ARLINGTON, Va., - Over the last three years, training programs have helped to steadily decrease motorcycle fatalities among Army National Guard members, Guard safety personnel said here today.
“We had 36 fatalities in 2008, 24 in 2009 and 13 this fiscal year, with another six weeks to go,” said Army Col. Garrett Jensen, the chief of the aviation and safety division for the Army National Guard. “Our rider qualification programs and mentorship programs have been the major contributing factor to bringing these numbers down.”
John Cicilese, a safety and occupational health specialist for the Guard, said awareness is the key. “I think that by requiring the training [for riders] and pushing the training, we’re making commands more aware of the necessity for the training and safety in general.”
The training provided by the Army Guard includes basic rider courses, experienced rider courses, a sport bike course and a rider-coach course.
“In the National Guard, we’ve had close to 11,000 Soldiers participate in the training,” Cicilese said.
The two biggest reasons for fatal motorcycle accidents are speed and the lack of experience by riders.
“Many of our accidents are evaluated and most of the time the cause for the accident is a loss of control due to inexperience,” Cicilese said. “With speed, if you have the knowledge and experience, you’re not going to lose control of your bike.”
Many states have rider groups that provide new and experienced riders with a group of peers to learn from and share knowledge with.
“These mentoring groups help riders to learn from each other through the sharing of their experiences and provide Soldiers with someone to look up to,” said Army Maj. Charles Moore, a ground safety officer for the aviation and safety division.
If you are a new rider, Moore suggested finding a mentor and doing the training to “learn how to do things right the first time,” because “it’s harder to fix a bad habit than it is to learn a good habit.”