Risk Management Magazine

Ask any motorcyclist and they’ll tell you riding in the rain is not fun, especially if you’re not prepared for the reduced visibility and slick surfaces. Unfortunately, most riders never give much thought about how to handle losing control until it happens — and then they panic.

The few lights near the road flashed by on either side of Staff Sgt. Mark Jimenez as he accelerated on his Suzuki Hayabusa. He could hardly imagine what the nearly 200 horsepower of his first motorcycle could do. Nor could he imagine what was about to happen to him.

Have you ever been in a situation where you weren’t paying attention to the road or anything else going on around you? For whatever reason — maybe you were on a familiar route or distracted by something inside your vehicle — most of us have displayed some amount of inattention on the roadway.