Professor a Hero for motorcycle safety

West Lafayette, Ind. (WLFI) - It was a perfect day in October 2004 when a motorcyle ride turned tragic for a Purdue professor. 

She was driving her bike around a curve in the road when she collided with a semi.  46-year-old Marifran Mattons has turned that accident into a public campaign for motorcycle safety.

Mattson is an Associate Professor of Communications at Purdue.  She had taken safety courses and was wearing all of her riding gear, including a helmet, when she crashed just south of Crawfordsville.

When she returned to the classroom a year later, Mattson and a group of graduate students, started a campaign that is reaching thousands of people.

"In October 2004, I was out riding on a gorgeous October day, perfect day for riding a motorcycle, with a small group of friends, and I collided with a semi, and it basically sheared my leg right off at the scene," said Marifran Mattson.

Mattson was flown to Methodist Hospital where she spent a month undergoing surgery and rehabilitation. Her left leg was amputated and eventually replaced with a prosthetic. Mattson was back in the classroom, teaching a group of graduate students, when one came up with an idea that would eventually reach thousands of people on how to safely share the road with motorcycles.

"One of them raised their hand and said, 'Okay, this is a campaign class. You were in this horrible accident. We've been talking about motorcyle safety issues. Why don't we start a motorcycle safety campaign?'" said Mattson.

And that's just what they did. Mattson has spent the last five years leading students, and directing Purdue's Motorcycle Safety Campaign. The campaign targets three groups: motorcyclists, friends and family of those who ride, and other drivers. The students develop messages for each of the groups through posters, conversation starters, and a website.

"After our fourth year of the campaign, and our survey that we do annually, we are starting to really see, positive increases in awareness, for motorcycle safety, and in behavior change, especially of friends and family of motorcyclists, and drivers of cars and trucks, we still need to do some work with the motorcyclists but definitely have high awareness among them."

Classes work on different projects.  One is developing a public service announcement designed to reach people outside campus, and it all started when one student saw the need after his teacher's accident.

"And they said, 'We think this is going to help you too,' and it really has. It has really helped me maintain a positive attitude. It's really helped me be able to see that in doing what I do with my expertise in health communication and my experience with this accident, how I can bring those things together," said Mattson.

Mattson worked with the Indiana Amputees Insurance Protection Coalition to pass legislation in 2008 for Prosthetic Parity. That is, private insurance companies are now mandated to cover prosthetics for people whose insurance plans are governed by Indiana law. She also facilitates an Amputees in Action Support Group.