GA Motorcycle Awareness Tour

April 25-April 30, 2009

Photos from the 2009 GMAT Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month Press Conference at Turner Field

(ATLANTA) May is “Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month” and this year the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety took its Share the Road motorcycle safety message to a highway near you with the Georgia Motorcycle Awareness Tour. As the 2009 riding season begins, the ‘GMAT’ convoy promotes safe riding as a daily reminder for all motorists to stay alert and watch out for motorcycles.

And to get the public’s attention, GOHS has put its Director and its message on two wheels to criss-cross the state with motorcycle enthusiasts and law enforcement riders on tour from Carroll County to Columbus; onward to Albany through Valdosta, and along to Savannah and Augusta, finally concluding the six-day tour in Atlanta with a Share the Road news conference at Turner Field.

“We pulled together this first-ever Motorcycle Awareness Tour because Georgia is driving hard toward a motorcycle mortality crisis of the first order,” says Director Bob Dallas of the Governor's Office of Highway Safety (GOHS).

The last seven years of motorcycle safety data show riders here have been on a wild ride against the odds. From 2000 to 2007 the number of motorcycle crashes in Georgia has increased 113-percent: from 2,049 in 2000 to 4,367 in 2007. The number of Georgia motorcyclists killed during that same seven-year period increased 161-percent: from 62 in 2000 to 162 in 2007.

Highway safety experts attribute some of the increased risk to the increasing popularity of motorcycles as a means of transportation: Motorcycle ownership here increased more than 22-percent just during 2007. “So many Georgia citizens enjoy riding motorcycles, we encourage all Georgia drivers to be cautious and observe these smaller vehicles as they return to Georgia’s roads this spring,” says GOHS Director Dallas.

Visibility becomes a key safety issue as moderate southern temperatures bring thousands of these riders back to Georgia in May. The most common safety problem for motorcycles is that they’re often hidden in a driver’s blind spot or missed at intersections due to their smaller profile. In fact, most motorcycle crashes occur during daylight hours at intersections. The other drivers either didn’t see the oncoming motorcycles at all, or didn’t see the motorcycles in time to avoid a crash.

“Motorists need to be especially alert when making a left turn to insure that a motorcycle isn’t coming straight through that intersection,” says Director Dallas. Motorists are encouraged to always look out for motorcycles; especially when performing lane changes, at intersections, or while passing other vehicles. Most motorists are surprised to learn that more than two-thirds of car-motorcycle crashes are caused by drivers of other motor vehicles, not by motorcyclists.

Then there’s the obvious crash-factor that motorcycle riders are more vulnerable and less protected on our highways than drivers of other passenger vehicles. That’s the reason motorcyclists should always ride in a defensive operator mode, observing the rules of the road, and ready to take evasive action if necessary. Riders should remember they have an equal share of safety responsibility on the road, which includes dressing out in proper protective riding gear, including a DOT-rated motorcycle safety helmet.

“We have growing support among rider groups, law enforcement agencies, and traffic safety organizations to create a safer riding environment,” says GOHS Director Dallas.

“…Because during recent years Georgia has experienced a steady increase in fatal motorcycle crashes. There were 4,367 motorcycle crashes in 2007 alone. 162 motorcyclists died on Georgia roads that year and another 3,334 were injured.”

All motorcycle operators are encouraged to enroll in the Motorcycle Safety Foundation training offered through the Georgia Department of Driver Services. It’s important both for legal and safety purposes that every rider has a motorcycle endorsement on their driver’s license and that motorcycles are also properly registered and licensed.

“Riders should also avoid the use of alcoholic beverages before and during the operation of motorcycles,” says Dallas. “Serious data shows there’s an abnormally high occurrence of crashes, death and injury among motorcyclists when alcohol or drugs are added to the equation and these numbers don’t lie. Help us take Georgia’s motorcyclists off the endangered species list.”

The Georgia Motorcycle Awareness Tour is jointly promoted by the Governor's Office of Highway Safety, the Georgia Department of Driver Services (DDS) and ABATE of Georgia (American Bikers Active Toward Education) and other motorcycle groups are working together to reduce the number of motorcycle crashes, injuries and fatalities on our roadways.

To receive free brochures about “What You Need to Know About Motorcycle Safety” visit the GOHS website at www.gahighwaysafety.org. For more information about Georgia’s Motorcycle Safety Awareness Program contact GOHS Motorcycle Safety Program Planner Fred Huff at 404-656-6996.

--IN MEMORIUM --

The 2009 GMAT Motorcycle Safety Awareness Tour is dedicated to Tifton Police Motor Officer Terry Adams who was fatally injured this week while responding on his patrol motorcycle to a fellow officer’s call for assistance. TPD Officer Adams was riding with his emergency equipment activated when a pickup truck pulled out of a shopping center and collided with his motorcycle head-on. Adams was 38 years old and a seven year veteran of the Tifton Police Department, serving two of those years as a motorcycle officer with the department's traffic division. He succumbed to his injuries while being transported to a local hospital. Officer Adams is survived by his wife and four children.