Family Powersports provided safety tips amid recent crashes involving motorcycles in the Permian Basin.
MIDLAND, Texas — On Tuesday, at the intersection of Midkiff and Moss in Midland, 18-year-old Kaden Ray Barron was driving his new motorcycle at high speeds when he was struck and killed by an oncoming SUV.
In the wake of his death, there has been a renewed local interest in motorcycle safety, especially because there were over 2,400 vehicular accidents in Texas in 2024 per the Permian Road Safety Coalition, with 600 people dying as a result.
“This area, it, unfortunately it happens – quite often, a few times a week, a couple of times a week. It just really depends,” said Ben Rivera, a salesperson at Family Powersports of Midland.
The primary resource to getting proper safety training is through a designated motorcycle safety course. This will teach you basics about how to properly drive a motorcycle and the steps you need to take to ensure your safety and that of others. These are relatively easy to register for and can be found at designated locations or other places such as Legacy Harley Davidson in Odessa and even Midland College.
As Rivera describes, “So there’s a company called MSF, they do it out of Midland College. It’s a weekend class, Saturday and Sunday, and it’s actually a requirement to get your M endorsement on your driver’s license… Taking the safety course is probably the biggest thing. And just practice. Learning how to break, how to control your motorcycle, and being aware of – occurrences that might happen when you’re on your motorcycle”.
Of course, other precautions one must take include proper safety equipment such as a helmet and pads. The motorcycle groups we spoke to say there is no excuse not to take proper safety precautions and hope to see rates go down over time.
