Officials are asking drivers mind the motorcyclists on the road after November’s first week saw two killed in Montgomery County in collisions with trucks.
One of the crashes has yielded a manslaughter charge for the truck driver involved, while the other remains under investigation. Jeffrey James Sutton, 50, of Conroe, was arrested for allegedly being intoxicated while driving a pickup in the Nov. 4 wreck on FM 1484 that took the life of biker James Cooper, 43, of Willis.
Then on Nov. 7, a male motorcyclist perished on scene in the motorcycle-truck crash near FM 1097 near Bethel Road, according to Andrew James, vehicular crimes chief at the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.
“Motorcyclists, they’re looking out for drivers and drivers need to remember and need to think about them being on the roadway too,” James said. “Motorcyclists have every right to be on the roadway as everybody else.”
James reports to vehicle collision fatalities throughout the county since starting as a prosecutor at the DA’s Office. The first deadly crash scene he responded to was in 2009 and involved a driver who turned on a Conroe road, ramming into a motorcycle victim and then fleeing. The driver was ultimately sentenced to eight years in prison for criminal negligence and failure to render aid.
“That’s one that I’ll always remember,” he said.
As such, James is pressing residents about the precarious situation motorcyclists may find themselves in compared to those driving sedans or trucks. Pointing out motorcycles can be hard to see at times, he argued what might be a simple fender bender between two pickups, may leave a biker seriously injured when in place of one of the truck drivers.
“There’s very little room for error for a motorcycle driver,” James said, adding, “not just on them but for other drivers on the road too.”
And that point, obvious as it may seem, cannot be stressed enough. Especially since it is not always so apparent for motorists.
“You have to understand that there may be vehicles traveling that you might not see, that may be in your blind spot,” said Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Sgt. Erik Burse. “Whenever you’re ready to make a move, you gotta be sure before you make that move.”
Grim numbers from the Texas Department of Transportation cited by Andrew James point to just how vulnerable motorcyclists are on state roads.
There were 410 bikers killed on Texas roadways in 2019, reflecting roughly 11 percent of total traffic fatalities that year, according to TxDOT. Meanwhile, figures from TxDOT show motorcycle crashes and injuries account for less than 2 percent of all of last year’s 560,952 total.
Something that could buffer against severe injuries or even death for motorcyclists are helmet use, James said, again mentioning TxDOT stats. The statewide agency documented 45 percent of Texas motorcyclist fatalities in 2019 included victims without a helmet.
James is also reminding motorcyclists that “lane splitting,” or the practice of some motorcyclists to cut in between vehicles on two lanes is against state traffic laws.
Aside from this month’s two motorcycle deaths resulting from wrecks with trucks, a biker was also killed when he hit a deer on a Montgomery County road.
And in July, two men were charged in the killing of a motorcyclist that authorities say they struck while racing their Ford Mustangs on a Conroe road. A month before, a Conroe man was jailed after allegedly taking the life of a motorcyclist while he was driving intoxicated in a Montgomery County road.
The three men are awaiting trial.
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Source: Houston Chronicle