Las Vegas NowMotorcycle Safety Eyed After 2 Fatal Accidents

Motorcycle Safety Eyed After 2 Fatal Accidents

Before you even get on a motorcycle or get license for it, you're supposed to take a training course on how to ride. But some believe there are a handful of riders who lose the sense of dangers involved when it's too late.

For Bob Barkhuff, motorcycles and motorbikes are an everyday part of life. He owns Vegas Motorsports. The reason he often spends time reminding riders of safety measures. "Helmets, gloves, riding jackets. They need to control their speed," he said.

But speed was one factor police say wasn't controlled in a crash Tuesday night that killed one motorcyclist and critically injured another. Only one day after a separate accident killed someone else on a motorcycle. "It a sad situation -- usually young people that pass away on them," said motorcycle rider Tony Rivera.

Rivera knows all to well the habits of some people on bikes. "They tend to be pretty dangerous the way they switch lanes and speeding," he said.

After having a few close calls, Rivera offers his own advice for cyclists to be safe. "They have to be more careful -- more careful and understand that there is no protection around them," he said.

Along with high-speeds, witnesses say Tuesday night's crash may have involved the cyclist killed doing a wheelie. As for the second cyclist involved in the crash, he was taken to UMC with critical injuries. "There is a lot of that going on out there -- people stunting on motorcycles and just out on the city streets. There is no place for it," said Barkhuff.

According to Las Vegas police, there have been 435 cycle accidents this year. The numbers of deaths involved are up by six with the total of 18 fatalities. "It's a tough lesson, but at least it wakes people up and their eyes get open a little bit," said Barkhuff.

While a rider may have already taken a driving course on how to be safe, experts say it never hurts to retake some of those courses to brush up on your skills.