James Thomas Haley's family is probably going through some of the toughest times it has ever been forced to face. Early Monday morning, the University of Arizona freshman was killed after reportedly running a stop sign on his motorcycle and colliding with a tow truck at East First Street and North Cherry Avenue.

Certainly, Haley's family has our heartfelt sympathies, as the suffering they are going through is something no family should have to deal with, especially when the case involves a 19 year old with the majority of his life still ahead of him. The accident is a tragedy in every sense of the word, but what makes it even worse (if that's possible) is that Haley's death might have been prevented had he been wearing a helmet.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 2,200 motorcyclists are killed each year in bike accidents. During an 11-year span between 1984 and 1995, about 24,200 bikers died from injuries suffered while riding their motorcycles. In that same time span, the NHTSA reports that helmets saved more than 7,400 lives, and could have done the same in 6,300 additional cases where unhelmeted riders were killed.

In addition, the NHTSA submitted a report to Congress in 1996 that stated "unhelmeted motorcyclists were over three times as likely to suffer a brain injury as were helmeted cyclists."