About 80 percent of motorcycle accidents result in serious injury, whereas only 20% of automobile crashes cause the same outcome.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that—not surprisingly—fatal crashes occur at a higher rate in accidents involving motorcycles.
These fatalities—and the pain and suffering they create for victims and families—are preventable. Two-thirds of crashes between motorcycles and other vehicles happen because the driver of the other vehicle fails to yield the right-of-way to a motorcyclist. Evidently, the failure of drivers to detect motorcycles in traffic contributes to most motorcycle crashes.
Such was the case for Jorge Francisco Arango, a 22-year-old NC State University student from Greensboro, NC.
Jorge’s funeral services were held today to honor his memory. The young man was killed in a motorcycle accident last weekend.
Jorge was riding his motorcycle on Morrisville Parkway in Morrisville, NC on February 26, 2011 when another vehicle crossed into his lane of travel without warning.
SUV driver Vincent Colucci, 55, was not injured in the crash. No charges have been filed against Mr. Colucci as the Wake County District Attorney’s Office is awaiting autopsy results. The official accident report has not yet been released.
At the time of his death, Jorge Arango was a student at NC State University in Raleigh. He was a junior pursuing a degree in music, business and criminology at the university. After graduating from Western Guilford High School in Greensboro, Jorge studied for a short while at UNC Greensboro before transferring to NC State.
According to his obituary, Jorge loved mountain biking and motorcycling. He had a 100% adoption success rate as a dog foster parent, and instead of flowers, his family requests memorial donations be made to Wake County Animal Center in Raleigh.
Clearly, such a promising young man will be missed by many teachers, friends and family in both Raleigh and here in his hometown.
Motorists everywhere must be vigilant. Look twice, save a life! Motorcycles are everywhere.
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