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Biker group: Just pay attention
The veteran rider has erected billboards in the region to alert motorists that motorcycling season has begun.
Let's hope her message gets through.
Motorcycle registrations nationally have increased in each of the past 10 years, with the number of Pennsylvania bikers growing by nearly 20,000 since 2001. Far too often, a boom in sales is followed by sickening crunches of broken bones and crumpled metal.
Molnar is president of the Mon Valley chapter of ABATE, a national motorcyclist rights organization that has 8,000 members statewide. The group, A Brotherhood Aiming Toward Education, wants to educate the car-driving public about the two-wheelers they share the roads with.
That could cut down on cycling deaths, the group says.
ABATE recently lobbied PennDOT to hand out a leaflet about motorcycle safety with each new driver's license. The group is best known locally for helping get the state's mandatory helmet law repealed in September 2003.
Since then, motorcycle fatalities have increased dramatically.
In 2001, one helmetless rider was among the 127 bikers killed on Pennsylvania roads. Two years later, that number grew to 38 of 171 motorcycle fatalities.
Molnar, who has had several friends and riding companions injured in accidents with other vehicles, says helmets are not the issue. Inattentive drivers are to blame, she says.
Molnar cites a 2003 accident involving ABATE member Tom Holton of West Mifflin, who was involved in an accident with, of all things, a boat.
"A guy was towing a speedboat on a trailer and swerved so the boat rocked off the trailer and hit Tom, breaking his back, leg and elbow," Molnar said. "The driver just wasn't paying attention."
The increase in motorcyclists has come at the same time that cellular telephones have become an accessory for most automobile drivers. With drivers distracted by phone conversations, text-messaging and dialing, motorcycling has become increasingly dangerous, Molnar says.
To combat the surge in absentminded motorists, Molnar's chapter erected a pair of billboards with the message: "Be Aware: Motorcycles Are Everywhere."
With one board on Route 51 in Elizabeth and the other in donated space at the Green Valley Beer Distributor in North Versailles, ABATE members hope motorists will think twice before tailgating bikers or changing lanes without turn signals.
"We're having a safety and awareness ride on May 14 through the area just to remind people to be alert that we're out here," she said.
Here's hoping the message is received.
