His obituary said he loved his nearly new H-D Road King and that he was a good father, well respected and liked by all. I don't know; I never had the chance to meet him, but I did take the last photographs of him. And when he passed by me, moments before the accident, I envied his opportunity to ride on such a beautiful spring day. I thought he was a very lucky guy . . . as he approached the most dangerous intersection in our rural county.

Seconds later I heard squealing tires and an odd crunching noise followed by a small thud as his limp body fell to the pavement, after a 20 foot flight straight up and straight down. Just three miles from home, an avid biker was taken from our community.

I grabbed my camera and ran to take a series of photos. Not out of morbid curiosity, but in the hopes that my documentation might help convince the state DOT to do something to stop the carnage at the corner of M-66 and Sidney Road. This was about the tenth serious accident in the last eight months and there have been several more there in the year that has followed.

I carefully framed each shot, ensuring the image would convey a specific thought. As the camera recorded the event I managed to piece together what happened. The Harley was first in a line of three vehicles and had properly moved into the left turn lane. The second in line was a small car that inexplicably waited until the very last moment to slow down to make the right turn and the third, a small Nissan pickup truck, swerved into the turn lane to avoid rear-ending the car.

The driver of the truck was beside himself with doubt and worry over the result of a moments inattention. He was a former rider himself, he told all of us at the scene. In fact, he had stopped riding less than five years before because he had been rear-ended by a car with a near fatal outcome. Tears filled his eyes and his voice shook as he watched paramedics attend to the unknown victim.

The motorcyclist was loaded carefully into the ambulance and it slowly left enroute to the hospital. The Sheriff's Deputy on scene explained that he was alive and alert, but probably had a broken back. Serious, but otherwise survivable. It was a surprise to read about his passing just three days later. He was undergoing surgery to repair some of the damage when he suffered a heart attack on the surgeons table.

I believe last year's Fathers Day observance for this bikers family must have been full of grief and remorse. I think this year will be different, just because of the way his obituary was written, "He loved riding his Harley Davidson." All of the family has had time to absorb the shock and reflect upon those six words.

May all of you have the opportunity to enjoy Fathers Day and experience the joy of riding.

Remember, "Ride today - Tommorow you may not be able!"

-LW