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thedrifter
08-29-08, 05:46 AM
MILITARY: Marines didn't take safety classes, instructor says

By SARAH GORDON - Staff Writer

CAMP PENDLETON ---- Seven of the nine Camp Pendleton Marines who have died in motorcycle crashes since October didn't take a required basic riding course, a base motorcycle safety leader said Thursday.

Kevin Frantum, speaking at a daylong forum held in response to a record number of motorcycle deaths nationwide involving Marines, said all Marines are required to take a three-day basic rider course or a one-day experienced rider course before they are allowed to ride on or off base.

But Frantum said the seven Marines who died in the past year defied orders and were riding before they completed a course.

At a morning briefing, several speakers noted that speed and inexperience contributed to many of the recent Marine motorcycle deaths.

"Explain why seven of my nine fatalities were untrained riders?" Frantum challenged the audience.

Someone in the audience shouted that it was hard to get into one of the overbooked classes quickly. That remark met with wide applause.

Frantum agreed the base needed to work on opening more classes.

Several speakers, including Frantum, said it was the responsibility of unit leaders to make sure the men and women they led followed base rules, riding only after completing the training.

"We have to police our own on motorcycles," Frantum said. "As a leader, are you willing to step up?"

One speaker, Sgt. Omar Bermejo, talked about a devastating June crash that left him with no feeling in his right arm. He said he was doing everything right, but happened to hit some dirt in the road that caused him to crash.

He seemed to be asking the audience to reconsider whether a motorcycle's thrills were worth its risks.

"For what it's worth, motorcycles are dangerous, " said the Marine who was deployed overseas four times before buying a motorcycle. "So, take it easy out there."

Peter Hill, a safety engineer based at Marine Corps Headquarters in Washington, D.C., said the popularity of lightweight, powerful sport-style motorcycles had contributed to the deaths. He said about 60 percent of the 24 fatalities this year were sport cycles that crashed in a curve.

"The most common scenario is that the person really doesn't have the skill entering or exiting the curve," Hill said. "And it's very hard to get on (a sport motorcycle) and ride gently."

A record 24 Marines have died in motorcycle crashes since Oct. 1, breaking the previous record of 19 fatalities set the year before.

The troubling statistics prompted Marine Corps leaders earlier this week to order base commanders to count their riders, with an eye to expanding motorcycle safety initiatives across the Corps.

Camp Pendleton and Miramar Marine Corps Air Station have about 5,500 civilians and Marines registered to ride on base, said Staff Sgt. Jesse Lora, a base spokesman.

Thursday's novel Motorcycle Fest was designed to make a more lasting impression than typical safety briefings, Lora said.

"We're hoping to improve morale and connect everyone on base who has a motorcycle," he said. "We've had safety presentations before, but there's never been anything where everyone who has a bike comes together like this."

All of the base's motorcycling Marines were required to attend the forum, Lora said. Exhibitors handed out energy drinks and hawked leather gear; stunt riders popped wheelies. There was breakfast and a barbecue lunch. Hundreds of participants toured the base in a poker run, with teams of riders collecting playing cards from seven stations, the highest hand the winner.

Cpl. Tyler Satterfield, a 22-year-old Marine, attended the event on his new Honda CBR 1000 sport bike, which he called a "rocket ship on two wheels."

"It's way too much motorcycle for one human," he joked.

He noted that he sometimes has trouble controlling the motorcycle, even though he rode for more than two years on a less powerful one before upgrading. He has seen many of his friends, flush with combat pay, come home from a deployment and buy a bike too powerful for their experience level.

"I tell them, 'I told you so,' after they crash," he said.

Contact staff writer Sarah Gordon at (760) 740-3517 or sgordon@nctimes.com

Ellie