Rebel without a chance

Editor’s Note: Billy Callaway, 53, teaches music at Baton Rouge Music Studios and has been riding motorcycles for more than 20 years. A serious accident convinced him motorcycle riding in this city just isn’t worth it.

This is my story.

I never drove over 30 mph, never rode in rain, never after 8 at night, and only on a newly paved road two miles to work. I wore bright clothing, the best helmet money could buy (an Arai), and kept extra distance behind cars.

I used my bright light, avoided blind spots, gave proper signals, and had 20 years’ experience.

None of that mattered.

I was first in line at the intersection where Siegen and Burbank cross Highland Road. When the light changed I waited a few seconds then cruised off in first gear at maybe 5 to 10 mph.

I never saw it coming. A crazy lady decided she had had enough waiting in line to turn left and butted the car ahead of her, which then knocked me clean off my bike. The lady just kept going.

Another Baton Rouge hit-and-run, leaving me with four broken bones in my left leg. I might as well have been jogging through traffic. Unfortunately, none of the 30 eyewitnesses got the full tag number.

Baton Rouge motorcyclists are seriously deceiving themselves thinking they’ll never experience something similar. No one can see you. No one cares that you are there, because they’re talking on their phones. And when they get ready to turn, they just turn.

I should be up and walking like normal by Christmas. God saw fit to give me a warning, sending my hard head a really clear message. And perhaps now I will have a better chance of living to a ripe old age.

Harley and Honda lovers out there, find a less busy town to ride in before you’re the next statistic. Better yet, stay in town and stay alive by using a mode of transportation that actually affords some type of protection from the 10,000 maniacs out there.

Sadly, I had to have this happen before I realized how selfish I was being to my family and friends, taking such a chance with my life, my relationships, and my future. I know you so wanna be James Dean, or Marlon Brando in The Wild Bunch.

But you are really just a rebel without a chance.