The Salt Lake Tribune reported yesterday that  52-year-old Eugene Carlston lost control of his motorcycle and crashed yesterday at about 5:30 pm.  The crash occurred south of Kolob Terrace Road where he apparently drove off the pavement, laid the motorcycle on its side and slid.  Mr. Carlston suffered severe head trauma. 

I do not know if this man was riding alone or with friends at teh time of the crash but we do know, from the article, that he was not wearing a helmet.  I am not really sure why newspaper reporters, that whenever they report on a motorcycle crash, feel obligated to report that the victim was not wearing a helmet if he was not.  Let me explain.  Have you ever read an article that says something like driver of car killed - all equipment was working and she was restrained by a seat belt?  Not very often - why?  Because that victim is following the law by ensuring that her vehicle was in good operating shape and she wore a seat belt.  When a motorcyclist is killed and he is not wearing a helmet he is also following the law.

I really think sometimes that the newspapers have a hidden agenda and that is to have legislation introduced that mandates helmet use for motorcycle riders.  Usually however I write-off these insensitive statements of non-helmet use to a desire to sensationalize an otherwise sad accident.

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed