Risk Management Magazine

Looking back, I realize how lucky I was I didn’t kill myself. The truth is I was safer jumping out of a perfectly good aircraft than I was riding on that motorcycle. I’d been trained to jump out of airplanes, but I hadn’t been trained to ride a motorcycle.

The rider stopped his motorcycle to render honors to the flag in front of the 1st Armored Division Headquarters. The military police had halted all traffic, as the flag would be lowered in just a few seconds. Then, the unthinkable happened — an inattentive driver plowed into the rider at 40 mph.

Between growing up in the Northeast and serving in the military for nearly 20 years, I have quite a bit of experience driving in different weather conditions. I thought I knew everything about operating a vehicle during winter. Nothing, however, could prepare me for high-altitude mountain driving.