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Recently, in another forum, I was taken to task for comments about a motorcycle fatality that, I felt, was the result of plain, old-fashioned stupidity on the part of the motorcyclist. The basics of the story: Damien Smith, 26, died from head injuries sustained when when he flew over the handlebars of his Harley Davidson while attempting to stand on the seat. He was not wearing a helmet and the stunt was performed on a public street. He left a wife and three children. The full story is here.

“He had a little bit of a wild streak in him - that’s what done him in,” said Tim “Uncle Joe” Smith, Damien’s uncle. “He’d wanted that motorcycle for 10 years. After he bought that motorcycle, he had that smile on his face every day. We all know he made a mistake on what he was doing. Everybody liked Damien; he’s a good man.”

More from Uncle Joe: “The world needs more people like him. He was a good friend to people. He did everything he could for his kids. They were his life. Something to happen to a kid like this isn’t right.”

Sherrie Davis, Damien’s mother said “He started talking about this bike and he had to have it. He was a little bit of a daredevil. This was freak accident.”

It was that last sentence that stopped me cold. “This was a freak accident.” What? This was NOT a freak accident. This was not an accident at all. This was the result of stupidity. Even his own family says that Damien had “a wild streak” and that he “was a little bit of a daredevil.”

So, why was I taken to task for commenting that this guy was a moron? Someone felt that I should not be ticked off by this story because the media had finally portrayed a motorcyclist in a positive way (”He’s a good man.”) I don’t see anything positive here. Just the same old reckless motorcyclist dies attempting a stupid stunt and oh, he wasn’t wearing a helmet. More grist for the helmet law proponents and those who want to continue treating motorcyclists like second-class motorists.

I also took some heat for suggesting that Damien, as a “good man”, should have considered his responsibilities to his wife and three children before he did the “Indian Larry” trick. Some felt that perhaps I was being a bit righteous about it and suggested that perhaps racers are stupid too because they could die. Or any motorcyclist for that matter; we are at greater risk after all.

Racers are not stupid. Neither are most motorcyclists. Most, unlike Damien Smith, do everything in their power to minimize their risk and do not attempt stunts on public streets nor without safety gear. Still, it got me thinking. What about my family and my responsibilities. What steps do I, because I choose to ride, need to take to assure that my responsibilities are fulfilled? Do I need to do more than a non-rider because I choose to assume greater risks? What obligations, moral, ethical or otherwise, do I assume because I choose to ride?