A Desperate Plea To My Sister

This must be the week of disturbing sibling news. While mine is nowhere near as bad as Jeb's, it is distrubing nonetheless.

My sister wants to get a motorcycle.

What's the problem? The problem is that, in her driving lifetime, my sister has been involved in 3 collisions that I know of. All of them have been her fault.

Collision number 1: The "I Swear I Didn't See the Other Car" Incident of 1992.
Location: Intersection of Lincoln & Rotherwood in Evansville, Indiana.
Sue's vehicle: 1989 Geo Metro
What happened: Sue took a left turn into oncoming traffic.
Damage: Rear door and wheel well got crunched. No injuries.
Damage if Sue had been on a motorcycle: Bike totalled. Operator thrown and killed.

Collision number 2: The "I Forgot There Was Another Lane There" Incident of 2005.
Location: A three lane, one way street in the middle of nowhere.
Sue's vehicle: Her Saturn?
What happened: Sue took a left turn from the center lane and made contact with the car traveling next to her in the left lane.
Damage: Rear door and wheel well got crunched? No injuries.
Damage if Sue had been on a motorcycle: Bike pancacked. Operator crushed under both the motorcycle and the other vehicle.

Collision number 3: The "You Have to Look Both Ways Before Pulling Out to the Right?" Incident of 2006.
Location: Exiting the parking lot of Claire's dance studio.
Sue's vehicle: Dodge Caravan
What happened: Sue was turning right out of the parking lot, saw that the coast was clear to her left, pulled out and smacked right into the back end of a stopped vehicle.
Damage: Front end got crunched. No injuries.
Damage if Sue had been on a Motorcycle: Bike still functional. Operator thrown through the rear window of the parked car and killed.

So you can see, my sister has a history of making tiny errors that result in minor fender benders. But on a motorcycle, there is no such thing as a minor fender bender.

"In 2004, 4,008 people died on motorcycles, up 8 percent from the previous year’s 3,714 deaths, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration...Preliminary numbers from last year show a 7.7 percent increase in motorcycle fatalities, the NHTSA reports."---Safety Stressed As Motorcycle Sales Keep Revving, the Associated Press, 2006.

There is no room for error. If you're on a motorcycle and you're in an accident, you're probably going to die.

I didn't point out your traffic faux pas to make fun of you, sis. (Although, I must admit, they do make for an entertaining read.) I pointed them out becuase I love you. And I'd much prefer for you to be involved in collisions under the protection of "rigid safety cage contruction with steel side-guard door beams and airbags" than a helmet and air.

So you can go ahead and add me to the "NO" votes.

With love, your baby sister.