There are parts of the country where winter requires motorcycles to get off the road. Not so here in South Carolina and other states of the Deep South. Motorcycle season can run all year round, increasing the risk bike riders face in having run ins with inattentive drivers and suffering sometimes serious personal injury.

It's not only civilian motorcyclists who are at risk. Just because a rider happens to be a law enforcement official doesn't mean that rider has some special shield of protection. There's an officer in Florida who has had that message hammered home in a big way.

According to authorities, the Florida Highway Patrol trooper was in the midst of conducting a traffic stop in the Orlando area yesterday morning. He was sitting on his motorcycle on the shoulder of the road when a vehicle in the lanes of traffic suddenly veered from the road and struck him. They say the 21-year-old woman driver of the care apparently lost control of the vehicle.

The 38-year-old officer was reportedly thrown up onto the hood of the car and into the windshield. Officials say the car then piled into a speed limit sign and the trooper was thrown into that. Fortunately, three passers-by, a police officer, a paramedic and a good Samaritan, stopped and helped keep the trooper stable until emergency responders arrived and took him to the hospital.

The trooper reportedly suffered a broken leg, an arm and his pelvis. Officials say he's in stable condition. An FHA spokesman says the agency is convinced that the injured trooper survived because he was wearing his helmet at the time he was struck.

Authorities say charges could be filed against the driver of the car after an investigation is completed.

Source: Orlando Sentinel, "FHP motorcycle trooper injured in crash on 528," Bianca Prieto, Jan. 26, 2012