Gina Williams brings us a guest post about why she founded Motorcycle Accident.  Shocked by the incidence of motorcycle accidents and fatalities when compared to other modes of transportation, Gina has devoted her life to educating the public about everything surrounding motorcycle accidents, including what to look for in a motorcycle accident lawyer.

Naivety and arrogance are two things that seem to accompany being young.  With our lives ahead of us and so many possibilities, we think nothing can touch us; we think we’re invincible.  The idea that one little mistake can affect our life, and the lives of those around us, seems impossible.

Unfortunately, though many of us escape this dangerous mindset unscathed, others aren’t so lucky; and one of my childhood friends was one of the unlucky ones.

He enjoyed driving cars fast, too fast in fact; so it wasn’t a huge surprise when he announced that he was thinking of buying a sport bike.  And, still not having reached the age of 21, he did just that.  His love for driving fast didn’t cease despite the obvious dangers motorcycles present to their owners.  Writing this, it’s obvious now that he was a loose cannon; an accident waiting to happen.  It’s not that he was by any means a bad person or knowingly seeking a dangerous path; he just hadn’t lived long enough to learn that he wasn’t invincible.

Then it happened; speeding over an overpass in Houston, he lost control of his bike, ran into the cement side of the overpass, and fell to the road below.  He laid in the hospital’s ICU for a week, healing from the road burns that covered much of his body, the broken bones, and a head injury.  He began to improve, but a stroke ultimately led to the end of his life.  His parents and older sister were forced to let him go.

It was this experience that led to the founding of MotorcycleAccident.org.  After his accident, I knew that I wanted to prevent this from happening to other people.  To that end, my website educates the public about the causes and consequences of motorcycle accidents.  It also provides motorcyclists with preventative safety tips and resources for dealing with the aftermath of an accident.

Unfortunately, it isn’t just people like my friend that end up in life-changing or life-ending motorcycle accidents.  Those who choose to ride motorcycles in general are putting themselves at risk, even if they’re safe drivers.  Based on 2009 U.S. Census data, we know that there were 31 registered passenger vehicles on the road for every 1 registered motorcycle.  Yet, 13 percent of all traffic fatalities in that year were motorcyclists.  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) adamantly professes that motorcyclists are 25 times more likely to perish in traffic accident than any other motorist.  And the majority of the time (56%) those fatal traffic accidents involve multiple vehicles.

Just maybe if he had truly understood just how dangerous his bike was he wouldn’t have driven so recklessly.  It seems cliché, but he hadn’t even experienced life yet; and the idea that I had the power to educate people and potentially prevent someone else from perishing as the result of something so silly is the reason MotorcycleAccident.org exists today.