Most people have seen the slogan "Look Twice, Save a Life" more than once in their life, especially if they live in a town where lots of people ride motorcycles. So many times we drive down the road in a "haze." I say this because I have done it. I have caught myself driving from one place to another and not even noticing what streets I was passing, or even the speed I was going. All drivers fall habit to this. The reason I decided to finally write this article was because I recently had a friend involved in a motorcycle crash. I cannot call it an accident, because it was simply not an accident — there were details about the crash that in fact stated it was just that: a crash. The outcome was not so good, and though she did live, she has a long road of recovery ahead of her. Also, this topic sits close to my heart because my dad had a bad accident when I was younger involving an 18-wheeler. I want everyone reading this to think to themselves, "Who do I know that owns a motorcycle or rides one?" Got that person in your mind? Good. When you begin to drive, I want you to remember that person and think about them, think about how you would feel if they were in an accident while on their motorcycle.

The first thing I ask of everyone including myself, is to be a more aware driver. Before you pull out of somewhere do not just check once, try checking twice. You may see something you did not see before. Make sure you are not calling it close when you pull out. Make sure you have enough time to pull out and not cause an accident that could have been prevented in the first place. We, as drivers of the four wheeled vehicles on the roads, could use more caution when changing lanes or even when merging onto the interstate or highway. Using our blinkers would eliminate a bunch of the confusion on the roadways. Also, it would not be that bad if we could all put our cell phones down while driving. That is something that has got to stop. Trust me, I have done it too. I am by no means saying I am perfect in this situation.

Also, I know some of you took drivers education a while ago, but do we all remember the "Driving next to the motorcycle" section? Can we refer back to it? It tells how driving next to a motorcycle or passing them is a lot different than a normal car. They can even feel all of the wind coming off the car (true story), so we should all refresh ourselves on that part of the book.

So with that being said, always remember to look for motorcycles, you never know whose life you could save next.