Motorcycle safety gear protected Mondovi man during run-in with deer

by Beth Kraft

Mike Larson knows it could have been a lot worse. 

Larson was southbound on State Highway 37 headed back to his Mondovi home just before 9 p.m. on Tuesday, May 5, riding his motorcycle when he suddenly spotted a deer standing in the roadside ditch.

“He looked right at me, and bolted and ran out in front of me,” said Larson of the deer. “It was just so fast I just didn’t have time to react at all. All I could do was just brace my arms and hope to keep going, to keep the wheel straight.”

Larson’s motorcycle, a 1999 Honda CVR, struck the deer broadside at highway speed as it leaped directly in front of him across the road.

“I guess I was just thinking, ‘I hope I make it through it,’” Larson said of realizing he wouldn’t be able to avoid the deer. “When I hit, I closed my eyes.

“I felt myself hit the road and I just started tumbling,” he continued. “It just felt like I wasn’t going to stop.”

Larson figures he rolled about five or six times across the highway, landing in the grassy shoulder. His motorcycle came to rest in the roadway several yards away.

“I laid there for probably three or four minutes just doing a self-assessment to see what was hurt and what wasn’t,” Larson said.

Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait long for help. A woman traveling north on Hwy. 37 saw the cycle in the road and stopped, calling out to Larson.

Soon Larson had several familiar faces leaning over him in the ditch as Mondovi Fire Department personnel and EMTs arrived on-scene.

In a small town like Mondovi, first responders understand that their chances of knowing those involved in accidents are high, but Larson’s sister, Julie, was one of the EMTs who responded with Mondovi Ambulance.

Larson says Julie told him later that as she responded to the call on her pager “she got out to her car, and she glanced in our garage and my cycle wasn’t there so she immediately had a feeling it was me.”

It was comforting to see a few people he knew well come to his aid, Larson added, and even more uplifting to learn that his injuries were relatively mild given how far he traveled from the site of impact.

The crash left Larson with some road rash in a few places, particularly on his left forearm, and a swollen left knee that had him using crutches while waiting for a prognosis.

Helmet may have saved Larson’s life

The crash also left Larson pretty stiff and sore, but he maintains that his protective clothing as well as a slick road surface that rainy evening helped minimize the damage to his body as he tumbled across the paved surface. His motorcycle was totalled.

“I’m pretty happy with the gear I had on,” said Larson, who was fully garbed up in a helmet, jacket, pants, gloves, and sturdy leather shoes.

The jacket and pants he was wearing were made of heavy Kevlar material with extra padding on the shoulders, elbows, spine, knees and outer thigh area.

“If I was just wearing regular clothes, I think most of it wouldn’t have held up to the road,” Larson said. “I would have had a heck of a lot more road rash. It definitely would have been a lot worse, and definitely if I didn’t have a helmet on...I know I hit my head hard on something, and if there was no helmet I probably wouldn’t have made it. It’s a scary thing.”

Motorcycle vs. deer accidents often don’t turn out in favor of the motorcyclist due to lack of protection. According to AAA, about 70 percent of deer-crash fatalities involve motorcycles.

Motorcycle safety gear like Larson’s may be perceived as “uncool” by some, “but I don’t care,” he says, “your life is worth more than what you look like.”

Larson encourages other motorcyclists to take care when riding at night to watch for hazards, like deer, but wearing safety gear, especially a helmet, at all times is even more important.

“Some people say [a helmet is] too confining or that they get claustrophobic in it,” he acknowledged, adding: “Swallow your pride, wear the gear. At least do it for your family.”

Last year 73 motorcycle operators and passengers died in crashes across the state, according to the Wisconsin DOT.

With warmer weather arriving a bit earlier than usual this year, motorcycles have been a common sight on the road over the past several weeks.

There have already been numerous motorcycle crashes in the region this spring. Area reports indicate that over half a dozen incidents, a few of which were fatal, occurred during summer-like weather the first weekend in May—dubbed Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month by the WI DOT in an effort to remind drivers to share the road with motorcycles in hopes of cutting down on deadly crashes.