll out in front of me and I've had to hit my brakes pretty hard but luckily I haven’t gone down,” said Tim Valdez, Brothers Keepers Motorcycle club chpt 30.
Riders like Tim Valdez say some are survivors and others have experienced near life-threatening experiences.
”State officials reported that 519 motorcycle riders died in motorcycle crashes in 2021, that is a seven percent increase over the previous year,” said Colwell.
With many lost lives and due to his own experiences Valdez finds motorcycle awareness month important to emphasize safety measures.
”Somebody does not look twice, and they pull out in front, the motorcycles will hit the car because they don’t look twice and pull out thinking that it’s clear,” added Valdez.
The increasing death rate caused by motorcycle accidents has motivated TXDOT to also help bring awareness in the month of may with their “share the road, look twice” campaign.
”Even though motorcyclists comprise less than two percent of the vehicles, they account for 12 percent of all the fatalities that we had in 2021,” said Colwell.
”But if they just take that split second to look a second time to the left, they will hit the brakes and everyone can walk away without any troubles,” said Valdez.
According to TXDOT, the summer months will bring out more motorists now it's up to all of us to ensure safety on our roadways.