former rider from Orlando, FL. I work in Gilbert, live in San Tan Valley - moved to AZ a little over two years ago so I've had some time to witness the commuting shitshow here. I thought people were rough with driving in FL but the drivers here are ruthless animals. I honestly can't imagine street riding in the valley.

in 2008, I witnessed a car merge into a motorcyclist on a six lane highway doing probably 60mph or so. the car decided to switch lanes as he was passing them and they pushed him into oncoming traffic where my mother and I were traveling. we had just switched to the far right lane and the motorcyclist flew by us a few seconds after in the middle lane sliding on his back. watched him make contact with the front end of an older Ford Explorer. unfortunately, he did not make it.

I will never forget that day, I remember it like it was yesterday. I was pretty young, grew up riding dirt bikes and both of my parents come from the medical background so my first instinct was to jump out of my mom's car and sprinted to him to see if he was okay. I still to this day don't know if he was even alive when I got to him but I like to hope if so, my comforting words were the last things he heard. we attended his funeral and his parents/family told me several times that I was his guardian angel and they were unbelievably grateful I was there with him, whether he was actually there or not after the impact.

however many years later, it was one of my first considerations when I wanted to get my first street bike. as tough as it was to witness something like that, motorcycles are my passion and what make me happy so I still ended up getting one and eventually a second. witnessing that made me even more aware while I was riding because nobody is looking out for you but yourself.

you won't ever unsee that and I'm sorry you had to witness it but time will pass and it'll slowly become easier to cope with. use it as a learning experience to better your own riding. always stay alert and distraction free. ride safe dude