Motorcycle accident prompts couple to educate others on rules of the road
PUBLISHED: Wednesday, June 6, 2007, Newton Kansan
By: Cristina Janney
It was a beautiful, sunny day and Steve and Terri Bockhaus of Newton were out for a ride on their motorcycle. They were stopped at the intersection of First and Estelle, but the car accelerating through the intersection did not see them. All Steve could do as a car came speeding toward he and his wife, was yell, “No!”
Stunned after the accident, Terri tried to stand up, but her left leg was fractured in multiple places where the car had smashed into their bike. Steve still has the helmet he was wearing the day of the accident three years ago, which landed both riders in the hospital for four days and in rehab for four months.
Terri, left, and Steve Bockhaus are still riding motorcycles — even after
an accident three years ago. The couple stresses motorcycle safety to
themselves and others. Photo by: David Dinell
There is a prominent scar on the left side of the helmet where Steve
slid on his head across the pavement. “If I had not been wearing that
helmet, this whole side of my face would have been gone,” Steve said
as he pulled his fingers down the left side of his face.
The Bockhauses don’t harbor any ill will against the driver of the car that hit them. “We have no hard feelings against her,” Steve said. “It is just one of those things.”
In fact, they say the months they spent recovering from the accident forced them to rely on each other and ultimately strengthened their marriage. You might think the accident would have kept the couple off bikes for good, but the Bockhauses were back on the road as soon as they could ride with a new mission to teach motorists and other bikers safe driving.
“I was lying in the hospital and asking myself, ‘Why did this happened. What was God trying to tell us?’” Terri said. “I think that was it.” Steve is the coordinator for motorist awareness for the Gold Wing Road Riders Association Kansas Chapter A, which includes Newton and Wichita. He speaks to groups about rules of the road aimed at keeping both motorists and bikers safe.
Steve, who has been a rider since the 1980s, said often motorists don’t understand the
driving habits of bikers and might see them as attempts to show off. But Steve says, no.
These are techniques used by bikers to keep everyone safer.
Steven Bockhaus, right, displays the helmet that helped save him in the accident. The
helmet can no longer be used, but Bockhaus saves it as a reminder of the incident. Photo
by: David Dinell.
For example, when bikers speed up to pass, they are doing so to minimize chances of
collisions, Bockhaus said. Traffic law allows motorcycles to use a full lane of traffic;
however, bikers usually ride to the left of center to allow them more maneuvering
room. The center of a lane of traffic also can be slick from oil and can be dangerous for
riders.
Bikers in groups will ride in a staggered formation. This is to make the bikers more visible to drivers and to give other riders in the formation more room to maneuver. Even the lights on Terri’s bike aren’t just for show. “I put modulating lights on my bike,” she said. “The brake lights and turn signals flash. It is not there to show off. Its there for safety, so people can see me.”
Steve said two-thirds of motorcycle accidents happen because motorists fail to see them, just as what happened in Steve and Terri’s accident. Terri was a passenger the day of the accident and didn’t learn to ride until 2005. Steve had never had any formal training on how to ride and agreed to take the riding course with Terri. “I had to swallow my pride to take the class, but I had a ball and a lot of fun.”
Steve admits many don’t take skills courses before they start riding, which makes the conditions more dangerous for both themselves and other motorists. The couple also doesn’t go out without
the proper riding attire and safety equipment. They both wear helmets, boots
to protect their ankles and clothing to protect their arms and legs.
“It is not a matter of if you are going to go down. It’s when,” Steve
said.
Terri and Steve’s home faces the busy intersection of Meridian and Broadway
streets. They watch other bikers without helmets, wearing shorts and flip flops,
and cringe. “We call people who ride without helmets organ donors,” Steve said.
Together the couple won the high mileage award for their Gold Wing chapter, having ridden 40,000 safe miles between the two of them.
Despite the safety precautions, the couple says their friends and family think they are crazy for continuing to ride. Both Terri, 44, and Steve, 55, had to undergo two surgeries each and have a titanium rod from their ankle to their knee. Steve almost lost his foot. “My physical therapist asked me what I thought I was going to be able to do with that foot, and I said that is my shifting foot. It has to work,” Steve said.
Steve, a real estate agent, and Terri, a physical therapy assistant, said it was
hard to explain their love of riding. “You have such a sense of freedom,” Steve
said. “You have an unobstructed view. You can experience all of nature and the
smells — the good and the bad. It is such a freedom to be cruising the open
highway.” Photo by: David Dinell
Steve Bockhaus gives presentations on how motorists can safely share the road
with motorcyclists, if you are interrested in him, speaking to your group call
(316) 772-6603 or e-mail bockhaus@cox.net.
