Crazy motorcyclists on the freeway have a bright side

By MIKE NORMAN

mnorman@star-telegram.com

This scares me: I’m driving down the freeway (any freeway) and hear the high-pitched whine of a motorcycle (sometimes a whole pack of them) approaching from behind.

I’m not talking about a deep-throated Harley-Davidson rumble with some old guy like me on board. I’m talking about crotch rockets driven by people who are young enough and stupid enough to take crazy chances. They seem to enjoy going very fast.

They also seem to be in a race to see who can die first. They zip tightly between and around other vehicles. They do tricks on their bikes — pop wheelies, stand up and stick a leg in the air — at freeway speed or faster.

I can’t help but notice the apparent result: three deaths in local motorcycle accidents last weekend alone, two of them from slamming into other vehicles on freeways.

What really scares me is that someday I might be driving one of those other vehicles. And what really, really scares me is that someday I might see one of those two-wheeled missiles come flying at me on the freeway as its former rider tumbles across the pavement in another direction.

If that sounds like I’m more worried about myself than about these crazy motorcycle riders, well, it’s true. I do feel sorry for them. Young and irresponsible is a common malady, but it’s sad when people die from it.

Which is why I was pleased as I looked over a list of the new state laws that go into effect next week. Sept. 1 of each odd-numbered year is a common date on which bills passed by the Legislature the previous spring become law.

SB 1967 by Sen. John Carona of Dallas requires that everyone who gets a new license to drive a motorcycle in Texas, including those who already have a license to drive a car or truck, be given written information about the Glenda Dawson Donate Life-Texas Registry program.

That’s right. They have to be told how important it is to be an organ donor. In this case, their chances of having the opportunity look good. They don’t have to sign up, but they should.

Most of the manic motorcyclists seem to wear good safety gear. Either they’re not completely stupid or they feel like they need to look the part with a cool full-face helmet and a heavy leather jacket.

The best organ donors are those who only have brain injuries. Helmets help, but you can still die from your gray matter being rattled around inside a brain bucket.

So maybe this is the good news: more crazy motorcycle riders, more organ donors. Grim, but true.

Dawson, a state representative from Matagorda County, sponsored the bill that created the state organ donor registry in 2005. A transplant recipient, she died in 2006, and the registry was named after her in 2007.

You don’t have to be a motorcycle rider to sign up. Go to www.DonateLifeTexas.org or join when you renew your driver’s license or personal identification card.

Some 643 bills passed by the Legislature will become effective Tuesday. Many have multiple provisions.

Just in case the motorcycle riders out there missed it, they should know that it will no longer be legal to carry a child younger than 5 years old on their bikes. (Hey, this is Texas. I’ve seen it happen.) It will be legal if that child is in a sidecar that is attached to the bike.

The rest of us should know that it will be illegal for anyone in a passenger car or truck (not just the people in the front seats) to ride without buckling their seat belt and shoulder harness. Children younger than 8 must be in a safety seat unless they are taller than 4 feet, 9 inches.

Children riding in a motorcycle sidecar do not have to be buckled in. Go figure.

Mike Norman is the Star-Telegram /Eastern Tarrant County editorial director. 817-390-7830

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