A Peachtree City man says he owes his life to his motorcycle helmet.

Richard Skinner, 61, was riding his 2003 Honda DTX Sunday afternoon when he stopped on Ga. Highway 74 to turn left into the Gilroy’s hardware store area. A 18-year-old driver in a 2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse struck him from behind, sending Skinner flying into the car’s windshield and onto the pavement.

The collision knocked him unconscious, and Skinner was flown to Atlanta Medical Center for treatment. Skinner said Wednesday that he has several cracked ribs but he is recovering at home.

“If it wouldn’t have been for that helmet, you wouldn’t be talking to me right now,” Skinner said, noting that as an avid motorcyclist he has been to Bike Week in Daytona Beach, advocating the use of helmets to fellow riders.

Skinner noted that he took a motorcycle safety course and scored a 100, but none of that knowledge protected him during the crash. His helmet did protect him, and the beating it took forced it to crack into pieces, Skinner noted.

The driver of the car, Duncan James Conner, 18, of Pickets Row, Peachtree City was charged with following too close. Police measured the skidmarks created by Conner’s car, noting that the skid marks measured 65 feet prior to the impact and continued another 30 feet beyond the point of impact.

Conner told police that the motorcycle "stopped suddenly" in front of him and he couldn't slow down to avoid the collision.