MADISON (WKOW) — During the first weekend of Motorcycle Safety Month, there have already been two fatal motorcycle crashes in Wisconsin.
A crash in Milwaukee County led to the death of a motorcycle rider on Friday and another person was killed in Outagamie County on Sunday.
That’s something that Dee Dee Sorg is trying to end.
“Anything we can do to help educate and continue to educate life-long learners when it comes to two wheel safety is a gift we get to give,” Sorg said.
She’s been teaching beginner and skilled riders for 10 years at Harley Davidson.
She said the best thing is just to keep your eyes peeled.
“Everybody needs to be aware, their eyes need to be forward looking at traffic and making adjustments as needed and that goes for two wheels as well as four wheels,” Sorg said.
Like many riders, she’s had close calls in her time riding.
But they have taught her to approach riding differently.
“Take it safe, take it slow make sure you’re giving not only the cars in front of you and behind you, but also the motorcycles around you, plenty of space,” she said.
Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney says the most important thing to do as a new driver is take courses like the one Sorg teaches.
He says you can never stop learning, like him, even after nearly 50 years.
“I continue to take experienced rider courses just to refresh myself of techniques and the things we’ll see on the roads just makes everybody a safer rider and in the end makes our roads safer,” Sheriff Mahoney said.
He said drivers won’t be accustomed to seeing motorcyclists after the long winter, so he urged riders to make themselves more visible.
But that doesn’t excuse drivers.
“We both need to be more conscious of each other and in the end recognize that we both have a right to the road,” Sheriff Mahoney said.
On his way to talk with 27 News on Sunday, Sheriff Mahoney said another driver nearly hit him.
He said that person didn’t see him, so he had a conversation about motorcycle safety.
In Wisconsin there are on average 84 deaths, out of 2,300 motorcycle crashes.
More at WKOW 27 News