Pleas for safer driving heightened after pair of fatal motorcycle crashes
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- Chattanooga’s motorcycle community is continuing to mourn the loss of two bikers in the past week.
Lucas Weaver says he was friends with both Riley Hairsine and Dathan Thomas, who were killed in separate crashes in Hixson in the past week on their motorcycles.
Hairsine’s crash was on Tuesday on Highway 153, and Thomas’s crash was on Saturday on Hixson Pike.
Weaver, who rides motorcycles himself, described Hairsine as, “Genuine, a very genuine person that would do anything for you. Like if he had $20 to his name he’d be like, “Hey do you want to go eat and that’ll be his last 20 bucks and then figure out how he’s gonna get gas money.”
He said Thomas, “Was just like Riley, he would do anything for you. Dathan just got a big bike and he was learning how to ride that big bike.”
Hairsine’s crash was on Tuesday on Highway 153, and Thomas’s crash was on Saturday on Hixson Pike.
According to data from the Tennessee Department of Homeland Safety, there have been over 680 crashes in Hamilton County involving motorcycles since the beginning of 2022, with 25 of those being fatal.
Zooming out to look at all 10 of our Tennessee counties, there have been nearly 1,200 crashes in that time span with 65 deaths, a nearly 5.5% fatality rate, with 56 motorcyclists being killed across the state so far this year.
We could see TDOT pushing signs on city highways Monday advising drivers to look twice for motorcycles.
Weaver pleads with drivers of cars, “Please just stay off the phone. You got mirrors and you got blinkers. Please use them. Make sure you keep us in mind that we got family because some of us got kids to come home to. A parent should never have to bury their son.”
Those within Chattanooga’s motorcycle community say they’ll band together in the wake of these tragedies to support the victim’s families and each other.
Weaver said, “These things I don’t know why they happen. I don’t know why God calls some of us home so early especially with Riley and Dathan. I replay certain things like riding with Dathan and the day before and Riley the day before everything happened..Most of us are young. A lot of us just had two tragic events to try to process. We’ve lost our best friends.”
Friends are planning a memorial ride in Hairsine’s honor on May 30.
