thedrifter
03-18-09, 07:39 AM
Marines Add New Requirements For Motorcycle Riders
POSTED: 7:59 pm PDT March 16, 2009
MCAS Miramar -- Combat injury or death are always possibilities in a war, but far too many U.S. Marines are getting killed here at home while they're off-duty riding motorcycles.
Safety classes have been implemented but Monday, a new step was taken by the Marine Corps.
For owners of sport motorcycles, the twists and turns of Palomar Mountain are like ants to sugar.
Sadly, far too many riders never make it home and far too many have been Marines.
In fact, in a twelve-month period, more Marines died from motorcycle accidents than from enemy fire in Iraq.
“The first of October, the new fiscal year and my first week in the new fiscal year, we lost five Marines at Camp Lejeune on sport bikes,” said Gen. James Amos.
From now on, a new state-of-the-art motorcycle simulator will be the first step any Marine who wants to ride will have to take.
“Take a kid from Kentucky and throw him on the streets of San Diego on this great little motorcycle and what's going to happen to him?” asked General Amos.
The simulator is the first step. The Marines training, like the Navy’s, will also include a run on a motorcycle safety course for practical real-world experience and the reality that goes with it.
“It's not just a skills class, it's more about the risk offset trying to keep your skills as high as you can but still worrying about the risk or thinking about the risk and the consequences that goes with it,” said Mark Howell, of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation.
With a simulator, riders can learn to assess the risk without getting hurt.
“I can put in traffic heavy, light, night-time riding and after that we have test tracks. We've got merging onto a highway, exiting across a highway,” said Howell.
The thought was, if pilots can use simulators to increase their safety in planes, the same ought to be available for those who ride.
Ellie
POSTED: 7:59 pm PDT March 16, 2009
MCAS Miramar -- Combat injury or death are always possibilities in a war, but far too many U.S. Marines are getting killed here at home while they're off-duty riding motorcycles.
Safety classes have been implemented but Monday, a new step was taken by the Marine Corps.
For owners of sport motorcycles, the twists and turns of Palomar Mountain are like ants to sugar.
Sadly, far too many riders never make it home and far too many have been Marines.
In fact, in a twelve-month period, more Marines died from motorcycle accidents than from enemy fire in Iraq.
“The first of October, the new fiscal year and my first week in the new fiscal year, we lost five Marines at Camp Lejeune on sport bikes,” said Gen. James Amos.
From now on, a new state-of-the-art motorcycle simulator will be the first step any Marine who wants to ride will have to take.
“Take a kid from Kentucky and throw him on the streets of San Diego on this great little motorcycle and what's going to happen to him?” asked General Amos.
The simulator is the first step. The Marines training, like the Navy’s, will also include a run on a motorcycle safety course for practical real-world experience and the reality that goes with it.
“It's not just a skills class, it's more about the risk offset trying to keep your skills as high as you can but still worrying about the risk or thinking about the risk and the consequences that goes with it,” said Mark Howell, of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation.
With a simulator, riders can learn to assess the risk without getting hurt.
“I can put in traffic heavy, light, night-time riding and after that we have test tracks. We've got merging onto a highway, exiting across a highway,” said Howell.
The thought was, if pilots can use simulators to increase their safety in planes, the same ought to be available for those who ride.
Ellie