DPS launches motorcycle safety campaign: “Meet in the Middle”
May 1, 2024, 8:00 PM
Officer Dana Pugmire, West Valley City Police Department, speaks to the press about a motorcycle accident he was in while on duty at a launch for the Utah Department of Public Safety’s new campaign for motorcycle safety, Meet in the Middle, at Boneyard in West Valley City on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (Megan Nielsen, Deseret News)
(Megan Nielsen, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — A new safety campaign is being launched by the Utah Department of Public Safety for National Motorcycle Awareness month.
The catchphrase of the campaign: “Meet me in the middle so your paths don’t.”
The campaign urges both drivers and motorcycle riders to enroll in rider skill courses, no matter how experienced of a rider one might be.
DPS hosts official safety courses through their program “Ride to Live Utah.”
According to the Utah Highway Patrol, motorcyclists accounted for 15% of fatal crashes last year.
UHP officer Jeff Taylor said crashing a motorcycle is also nine times more likely to result in death than crashing a car.
West Valley Police Officer Dana Pugmire can attest to that, after surviving major injuries when a van crashed into his police motorcycle.
“I had a compound fracture in my left foot, two broken bones in my right foot, I shattered my left femur, shattered my left wrist, broke my left thumb and broke my back,” he said.
After the accident, Pugmire said he spent 21 days in the hospital, a couple days in the ICU and participated in a lot of physical therapy.
Pugmire said he wants drivers and riders to “meet in the middle” philosophically, so they don’t meet physically on the road.
He said everyone behind a wheel or handle-bars needs to share the responsibility of staying alert and knowing safe practices on the road.
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