In the nation’s most affordable metro area, getting hurt or sick is expensive

On an October evening, Tom Frost was zooming down a dark state road on the northern edge of Indiana. The father of two had just finished his shift at a small-town fiberglass factory. Now, he was doing what he loved, riding a Harley-Davidson in his typical get-up: black gloves, leather chaps, no helmet.

As Frost revved past the corn fields and thinning birch trees that led to his girlfriend’s house, a green pickup jerked off a side road and into his path.

Frost didn’t have time. He hit the truck and flew backwards, leaving his body and small trails of blood on the asphalt, police photos show.