Motorcycle safety forum held at Andrews

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Tim Dougherty
  • Air Force Print News
ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md. --  The muffled roar of motorcycles filled the air here May 28 as the base held the inaugural Air Force Motorcycle Safety Forum.

The main goals of the forum were to save lives by promoting safe riding and to encourage the motorcycle mentoring concept called for by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John P. Jumper in his February 2004 Sight Picture.

“It’s absolutely critical for our senior Air Force leaders to promote safety and encourage safe riding habits,” said Senior Master Sgt. John Thomas, Air Force traffic safety superintendent.

A five-year review of incidents revealed that 72 Airmen were killed in motorcycle accidents 1999 to 2003. Recent Air Force numbers are better.

“We have seen a significant decrease in the numbers of Airmen killed in motorcycle accidents in the last year, but we need events like today’s forum to keep up the awareness of the need for motorcycle safety," Sergeant Thomas said. "Airmen taking care of each other through the wingman concept and attention from senior leaders (are) critical if we’re going to continue to reduce motorcycle fatalities.”

One of the leaders who rode in for the forum was Lt. Gen. Richard V. Reynolds, Air Force Materiel Command vice commander. He started riding in high school and said his first purchase as a brand new second lieutenant in 1971 was a motorcycle.

“Back when I started riding, motorcycle safety didn’t really exist,” General Reynolds said. “I started riding again about three years ago, and the first thing I did was take a basic rider course, and let me tell you, it was some of the best training I’ve ever had. Increasing skills makes a rider more safe, but it also makes riding more fun.”

General Reynolds rode his 2003 Harley Davidson V-Rod to the Washington, D.C., area with several other people with the Wright Wriders, a motorcycle riding club at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. He said the first thing the club does with new people is to encourage them to get trained.

“Any Airman who may be contemplating purchasing a motorcycle needs to plan on getting trained,” General Reynolds said. “Airman should train to ride a motorcycle in the same way as they train for the Air Force. I’ve been an experimental test pilot for 26 years and I think I’ve probably been in more danger on a motorcycle than I’ve ever been in an airplane.

"It’s a matter of learning the techniques, using the proper equipment and re-enforcing over and over again the things that make riding safe,” the general said.

Nearly all training is provided by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, an internationally recognized, nonprofit organization sponsored by many of the world’s leading motorcycle manufacturers. Ray Ochs, MSF director of training systems, came from California to attend the safety forum and said the foundation “loves the Air Force’s idea of mentorship.”

“We’re trying to achieve a change in our culture, and we’re looking for a culture of safety,” Mr. Ochs said. “Encouraging safety is a matter of capturing the many perspectives that tell a person they really should be safe. If everyone is working on mentoring other riders, pretty soon the idea of being safe will begin to take hold. It’s not about motorcycles; it’s about people who ride motorcycles. That’s why MSF totally supports the Air Force’s motorcycle mentorship program.”

Chief Master Sgt. Ed Barrett, a C-5 Galaxy loadmaster from the 105th Air Wing at Stewart Air National Guard Base, N.Y., has been certified by MSF as a rider-coach trainer and said mentorship is needed to get riders to use what they’ve been taught.

“We can give riders lots of information and teach them proper techniques of safe riding, but it’s up to them to put into practice what they’ve learned,” Sergeant Barrett said. “Our goal is to have everyone ride safely."