Your newspaper recently published information about a University of Wisconsin-Madison student who was injured after his moped was struck by a car on campus. The driver of the car said he did not see the moped as he was attempting to turn at an intersection. The moped rider was not wearing a helmet and suffered significant injuries.
Reports of automobile vs. moped crashes are becoming all too common especially on college campuses. In most cases, these crashes and injuries could have been prevented by some simple common sense measures.
Motorists need to be aware of mopeds and be ready to share the road with them. Because mopeds are often hard to see, motorists should look at least twice before making turns or lane changes especially in areas where moped traffic is likely.
For their part, moped riders must obey all laws including traffic signs and signals. They also should protect themselves by wearing a helmet, eyewear, shoes and clothing that is both conspicuous and fully covers their arms and legs. Headlights should be on at all times to make the moped more visible to other motorists.
To promote moped safety, our agency’s Transportable High-End Rider Education Facility visited the UW-Madison campus on Sept. 2. Our trained staff talked to students about the rules of the road and how to protect themselves as well as to motorists about sharing the road.
Mopeds are involved in 30 to 40 injury-producing crashes annually in the UW-Madison campus area, according to UW Risk Management. With simple common sense measures by motorists and moped riders, that number on the UW-Madison campus and other areas could be zero in Wisconsin.
David Pabst works for the Division of State Patrol within the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
