The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
With warmer temps, easy riders hit roads
Alertness, education key to motorcycle safety
With the start of spring comes the arrival of motorcycles on Ohio’s roadways, and a whole new set of safety concerns for both cars and bikes. It means motorists and riders need to be even more vigilant and know what is around them.
“The biggest thing is being more alert than ever, because it’s hard enough for people to see and watch out for motorcycles,” said Gabe Cicconetti, avid motorcyclist and insurance agent for Allstate in Lake County. “When the weather is breaking and they first come out because people aren’t really used to see them, that’s when the biggest risk occurs.”
According to the Ohio MORE Basic Riding Skills Course Guide, riding a motorcycle provides more risk and puts the rider in more potential danger than if driving an automobile.
Maria Abbott, program coordinator for Lakeland Community College and motorcycle safety instructor, points out that the greater risk comes from the lack of a seat belt and the metal cage that protects drivers in cars.
As a result, additional safety gear is crucial for motorcycle riders.
Preferred safety gear for riders includes: longsleeve shirts, pants with no holes in them, full fingered gloves, boots that extend over the ankle, riding jacket and an Ohio Department of Transportation certified helmet with eye protection and reflective
clothing.
“People don’t realize how important the rider gear is, as well as the reflective gear,” Abbott said.
“Wearing black leather is pretty cool until you are riding at night and nobody sees that. Bright reflective neon colors or anything that is reflective is beneficial because it allows you to be seen.”
Cicconetti, an experienced rider who rides as much as possible, has participated in an Ohio Highway Patrol riding safety course.
He believes that everyone from new riders to experienced riders can benefit from the course and that all riders should take one, either to learn to ride or simply for a refresher course on safety.
According to the Ohio Department of Public Safety’s Motorcycle Ohio website, nearly 80 percent of motorcycles crashes last year involved riders who did not have any training.
Motorcycle Ohio offers a Ride Smart Ride Trained motorcycle riding and safety course every weekend starting in January and throughout the entire riding season.
The course can be taken in Cuyahoga County at most of the Cuyahoga Community College campuses.
The only location in Lake County to take the course is at Lakeland Community College, 7700 Clocktower Drive in Kirtland.
This course has been offered at the college since 1991, said Dave Spotton, motorcycle program coordinator at Lakeland Community College and Lakeland Community College police officer.
“This program provides a service to community and public safety,” Spotton said. “Here at Lakeland, we do the basic class and a returning rider class. The basic rider class is 16 hours spread out over three days, with two days on the bike and one day of classroom time.”
The basic rider class is for new and inexperienced riders who need to learn basic riding and safety skills, Spotton said. Meanwhile, the one-day returning rider class is designed for the person who had been riding for years and then put the bike away for a long time, but now its returning to the sport.
Ohio law requires all riders under the age of 18 to take the class in order to obtain the motorcycle endorsement on their driver’s license.
For those over 18, the class is not required, but if taken, the participant will receive a completion card at the end of the class that they can take directly to the Department of Motor Vehicles and have their license reprinted with the endorsement without having to take another test.
In the basic class, students learn the actual motorcycle, all of the controls, how to start and stop the motorcycle and what everything is on the bike before they are safely taught to ride, Abbott said.
Spotton believes the courses are important because riders learn the basic skills from an instructor and are not out learning bad riding habits on the roadways.
“Many of us who started riding bikes just start riding and you get bad habits,” he said. “That way, this teaches you how to do everything correctly. If they fall here, they are not going that fast while they are learning, and we would rather have them make a mistake here than rather on the road, where it could be really bad.”
The class is held in a controlled environment and not out on the road, since a rider’s first time on the road can be a scary situation.
“If you don’t feel comfortable riding your motorcycle, you are not going to be riding safely out on the streets,” Abbott said. “You have to be able to look out and be prepared for anything happening out on the road so if you can’t feel comfortable on your motorcycle, there is no way you are able to scan what is happening outside your motorcycle riding area to see what is happening 20, 10, or 5 seconds out ahead of you.”
The cost to the students for the course is $50.
Students under 18 must have a parent or guardian provide a notarized, signed permission form.
The month of May is Motorcycle Awareness and Safety month. Ohio Highway Patrol will be focusing on motorcycle safety and enforcement. The state of Ohio encourages is riders to ride SMART (Sober Motorcycle endorsed, Alert with the Right gear and Trained).