Safety Gear - August 15, 2008

What the heck happened to July? How did I manage to miss a whole month? I was probably doing the same as everyone else, putting on a few miles on the old Harley!

This month, we need to talk about riding apparel, specifically, safety apparel and safety gear. I can hear you now; Oh No…here comes the helmet speech! In part, you are correct, but only in part. Did you read the article in the August 5th, 2008 Columbus Dispatch, the one that reviewed the rising death rates of motorcyclists on Ohio highways? Sure you did! Did you read the part that mentioned that more than 60% of the motorcyclists killed in 2007 weren’t wearing a helmet? Sure you did, and you said; “That won’t happen to me, I’m careful/a good rider/have a lucky rabbit’s foot”, etc. Look, I know that you have heard this over and over again- Helmets Save Lives. Not all the time, not everyone wearing a helmet will survive a crash, but hey, if you survive because you wore a helmet, isn’t that enough? I have managed to be involved in two crashes on motorcycles. I clonked my noggin on the asphalt in each of the crashes. Yep, I was wearing a helmet. I had a headache, but that was it. One crash was at about 40 mph, during a training class. (Long story, long painful story, maybe later I’ll explain) The other was a crash in which a motorist decided to turn left from the center lane, and I happened to be in the left lane at the time. I had braked enough to slow to 5-8 mph when I hit the back quarter panel of his car, and down I went. My head hit the roadway, and left a nice scuff on my shiny police helmet (yep, I was on my police bike at the time!). Other than some road rash and stiffness, I was all right. At work I wear a ¾ helmet. On my own bike, I wear a ½ helmet. I have tried the full helmets, but they are just not for me. Are they a safer bet; yep, they are. Are they for everyone; no, they’re not. Will a helmet save you in a 65 mph crash on the freeway, maybe not? Will you stand a better chance of survival in a lower speed crash? The odds are that you will. Would everyone who died last year have survived if they had been wearing a helmet? No, of course not. Would some of them have survived? Of course they would have. The choice is up to you, for now.

Early this summer, I stopped a young man on a 1000cc crotch rocket with a temporary license plate that showed he had bought the bike the day before. He had one an excellent armored jacket, pants, gloves, and shoes, with a good quality pair of glasses. He was not wearing a helmet, nor was the 6-year-old boy riding in front of him, perched on the gas tank. These are things that make me, as a motor cop say “what the …?” Oh yeah, one other piece of gear he’d forgotten: a license to ride a motorcycle. This is a perfect example of riding while not thinking. We refer to this as driving HUA. We, as riders, need to use common sense. In the matter of a few careless moments, he risked his life, the little boy’s life, and cost himself a bunch of money in traffic fines. If Harley riders seem to shun helmets, sport bike riders seem to cover two extremes: armor from top to bottom, or nothing, safety-wise, at all. I have seen (and ticketed) sport bike riders who were dressed in shorts, flip-flops and a t-shirt. Often, their passengers (usually female) wore even less. Let me tell you, from personal experience, road rash is painful! Scooter riders seem to be following this same trend. Look, just because the scooter is smaller and generally slower than a motorcycle, doesn’t mean that you do not have to take precautions. I think that we have all seen the news reports regarding E. Gordon Gee’s daughter and son-in-law, both of whom were seriously injured in a scooter-car crash. The reports noted that neither was wearing a helmet. I have not read any report that assigns blame in the crash, so I don’t know who was at fault. Does it really matter? Two very bright young people, with a great deal to offer the world, are left devastated by this crash. At this point, does it really matter who was at fault? Would helmets have saved them from their serious injures? I don’t know the facts of the crash, so I can’t say for sure. But, it does leave me to wonder…

If you sign up for a MSF rider’s course, you will be told to wear gloves, long pants, gloves, glasses and a helmet. Some add a long-sleeved shirt or jacket. They also require boots that go up over your ankle. This is really common sense riding apparel. I admit freely that I am bad about wearing a jacket when I ride. I have several, in denim, leather and one very nice ventilated Joe Rocket nylon jacket, with armor in all the right places. I wear the denim jacket most often and one of the leather ones when it gets cold outside. The Joe Rocket…well, it hangs in my closet. No reason, it just does. Most commonly, I can be seen wearing a highly protective (not!) Harley t-shirt when I ride. You will, however, always see me with longs pants, gloves, glasses, boots and a helmet.

Look, this is a free country. So far, we riders in Ohio can chose to wear a helmet, or not wear a helmet. I spend a good deal of time in Michigan, since the future Mrs. Sarge lives near Detroit. Michigan has a helmet law for everybody. Has this saved lives in traffic crashes in the state up north? I don’t know. Can this become a law in Ohio? Absolutely! I recommend a common sense approach to riding. Ride within the limits of your skills. Get some training. Don’t show off. Wear something that may help to save your life. I have seen a number of motorcyclist fatalities over the years. Almost every time, some one will say, “But, he/she was such a safe rider.” We have to do what we can to get the odds slid over to our favor. Yeah, ya look cool wearing a doo-rag, or with the wind in your hair, gliding down the highway. But remember; in police work, the first rule is to go home at the end of the shift. When we ride, the rule should be to go home at the end of the ride. Think about that helmet, and other protective gear. Push the odds into your favor. Go home at the end of your ride!

Hey…ride safe out there, have fun, and get the shiny side up!

The Sarge

Motorcycle Safety Training Courses - June 10, 2008

Let’s all think back to those carefree days of our youth…for some of us, that is thinking back a ways! Remember when you got your first two-wheeled bicycle? Remember how your folks, or maybe a big brother or sister taught you how to ride, without those training wheels? Sure you do! You probably had fewer skinned knees and elbows because of their instructions. Remember when you got that learner’s permit? We were ready for the big time now! Maybe your Dad took you out for those first driving lessons, and maybe you took driver’s training in High School. All of that help was designed to make you a better, safer driver, right? So…now you have a motorcycle, and you think that you can just jump on it and zoom off, right? Wrong! Let’s talk a little bit about motorcycle training today.

So, you have your motorcycle, and you have you motorcycle endorsement. Remember one fact about a motorcycle: its natural resting position is on its side! It stands to reason, therefore, that a little training might be in order.

When I first rode a motorcycle, I did the “jump on and go” method. That led quickly to the “fall off and crash” method, followed by the “fix the broken turn signal method”. My father had purchased a small Honda, unbeknownst to my mother. This was my first intro to the world of motorcycles. I inherited it when he passed away a couple years later, and sold it after my second son was born. You know the line: “You have a family now, get rid of that thing!”  Many years later, when the kids were grown and gone, I bought another motorcycle, and reverted to the “jump on and go” method again, which followed a strangely familiar, and painful, path. Then I learned about the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, and the beginning rider’s course. For $25.00, I was taught in a classroom, and on a practice course, how to safely ride a motorcycle. This has to be the bargain of a lifetime! I traveled to Troy, Ohio, and took classes from the folks at Honda. What a great job they did! We rode little 250cc Hondas around, in and out of cones, around curves and made figure-8s inside of a rectangle. When we were done, all we had to do was present our certificates to the BMV, and we were new motorcycle novice riders! I mention the Honda training, only because I took my training there. Many places provide fine rider’s training. The State still provides skills training, and the cost is still low. Motorcycle dealerships provide training as well, such as the “Rider’s Edge” programs by Harley Davidson. I am not endorsing any one program: I am endorsing training in general.

A couple of years later, we started the motor unit at Grandview Heights Police. We endured rigorous training in order to be able to ride big heavy motorcycles in traffic, at slow speeds, and to be able to make tight u-turns, weave around obstacles, and to come to a stop very quickly and safely. You can learn many of the same skills by attending an Advanced Rider’s Course, again, provided by the State or a local dealership. Mid-Ohio Race Course, near Lexington, Ohio, also provides excellent advanced training. I have completed two advanced courses: one by the State, out on West Broad Street, and one at Mid-Ohio. Both were excellent! I highly recommend an advanced course. Our skills are “use them or lose them” muscle memory skills. Repetition and re-training keeps vital safety skills fresh in our minds. Another source of rider training can be found on DVD:  The “Ride Like a Pro” series by Jerry Palladino, a retired motor officer, is a great source riding tips, complete with cone patterns to practice the various skills taught on the DVD. The guy is a motorcycle master! The instructions are clear, as are the training tips. I have a copy, and review it every now and again.  Once you have taken these courses, remember to practice what you have learned. These skills need review and practice to maintain a high level of proficiency. You don’t need any fancy equipment; an empty parking lot will do just fine.

Look, let’s be safe out there!  Learn to handle your machine, no matter the type of motorcycle that you own, or how long you have ridden. Practice makes perfect, so let’s get out there, take some training and enjoy this sport that brings us so much pleasure!

Ride safe and keep the shiny side up!

The Sarge