Crash is reminder to wear helmets

We all know the potential dangers of riding motorcycle, so it was no surprise that Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger received the scorn of the nation when it was learned he was not wearing a helmet at the time of his serious crash last summer

The quarterback later apologized for not using a helmet and even promoted their safe use. But there was always a lingering feeling that in his normal world, he’d probably still ride again without a helmet. I wish I could make sure Roethlisberger and all other bikers were wearing them because I watched one save a man’s life this weekend.

I had just put my son down to bed and went outside to watch the moon rise on my patio. At about 11:20 p.m., the nighttime silence was broken by a sound that seemed like it came from Iraq.

BOOOM! ... BOOOM! ... THUD!

I thought either somebody had been shot in my front yard or somebody had driven into my car, which was parked on the side of the street. Either way, it wasn’t good.

After seeing debris on the street and a flattened front end of my car, I noticed a twisted motorcycle behind my car, not in the front where the damage occurred. Then I glanced over to the green belt past my next door neighbor’s yard and saw a shadow of what appeared to be a man lying there.

I quickly raced to his aid and found a man unconscious by breathing. Paramedics and police quickly arrived on the scene and a helicopter was summoned to take him to John C. Lincoln Hospital.

It turned out this man hit the front of my car at 80 mph, crashed into the windshield with his body, lost contact with the bike (which completely flipped over my car), and flew nearly 100 feet in the air over my neighbor’s yard and into the green belt.

The next morning we discovered the marks on the neighbor’s driveway where his helmeted head skidded along the pavement. If not for a helmet, the paramedics would have arrived to find a dead man outside my house.

After wondering what happened to his man all day Sunday, I received a phone call on my way to work Monday.

“Jason, this is Christian, the guy who hit your car the other night,” the voice said.

I felt like I had heard a ghost. I couldn’t believe I was talking to him this soon. I told him how lucky he was and he said he would make better life decisions after this airborne incident.

Fortunately, he made the best one already by wearing the helmet. If only Roethlisberger and others would always do the same.

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