Washington Motorcycle Rider Safety Task Force Report
By John Davis • Dec 8th, 2006 • Category: SafetyThe Washington Motorcycle Rider Safety Task Force, formed in January of 2006 by Governor Chris Gregoire, has released their report and recommendations to reduce motorcycle fatalities in Washington state.
The task force included members of motorcycle rider groups and state agency representatives, the Department of Transportation and the Department of Health.
The task force identified the following trends in motorcycle fatalities in Washington:
- Most fatalities occur during daylight hours in dry weather.
- More than 80% of fatalities occur between April and September
- Half of all fatal motorcycle crashes were single vehicle crashes. When alcohol is a factor, two-thirds of fatal crashes are single vehicle crashes.
- The most common contributing factors to motorcycle fatalities are lane error, speeding, alcohol and inattention.
- One-third of fatalities were motorcyclists who did not have a valid motorcycle endorsement.
Based on these findings the task force concluded that the most important factors are within the control of the rider and that, therefore, efforts should focus on rider skill and behavior.
Among the recommendations are:
- Washington needs to increase the availability of rider training courses and move to a training model similar to that used in Oregon.
- A major education and public awareness campaign should be mounted to counteract motorcycle and automobile driver behavior that contributes to fatal crashes.
- Impounding the motorcycle of riders found to be riding under the influence or do not have a proper or current motorcycle endorsement.
- DoL should discourage dealers from allowing unendorsed motorcycle purchasers to ride a newly purchased motorcycle from their lot.
- A current motorcycle endorsement should be required to renew a motorcycle registration.
- Motorcycle groups should encourage proper endorsement for participation in organized riding events.
The complete report, with lots more detail, is available at: http://www.dol.wa.gov
John Davis is the owner, editor and publisher of Northwest Cycle Report. John also owns and writes for MotoSkagit.com and is the administrator for the Washington 120 State Park Tour. In addition to his own sites, John is a contributing author for MotorcycleLife.com and Motorcyclebloggers.com. He lives in Mount Vernon, WA and rides a candy-red Honda VTX1800 Retro.
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Well, since the 1st 3 are things that I have been writing my state reps about for years, how can you argue with this report? Education is key, both in class and on the road. There are waaaay tooooo many people going out and buying big bikes that weren’t even that great of a bicycle riders when they were a kid!Make ‘em learn how to do it or keep ‘em off the road!
So why endorse only the first three recommendations? The remaining three recommendations would force dealers and buyers to get the education you feel is so important. They passed a mandatory training law here in Florida which is scheduled to start in Jul ‘08. No training card? No way to buy or register a bike.
Motorcycle Training, specifically the MSF basic rider class, should be a requirement for license endorsement.