Neither was wearing a helmet.
There are those who would argue that because the Pennsylvania legislature refuses to require all motorcyclists to wear protective headgear, it is complicit in these tragedies.
For decades, the state had a mandatory helmet law. But in 2003, on Gov. Ed Rendell's watch, it was repealed.
Ever since, the majority of the state's legislators has steadfastly upheld the principle of "liberty above all."
And ever since, State Rep. Dan Frankel (D., Allegheny) has been trying to persuade them to reinstate the helmet requirement.
At the end of May, he introduced yet another bill to revive the law - his fourth attempt. "I do it every session," Frankel says. "But I know it won't go anywhere."
The law, he says, is widely viewed as a commonsense public health measure.
"There is an alternative to reading these stories about fatalities and brain injuries."
Research by universities, public policy centers, epidemiologists, neurologists, orthopedic surgeons, and government agencies has come to the same conclusion.
Helmets save lives and reduce suffering.
One study at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine looked at more than 40,000 motorcycle collisions between 2002 and 2006 and found that motorcyclists who wore helmets were 65 percent less likely to suffer traumatic brain injury, 22 percent less likely to suffer cervical spine injury, and 37 percent less likely to die than riders without helmets. "But single-interest groups like the bikers hold a lot of sway over lawmakers," Frankel says.
The motorcycle group ABATE (A Brotherhood Aimed Towards Education of Pennsylvania) and its political action committee, Bike PAC, have lobbied long and hard to win and maintain what members say is their freedom of choice. Like smoking cigarettes or eating fried food, they argue, riding one's chopper without a helmet is a personal decision, and no paternalistic government agency has the right to interfere.
