Another Motorcycle Crash Takes The Life of a Soldier in WA State

[rsmith6621]

This seems to be an epidemic....


http://www.komonews.com/news/local/129574018.html

OAK HARBOR, Wash. -- The body of a missing 21-year-old sailor was found Friday afternoon at a motorcycle crash scene.

Troopers say Nikolas Ngo was riding his motorcycle eastbound on Yates Road when he left the roadway, crashed through a wood fence and came to rest in a yard.

An elderly man lives where the crash occurred, said Trooper Keith Leary, and it wasn't until Friday afternoon when relatives came by to take care of him that they noticed a broken fence and the body in the yard.

Ngo was last heard from on Sept. 7 when he left Lake Stevens, family members said. He was stationed at the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station.

Troopers don't know what caused the accident.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

1. Whidbey is a Navy Base. The USN requires regular safety classes for it members

(military or civilian) who choose to ride motorcycles.

[MineralMan]

2. Young men on motorcycles die at what I think is an alarming rate.

I'm not sure what relevance this victim's military service has to do with it. :shrug:

[rsmith6621]

3. MineralMan......This Is.

....the eighth enlisted member the military to die in a motorcycle accident in the last 2 months here in the northwest. That is the relevance....

[MineralMan]

5. And how many non-military motorcycle deaths have there been?

Do you know? Young men die on motorcycles at an alarming rate. Inexperience and the usual death-defying behavior of young men is responsible. Young men in the military have a lot of both.

What is your theory about why these eight enlisted men died on motorcycles? Seriously. Unless you have some theory about it, it's probably for the same reason others die in the same way. If you have some evidence that some other factors are in play, I'd welcome hearing them.

[ThomWV]

7. If I had to guess I'd say that a lot more military deaths by bullet than by motorcycle.

It is my contention that just being in the US military is a lot more dangerous than just riding a motorcycle. I'd also guess that more service members doe of suicide than do from motorcycle accidents.

[MineralMan]

8. That's probably true, despite the large number of deaths and

injuries from roadside bombs these days. Military service does come with lots of risks. Kudos to all those young people who choose to serve. Whether or not I like the particular wars, their service is an honorable thing.

[Fumesucker]

4. Servicemen of that age tend to be risk takers..

I mean they signed up to break things and kill people, that's the reason the military exists.

Motorcycling is a risky business even if you're skilled and cautious, these kids may be skilled but they haven't had time to learn caution.

ETA: And these days we pay even lower enlisted ranks enough to go out and buy motorcycles that are far beyond the performance of all but the most exotic cars.

It used to be that to get a motorcycle that fast you had to build it yourself, by the time you had acquired enough knowledge and money to do that you usually had mellowed out enough not to immediately kill yourself on it.

[ThomWV]

6. Is there a point to this post?

Young men die every day, probably in every state every day, in motorcycle crashes. There is nothing at all unusual about it.