Bobby Petrino, head football coach at the University of Arkansas, made headlines earlier this month when his motorcycle skidded off an Arkansas highway and landed in a ditch. Petrino failed to alert his colleagues and supervisors that there was more to the story than simply drifting across the fog line: he had a passenger. Jessica Dorrell, 25, was riding with Petrino at the time of the accident. Petrino hired Dorrell to work in the Arkansas athletic department.
This conflicted with an earlier statement by Petrino, which indicated that there were no other passengers involved in the motorcycle accident. Petrino has been fired by the university.
Details of the accident are still unclear. Police report that neither alcohol nor equipment malfunctions are to blame.
Neither Petrino nor Dorrell were present at the scene when police arrived at 7:22 PM.
According to the police report, “Evidence indicates that operator Petrino operated his motorcycle in such a manner that caused him to fail to maintain control of [his vehicle].”
There are two key lessons we can learn from this situation:
- Stay alert at all times while operating a motorcycle. The tiniest lapse in focus can cause result in a loss of balance and focus, and that can quickly spiral out of control. It sounds like that was the case here.
- Report what happened when it happened. It is certainly understandable that Petrino would want to keep the details of the accident from the general public (including his wife and Dorrell’s fiancé), but the truth will come out eventually. He could have saved time and avoided disciplinary charges if he’d been honest upfront.
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