Every time Edmund M. "Eddie" Hedge Jr. hears about a motorcycle fatality, it brings him back to terrible crash scenes he investigated as a traffic officer with the New London Police Department.

"You can't get it out of your head," Hedge said during a phone interview Sunday.

But those memories of what can go terribly wrong for bikers don't stop Hedge from climbing aboard his 2014 Harley Davison touring bike every weekend during the spring, summer and early fall. He even logged 1,200 miles this weekend on a trip to Canada and plans to keep riding until late November.

Hedge retired from the police department in 2006 and took a job as a law enforcement liaison for the state Department of Transportation's highway safety office. He was quick to say he's not familiar with the details of a series of recent fatal motorcycle crashes in southeastern Connecticut, but based on his observations from the road, rider complacency is often a factor.

Numbers are not yet available for the current year, but 46 motorcyclists died on Connecticut roads in 2013 and 45 in 2014, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.

"They forget they're riding a motorcycle," he said. "Take for instance, taking a curve. They try to cut it, not realizing a car could be coming the other way. They're oversteapping their ability to ride, using much more speed than necessary."

Hedge said he takes every precaution, starting with the mental checklist he runs before he starts his motorcycle. He rides defensively, "as if somebody's not going to see me." Ever since he investigated his second or third fatal crash, Hedge has worn a helmet, even though it's not required in Connecticut of licensed riders 18 and over.

He wears long pants, long-sleeved shirts and a jacket, because, "God forbid, if you ever go down, you're going to get road rash." He wears boots that go above the ankle, because riders use their feet every time they stop their bike. Hedge obeys the speed limit, keeping driving no more than 65 mph hour even in Maine, where 70 is allowed on the highway. His bike, like most newer models, is equipped with antilock brakes, which he said activated in June during a rainy ride in the mountains of New Hampshire. He has extra lights so he can be seen at night. He is particularly careful in intersections, where a lot of crashes occur, and makes sure to leave plenty of room between his motorcycle and other vehicles on the road.

Nicholas Just, motorcycle safety program manager for the state DOT, said that as of January 2011, motorcycle riders need to pass a safety course in order to get a motorcycle endorsement on their driver's license. The course is offered by the state and several private groups and consists of 20 hours' of worth of instruction, both in a classroom and on a bike. 

Riding a motorcycle is "an extremely risky behavior," said Just, who called in from a motorcycle rally in Massachusetts for a phone interview Sunday afternoon.

"The most important part of being a safe rider is not the skill you have on the bike," he said. "It's in your head. It's your ability to assess risk properly. Sometimes that never comes, but I'd say the older a person gets and the time on the bike and seeing people go down, that's what does it."

Distracted driving by both motorcyclists and drivers of other vehicles is a growing hazard, Just said.

"Riders have a hard time being seen already," he said. "With people taking their eyes off the road for long periods of time, it makes it impossible to be seen."

Many crashes are caused by cars turning left in front of motorcycles at intersections, he said, whether the cars are driving through yellow or red lights or the bike is coming up on them too quickly. The other biggest factor is operator error.

"A lot of the crashes recently have been failure to negotiate a curve," Just said. "Riders are going into corners too quickly, and it's beyond their skill level."

Just said legislation making helmets mandatory "seems to die in the legislature every year."

"To me, it's pretty simple," he said. "You have to wear a seat belt. I don't understand why you wouldn't have to wear a helmet."

k.florin@theday.com

Twitter: KFLORIN