Bassett talks motorcycle safety

Senior Master Sgt. William Bassett, 932nd Airlift Wing, Superintendent of the Scott Command Post, takes a takes a minute to discuss the importance of motorcycle safety, while posing with his prized Goldwing. About four years ago SMSgt Bassett was involved in an accident with his motorcycle, heading home from the base in the evening. He came around a corner upon a dog, chasing a possum, and had to react quickly. He hit the brakes, but the bike started to slide, and he went over the handle bars. He was pinned to the ground, with his bike on top of him. When he came to, he was looking at the yellow lines in the middle of the road. "It was dark, and the first thing to come into my mind besides being crushed was, someone is going to come around the corner and hit me, I literally decided that I wasn't going to die that night," Bassett said. The bike weighed eight hundred pounds, he swore he had five hundred of it on his chest, but he pushed his knees into the hot pipes, and pushed the bike up off of him with his back. "I guess that is what adrenaline will do," Bassett added "finally he heard someone come down the hill saying they had called 911." "When I saw my helmet the next day, it was split entirely open, so what would that have done to my head" "No matter how short the distance, always wear a helmet", said Bassett. Most accidents are going to happen in a parking lot, or within a few miles of your house. When riding a motorcycle you have to be so much more aware of your surroundings than when riding in a car. The first thing I used to ask students when I was teaching motorcycle safety was, "do you remember every stop light you stopped at, and what was playing on the radio, or even what you were thinking about when you were coming to work" People are always distracted by something when they are driving; you have to watch out for those people. "I try to pick the person I want to get in front of, based on my observations" said Bassett. When riding you always want t