Source: Gainesville Sun
Mark Roche, 55, of Gainesville, Florida, died last week of injuries sustained when rear ended by a car while riding his moped on October 5, 2009 at 6:55 a.m. Authorities say that Roche was wearing a helmet with a visor. Nicholas A. Watts, 29, of Lake Butler, Florida, was passing a car following Roche, and moved into the lane Roche was traveling in, failing to see him.
This tragic story illustrates the dangers of riding on two wheeled vehicles. Indeed, the injuries of a low speed two wheeled vehicle, such as a moped or scooter, can be every bit as fatal as those of full size motorcycles. Furthermore, riders of motorcycles, mopeds, and scooters may be excellent drivers themselves, but a single careless act of another driver can lead to severe injuries of the motorcycle, moped or scooter rider.
I believe that many low speed two wheeled vehicle riders are under the misconception that mopeds and scooters are somehow safer than motorcycles. I believe this is especially true in a town like Gainesville where the majority of the scooter and moped riders have no experience riding motorcycles or other two wheeled vehicles, and are generally inexperienced drivers. Evidently, the Florida Legislature, at least to some extent, agrees with them because the requirements to ride a scooter or moped are much lower than those to ride a motorcycle. As this story sadly makes clear, mopeds and scooters travel more than fast enough to kill a person, even when wearing a helmet.
Being a motorcycle rider myself, stories like this frighten me. I try to be very cautious when riding my motorcycle, because I know that I am harder to see than a car. But no matter how cautious you are, there is still the possibility that someone won't see you, and you won't have the opportunity to move to safety before becoming a statistic. The bottom lines is that all drivers and riders, whether they be driving a semi truck, subcompact car, or riding a street bike, moped, or scooter, must strive to be as observant as possible to limit the occurrence of these tragedies.
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