Motorcycle enthusiast offers advice on staying safe on the road.

The freedom and excitement offered by a chance to hop on a motorcycle and hit the road is something that many people love and for Nye County resident Laura Vavricka and her husband, Pete, their enthusiasm for motorcycles is a decades-long affair.

But riding does not come without risk and as summer unfolds, even more bikers will be out on their motorcycles, taking advantage of the longer days. With her own harrowing experiences as a rider in mind, Laura is urging area motorcyclists to exercise awareness in an effort to prevent tragedy.

“The number one thing is, and this is especially for new riders, you cannot panic and you cannot go on the road paranoid. If you go on the road paranoid, you’re going to get hit, you’re just an accident waiting to happen. And if you panic, logic goes out the window. You don’t even have a chance to get out of a wreck if you’re in panic mode.”

Laura knows this all too well, as she herself has been in three motorcycle crashes over the course of her 39 years of riding. The first took place many years ago, in Hawaii, where she was working at the time.

“I was heading home for lunch and I’m coming up to a light. It turns yellow, the guy in front of me accelerates, and I’m right behind him but in the middle of the intersection, he jams his breaks,” Laura explained. “I turned the wheel all the way to the left, real tight, so the bike would do more of a spin than a slide. I didn’t want to go under that car!”

She managed to escape the situation unscathed, as did the bike, and it was this incident that led to her becoming a certified stunt rider. “That’s when a guy came running across the street, waving his arm and yelling, ‘I saw the whole thing! Can you do it again?’” she laughingly recalled. “Anyway, he hands me his card and he was the president of the Hawaiian Stunt Association.”

Her first crash and her experience as a stunt rider served her well in her next crash, which was more serious.

“It was in 2001, at Country Place and Highway 160,” Laura detailed. “I was only planning to ride to the end of the road but when I got to the stop sign leaving Crystal [where she and Pete live], I decided, it’s such a nice morning, I’m going to ride into Pahrump. So, as I’m coming up to Country Place, I see this guy is going to blow that stop sign, I just know it, and if he does, I’m going to broadside him.”

Remaining calm but with seconds to react, no room to maneuver around the other vehicle and knowing she couldn’t stop in time, she made the decision to open up her throttle to attempt to avoid the broadside collision. At the same time, she kicked up her leg over the carburetor to prevent any damage to her leg and knee if the two vehicles did make impact.

“And that is what happened. Having my leg up like that also freed me from the bike and I flew about 100 feet through the desert. But it could have been much worse. All I really ended up with was a bunch of busted ribs,” Laura remarked.

Then, in 2022, Laura was involved once more in a crash while traveling on Highway 160, this time in the center of town.

“I was on Betsy, my Marines bike, and I had just passed Taco Bell. I was accelerating and a car in the left lane didn’t look, they just pulled over right in front of me,” Laura said. “I locked up the bike and dropped it over to the left – so there would be less damage to it. My rotator cuff was torn and I ended up with a hip replacement.”

Even with these crashes, though, Laura said all in all, she believes area drivers tend to be safe and cautious.

“The fact of the matter is, I’m out on my bike every day and I’m in Pahrump a lot. And oddly enough, I can say this: the people on the road are usually pretty darn good. They really do pay attention,” she said.

However, it only takes a moment of distraction or impatience to cause a crash and she encourages all motorcyclists to do their part in keeping the roadways safe for everyone.

“Motorcycle safety is just common sense. You have to have your eyes going 360 degrees. You’ve got to watch your mirrors because you have to be able to read what’s behind you, not just what’s in front of you. Hospitals are not fun,” she emphasized, then added with a chuckle, “And what’s worse than that is if you mess up your bike.

“And make sure that you recognize when people are polite to you. Give them a wave or a nod of thanks, because they’ll remember that,” Laura concluded. “But like I said before, the key thing is that you cannot be paranoid or afraid on the road, and if it looks like you are going to get in an accident, don’t panic.”

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com