‘This loss tore our family apart’: Valley tragedies serve as stark reminder of motorcycle safety

There was a giant inflatable motorcycle, a hot wing eating contest and — naturally — a procession of motorcycles. The bikes started at 3000 Cage Blvd. and zipped down the road in double column to the blare of Pharr police sirens.

Sights that one would expect from an event observing Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month, and the Pharr Police Department delivered Saturday, May 14, when officers took to the streets to promote care and caution.

But there’s much more to the event than festivities.

Just five days later and two and a half miles down the road, officers from the same department responded to precisely what Motorcycle Awareness Month is intended to prevent: a fatal motorcycle crash.

The 26-year-old driver of the motorcycle, Jesus Flores, had been hit by a Ford Focus. He’d been wearing a helmet, and police don’t think drugs or alcohol were a factor in the crash.

He died at the scene, becoming one of likely hundreds of motorcycle fatalities Texas will see this year.

In 2021, according to TxDOT, 519 motorcyclists died on Texas roads, up 7% from 2020; 2,318 Texas motorcyclists were seriously injured.

TxDOT’s Pharr district saw 225 crashes in 2021, resulting in five deaths of operators and passengers and 53 serious injuries.

Motorcyclists made up for 12% of the state’s casualties despite comprising less than 2% of the vehicles in the state.

“On average, at least one motorcycle rider dies every day in a crash on our streets and highways,” TxDOT Executive Director Marc Williams wrote in a release. “Each of these riders is a husband or wife, someone’s son or daughter, brother or sister or mother or father. As more and more motorcyclists take to the road to enjoy the beautiful Texas scenery and warmer weather, it’s crucial that drivers remain alert and look out for people riding motorcycles.”

If anyone can sympathize with some of the emotions Flores’ friends and family are likely going through, it’s probably Belinda Cisneros of San Juan.

On the night of June 4, 2004, Cisneros’ brother, Jorge “George” Gutierrez, was riding his new Harley down a road in Harlingen. Gutierrez, a 35-year-old San Juan native, had been a motorcycle enthusiast for years. It was his first Harley Davidson bike.

Gutierrez crashed on a curve that June night. The noise was loud enough it brought out nearby residents.

Cisneros says Gutierrez was taken to a hospital. He was eventually intubated and kept on a respirator, living in a coma for almost two years before succumbing to complications from pneumonia in 2006.

“Our family has gone all these years and specifics about what has happened to my brother, because he was riding by himself and it was at night…We don’t know if somebody caused him to have an accident. Because he was just left there. I don’t think we’ll ever have those answers,” she said.

Gutierrez left behind a wife and two children: a son and daughter. He left behind a big extended family.

“This loss tore our family apart, he was the life of our family,” Cisneros said. “Mom never fully recovered from this loss.”

Cisneros has several friends and family who ride. She has no shortage of stories to tell about motorcycle tragedies.

Shortly after Gutierrez’s accident, Cisneros lost a former classmate to a motorcycle wreck. Another close friend was in a serious accident, rolling over a car after it hit her.

That friend, Cisneros said, still has pins in her arm and no longer rides.

Cisneros, however, does still ride. It’s freeing, she says; she calls it “wind therapy.”

Still, she’s had her share of close calls. She’s particularly opposed to drivers distracted by cellphones.

Caution, Cisneros says, is critical for both riders and drivers. Otherwise, she says, the consequences can be grim.

“Once you hit a motorcycle rider, that’s it,” she said. “They’re gonna go down, they’re gonna hit the pavement hard. If they’re not wearing a helmet — which a lot of riders don’t — they’re gonna hit their head. My brother wasn’t wearing a helmet. He had three helmets in his house, and he wasn’t wearing a helmet. And all his injuries came from brain trauma.”

TxDOT recommends that to protect motorcyclists, drivers take extra care when making left turns and at intersections. It recommends avoiding distracted driving, looking twice when changing lanes, slowing down and giving motorcycle riders a wide berth on the road.

[email protected]