Alcohol and Motorcyles don't mix
 

This kind of goes along with Navigirl's post about the drunk driver and the potential for an accident and decided to make another post about this because of something that happened.

Well last night (Friday night) one of my cousins had been out drinking all evening with some of his friends. All of them had rode their motorcyles while out drinking. Well about 2-2:30 a.m. they left the bar that they were at on their motorcycles. The other 2 guys got on their motorcycles and went ahead of him because he had to unlock his first. Well when he pulled out onto the road and went a short distance, something happened and he lost control of his bike. From what we were told, he went flying off the bike, scraping himself all up and busting his head open. There was a car that was right behind him that saw the whole thing, but we don't know the whole story.

Here is Florida it is not illegal to ride a motorcycle without a helmet so he did not have one on at the time of the accident. He is a big man at just around 6 ft, maybe a little less and about 275-300 lbs. So you could imagine the impact that he had with the ground.

Well about 8 this morning I was told that he was in the hospital with life threatening injuries. So I spent most of the day down their with all of my family. Earlier this afternoon his head had swollen so much that the pressure in his body was extremely high. The doctors had to put some type of screws in his head to help get the swelling to go down. At about 5 pm they had gotten the swelling down to around 9-10 lbs which is still real high. He is also in a coma and is barely breathing on his own so they have him on life support to keep him breathing.

He is extremely lucky to even be alive right now and is barely holding on to his life right now. If he makes it through this, he will be one lucky man. This goes to show that anytime you drink, you are not only risking other peoples lives but you are also risking your own life. If he had been wearing a helmut, he may not have as serious injuries that he now has because he probably would not have busted his head wide open.

He was lifelighted to the hospital. This hospital has the best trauma unit in the whole country, so if anyone can help him through this it will be them.

Sorry for the long post but I had to post this. Riding a motorcycle without a helmet while being completely drunk is one of the stupidest things that someone can ever do.

I am so sorry paul07 - I can only imagine how difficult a time this is for you & your family. Please know I will pray for him.
We hear of these incidents all the time but till it happens to someone we know or love it's "just a story" on the news. I hope your cousin makes a full & speedy recovery. If you need anything let me know ok?

Hi paul - any news yet? Hope he's doing better. I'm still praying for him!

Hope he heals fast. Riding a helmet without a helmet isn't terribly smart either. I cringe when I get dispatched to an accident involving a motorcycle. I have seen way too many dead people on mc's that could have lived or been less seriously injured if they had been wearing a helmet.

FL law states a driver must wear a helmet or atleast wear eye protection if they have proper insurance coverage.

Operating ANY vehicle while intoxicated and/or impaired is extremely dangerous both to yourself and the other driver. I do not have any problem or bad feelings about arresting people for DUI.

Slapshot,

You say Fl law says that you are supposed to have either a helmet or eye protection? If that is true, then they sure don't enforce the law around here that much. When I was going home from the hospital, I saw at least 10 motorcycles where the riders did not have a helmet or any eye protection.

What I really don't understand is the guys on crotch rockets that ride with no helmet, a tank top shirt, shorts, sandals and doing about 80mph. And believe me I have seen that several times.

What happened to my cousin is one reason why I don't drink and don't ride motorcycles. I don't want to be in the condition that he is in.

As an update, he is still in very critical condition, but is not getting better or worse as of right now.

Hope he gets all recovered just fine and suffers no ill side effects. And mabee, everyone involved will learn from this.

:angel:

I am sorry to hear about this accident. I ride with a full face helmet. However, I thought that the helmet law in Florida was repealled (sp?) a few years ago. I was told without a helmet the law requires at least $10,000 in PIP coverage on your insurance to ride without the helmet.

Here is the statute.....

316.211 Equipment for motorcycle and moped riders.--

(1) A person may not operate or ride upon a motorcycle unless the person is properly wearing protective headgear securely fastened upon his or her head which complies with Federal Motorcycle Vehicle Safety Standard 218 promulgated by the United States Department of Transportation. The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles shall adopt this standard by agency rule.

(2) A person may not operate a motorcycle unless the person is wearing an eye-protective device over his or her eyes of a type approved by the department.

(3)(a) This section does not apply to persons riding within an enclosed cab or to any person 16 years of age or older who is operating or riding upon a motorcycle powered by a motor with a displacement of 50 cubic centimeters or less or is rated not in excess of 2 brake horsepower and which is not capable of propelling such motorcycle at a speed greater than 30 miles per hour on level ground.

(b) Notwithstanding subsection (1), a person over 21 years of age may operate or ride upon a motorcycle without wearing protective headgear securely fastened upon his or her head if such person is covered by an insurance policy providing for at least $10,000 in medical benefits for injuries incurred as a result of a crash while operating or riding on a motorcycle.

(4) A person under 16 years of age may not operate or ride upon a moped unless the person is properly wearing protective headgear securely fastened upon his or her head which complies with Federal Motorcycle Vehicle Safety Standard 218 promulgated by the United States Department of Transportation.

(5) The department shall make available a list of protective headgear approved in this section, and the list shall be provided on request.

(6) A violation of this section is a noncriminal traffic infraction, punishable as a nonmoving violation as provided in chapter 318.

:( Sorry to hear about your friend. I hope he pulls through it ok.:angel:

I agree, helmets should be worn ALL THE TIME, no matter how far you are going, or how experienced the driver is..you just never know what might happen! Alcohol surely doesn't mix either....you need all your senses and need to be FULLY aware of things around you when you are on bike!

I still can't believe they passed the "no helmet" law :mad: I would think your head would be the most important part of your body to protect!!!

My husband has a motorcycle, and he rides almost every weekend with a bunch of friends...and I know all of them ride with caution, and they never mix drinking with riding!

Keep us up to date on your friend.

Sorry to hear about your friend . I hope he pulls thru it OK .

Alcohol and M/Cs don't mix for me either.

It seemed the more I drank , the faster I would drive. One night, 15 years ago, after having quite a few to drink. I drove from my friends house to home. 52 miles one way. I made the trip in 35 minutes. You do the math. I was passing cars that were going 65. Almost like driving thru a crowded parking lot at 30 mph.

Needless to say, the next morning when I woke up and realized what I did was pretty stupid. I still had kids in elementary and junior high school. I could have very well left them without a father. The M/C was sold that week and I have never ridden one since. No regrets , just personal protection from myself.

It took me 12 years of riding to figure out dangerous it is.

:beers:

Thank you everyone. I have not heard anything about my cousin today because of school and work. The last news that I heard was that he is still unconscious. They done some tests where the poked the tip of his finger, and he did move his finger, the same with one of his toes. However, I was told that they could only get a response from one side. He is still in critical condition, but seems to be making a slight progress.

He had about $40,000 dollars put into this motorcycle, that now, he will never be able to ride again. The bike itself cost about $35,000 dollars. It was a Big Dog.

One of the craziest things I have ever seen someone do on a motorcycle is some guys was riding a small girl on his motorcycle on the interstate doing over 70 mph. I don't remember exactly, but I think that the girl was not wearing a helmet. Actually I have seen the guys riding these little children several times around here.