Why We Care So Much

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"Back in 1996, when I was preparing to be a motorcycle safety instructor, I rode from Montvale to Piscataway every weekend to help the instructors who were assigned to teach the motorcycle classes that weekend. I didn't get paid for helping out. It was strictly voluntary. I was getting as much experience as I could to prepare for the Instructor Training Course that was scheduled for the following year.

After a few months of doing this, I started to question if I really wanted to do this - be a motorcycle safety instructor. The pay isn't that great and you have to be outside in the rain, the heat and the cold.

One day after finishing up a class, on the ride home, I decided that it wasn't for me. I stopped at a gas station to get gas. As I was gassing up my motorcycle, I witnessed a fatal motorcycle accident. I could see the accident unfolding in front of my eyes. I yelled to the rider what to do to avoid the crash but it was too late. He was trying to pass a truck on the right in a lane that was merging into the truck's lane. There was a fire hydrant at the end of the lane. He target-fixated on the fire hydrant and hit it with his right leg, which went flying in the air. He flew off the bike in another direction.

I ran to him. I knew it was a matter of short time before he bled to death. I held him in my arms and opened his face shield. He looked at me as if to say, 'What happened'?. He died in my arms seconds later.

I took that as a sign to stick with becoming a motorcycle safety instructor. I still see that kid's face in the back of the room every time I teach a class. That's why I'm so passionate about teaching motorcycle safety courses. I speak with rolling thunder. We do what we can to help our students learn how to ride a motorcycle, further develop their riding skills and avoid a crash. And our staff of instructors have that same passion. That's what keeps us head & shoulders above the rest - we really care about our students and their safety".