silversvs
Lean, Twist, repeat.....
Budman and I sit on a committee tasked with improving motorcycle safety in the state of California. (for more details on the committee see the bottom of this post).
At this time the committee is seeking input from everyone on what the next steps should be to keep improving motorcycle safety in the state. We are open to all ideas and suggestions. We are looking for education, enforcement, engineering, training, and other options that we can work to implement to reverse the trend of rising motorcycle fatality collisions.
So please take a moment and share with us your thoughts and ideas on what can be done to improve our sport and start reducing the number of motorcycle colisions occuring on our roadways.
If you don't want to post your thoughts you can PM me or hit my email jhurd@ci.livermore.ca.us.
Info on what we are, and have been, doing:
Congress recognized the need for a more collaborative approach to safety when it passed the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) in August of 2005. SAFETEA-LU requires each state to develop strategic highway safety plans (SHSP).
The plans must be developed through a collaborative process that involves a wide range of safety stakeholders and must use research and data analysis to identify the most pressing safety problems on all public roads in each state. This collaborative data-driven approach is intended to help a wide array of safety stakeholders to find new and effective methods for working
together.
More than 190 participants from 80 California public and private stakeholder groups worked together and completed the State’s SHSP in September 2006. Using rigorous data analysis, they identified 16 safety “challenge areas” where resources and efforts need to be focused. They developed broad goals and strategies for each of the areas and set an overall goal to reduce the
California roadway fatality rate to less than 1.0 fatality per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT) by 2010.
Budman and I are in volved with a small group working on Challenge Area 12: Improve Motorcycle Safety in the state of California.
The group has reps from CHP, CALTRANS, DMV, MSF, and OTS. Budman and I are more the "man on the street" members and try to bring real world aspects to their thought processes.
The items we are tasked with working on are:
12.1 Develop a monitoring program to identify motorcycle high-collision concentration locations and implement engineering, enforcement, and
education improvements.
12.2 Hold a motorcycle safety summit to review the SHSP actions and create
an action plan for statewide motorcycle safety initiatives. Include
stakeholders representing riders, government, safety organizations, law
enforcement, insurance companies, and dealers.
12.3 Assess both the DMV’s California Driver Handbook and standard
traffic school curriculum for information on sharing the road with
motorcycles and make additions and revisions as necessary.
12.4 Create and implement an on-line traffic violator school curriculum
specifically for motorcyclists.
12.5 Install signs and markings at high-crash concentration locations
involving motorcycles, that are consistent with the CAMUTCD;
remove, relocate, make breakaway or shield fixed objects; consider
crashworthy barriers that are more “forgiving” to motorcyclists, or
make curve corrections.
12.6 Identify owners of motorcycles who are not licensed to operate a
motorcycle and alert them to California’s requirement to be licensed in
order to operate their motorcycle.
12.7 Educate judges, judge pro-tems, and court commissioners through
DMV court liaisons to make them aware that the Basic Rider Course
can be used to educate violators and to help them recognize proper and
legal safety equipment.
12.8 Focus motorcycle-related law enforcement activities on areas with high
motorcycle volumes.
12.9 Develop and implement motorcycle media campaigns such as “Ride
like you’re invisible, not invincible!” using a social marketing approach
and using new media (YouTube, My Space, etc.).
12.10 Encourage the development and distribution of the CHP brochure, a
DVD, and new media that describe the difference between the United
States Department of Transportation (USDOT) and a non-USDOT
approved helmet.
12.11 Encourage use of approved USDOT helmets. Establish opportunities
for helmet exchange and discount certificates towards the purchase of a
safer helmet.
12.12 Create a Motorcycle Initiatives Review Committee to increase quality,
continuity, and relevance of materials as well as to promote sharing of
information related to motorcyclist-safety or motorcycle-awareness.
At this time the committee is seeking input from everyone on what the next steps should be to keep improving motorcycle safety in the state. We are open to all ideas and suggestions. We are looking for education, enforcement, engineering, training, and other options that we can work to implement to reverse the trend of rising motorcycle fatality collisions.
So please take a moment and share with us your thoughts and ideas on what can be done to improve our sport and start reducing the number of motorcycle colisions occuring on our roadways.
If you don't want to post your thoughts you can PM me or hit my email jhurd@ci.livermore.ca.us.
Info on what we are, and have been, doing:
Congress recognized the need for a more collaborative approach to safety when it passed the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) in August of 2005. SAFETEA-LU requires each state to develop strategic highway safety plans (SHSP).
The plans must be developed through a collaborative process that involves a wide range of safety stakeholders and must use research and data analysis to identify the most pressing safety problems on all public roads in each state. This collaborative data-driven approach is intended to help a wide array of safety stakeholders to find new and effective methods for working
together.
More than 190 participants from 80 California public and private stakeholder groups worked together and completed the State’s SHSP in September 2006. Using rigorous data analysis, they identified 16 safety “challenge areas” where resources and efforts need to be focused. They developed broad goals and strategies for each of the areas and set an overall goal to reduce the
California roadway fatality rate to less than 1.0 fatality per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT) by 2010.
Budman and I are in volved with a small group working on Challenge Area 12: Improve Motorcycle Safety in the state of California.
The group has reps from CHP, CALTRANS, DMV, MSF, and OTS. Budman and I are more the "man on the street" members and try to bring real world aspects to their thought processes.
The items we are tasked with working on are:
12.1 Develop a monitoring program to identify motorcycle high-collision concentration locations and implement engineering, enforcement, and
education improvements.
12.2 Hold a motorcycle safety summit to review the SHSP actions and create
an action plan for statewide motorcycle safety initiatives. Include
stakeholders representing riders, government, safety organizations, law
enforcement, insurance companies, and dealers.
12.3 Assess both the DMV’s California Driver Handbook and standard
traffic school curriculum for information on sharing the road with
motorcycles and make additions and revisions as necessary.
12.4 Create and implement an on-line traffic violator school curriculum
specifically for motorcyclists.
12.5 Install signs and markings at high-crash concentration locations
involving motorcycles, that are consistent with the CAMUTCD;
remove, relocate, make breakaway or shield fixed objects; consider
crashworthy barriers that are more “forgiving” to motorcyclists, or
make curve corrections.
12.6 Identify owners of motorcycles who are not licensed to operate a
motorcycle and alert them to California’s requirement to be licensed in
order to operate their motorcycle.
12.7 Educate judges, judge pro-tems, and court commissioners through
DMV court liaisons to make them aware that the Basic Rider Course
can be used to educate violators and to help them recognize proper and
legal safety equipment.
12.8 Focus motorcycle-related law enforcement activities on areas with high
motorcycle volumes.
12.9 Develop and implement motorcycle media campaigns such as “Ride
like you’re invisible, not invincible!” using a social marketing approach
and using new media (YouTube, My Space, etc.).
12.10 Encourage the development and distribution of the CHP brochure, a
DVD, and new media that describe the difference between the United
States Department of Transportation (USDOT) and a non-USDOT
approved helmet.
12.11 Encourage use of approved USDOT helmets. Establish opportunities
for helmet exchange and discount certificates towards the purchase of a
safer helmet.
12.12 Create a Motorcycle Initiatives Review Committee to increase quality,
continuity, and relevance of materials as well as to promote sharing of
information related to motorcyclist-safety or motorcycle-awareness.
