It's summer. You want to party with family and friends—no harm in that right? Oftentimes there is alcohol at these parties and you partake. No big deal. Driving after drinking is a big deal though—right? You hear it all the time to not drink and drive but you're on your motorcycle so it's different. The wind is rushing through your hair and on your face. You'll sober up quickly. Not true of course. You learn that the wind doesn't sober you up and you don't have enough time to stop before hitting another vehicle.

Sad Story of a Motorcycle Death

Back in May 2018, a man was riding his motorcycle on I-84 in Morgan County Utah. He rode a Yamaha VM7 motorcycle. The article mentioned that he wore a helmet. Why is it necessary to mention if the motorcyclist wore a helmet? But I digress. According to the crash report, the motorcyclist was traveling “at an extremely high rate of speed”. The driver of the motorcycle left the roadway and hit the cable barrier. He was thrown from the motorcycle into the westbound lanes.

The man was identified as a 46-year-old man. He died on the scene. The Utah Highway Patrol said that alcohol and speed were the contributors to this crash. Unfortunately, this was on Memorial Day weekend. We are not making a moral judgment here and are truly sorry that this man lost his life but let's think about drinking and driving a motorcycle.

Lesson to Learn

It is very important to listen to this warning. We are not saying that if he wasn't under the influence he would not have crashed. We want everyone to be safe on the road. Driving under the influence puts not only you in danger—driving drunk or high puts everyone around you in danger. We are not here to lecture but we are wanting you to be as safe as possible. Summer is a great time to party and enjoy each other's company. If you are drinking, make sure you have a designated driver so everyone is safe.

Utah Bike Law and its lawyers are not representing any of the parties mentioned in this article at the time the article was posted.  Our information source is cited in the article.  If you were involved in this incident or a similar incident and have questions about your rights and options, call us or another reputable law firm.