As the warm summer days start to fade away, hopefully the amount of fatal high speed motorcycle accidents will start to slow down as well. Working as a Seattle motorcycle accident lawyer I have helped several motorcyclists put their lives back together after being hit by a driver that just didn’t see them on the road. But every summer there is a significant increase in the amount of motorcyclists killed because they were riding at reckless speeds and lost control of their bike.
Last friday afternoon was no exception when 28-year-old Brandon Butler lost his life speeding down Interstate 5 in Tacoma, Washington. According to the State Patrol, Butler was speeding and trying to change lanes when he lost control of his bike crashing first into the concrete barrier and then into a traffic sign on the shoulder. Butler, who was a sergeant in the Air Force, was pronounced dead at the scene, and is the fourth member of the military to die in a high speed motorcycle crash in Washington since April of this year.
As a past motorcycle rider myself I know the joys of riding, especially on a beautiful summer day, but I also have first-hand experience with the dangers of riding as I was hit by a distracted driver. Too many riders put their lives at stake when they try and ride at top speed, and so few have the experience necessary to handle their bike going that fast. As a Seattle personal injury lawyer I have seen far too many riders killed because they thought they were above the law and that they had the experience to ride as fast as they could. But regardless of how much experience you have or how good you may think you are, speed limits are there for a reason, and we all need to learn to slow down.