WACO, Texas — As the weather warms up, more motorcycles will be on the roadways.
One Leander man is reminding Central Texas to look twice for motorcycles after he spent the last year recovering from a near-fatal crash.
Al Peterson is a father of three boys, but his life was almost cut short last May.
“It’s a miracle I’m still alive," he said.
He was riding a motorcycle in Austin when another driver failed to yield and turned left in front of him, throwing him from the bike.
"I was thrown over that vehicle — I slid to a stop in 20 yards," Peterson said.
"The vehicle then parked on my leg and was there until first responders picked me up — put me on ambulance.”
He was in the hospital for nine weeks, in a medically induced coma for two weeks.
He spent seven weeks in intensive care, had 36 pints of blood transfused, two chest tubes, heart surgery and multiple other surgeries.
“The crash left me with damaged organs, eating through tube — lucky to be alive," Peterson said.
He is one of hundreds of Texas motorcyclists each year who are seriously injured or killed.
More than 2,400 riders were seriously injured last year.
Nearly 600 were killed last year in the state, according to TxDOT — that’s a seven percent increase over the previous year.
Intersection fatal crashes also increased by 21 percent.
TxDOT reminds Texans to look twice, pay special attention at intersections, make space, slow down and stay alert — it could save a father’s life so he can make it home to his family.
