The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced the 2007 list of states that will be receiving motorcycle safety grant awards. The program will outlay a total of $6 million to 47 states and Puerto Rico. That’s an increase over the 44 states and the island territory that received the funds last year. Washington will receive $120,000 while Oregon and Idaho will each receive $100,000.

“The increase in states applying for and receiving these funds highlights what riders have known for years: quality rider education and awareness campaigns work,” said Jeff Hennie, Vice President of Government Relations for the Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF). He added “The wild success of this program ensures that it will continue to be a key component of the motorcycle safety landscape.”

It is important to note that the US Congress wrote the legislation to direct the use of the funds to ONLY go toward rider education or motorcycle safety awareness programs. The money is not for impaired riding campaigns (there is a separate set of 402 funds available for those programs) and it is not for personal protective equipment enforcement or any other inappropriate spending.