Tired of seeing friends injured and killed, riders band together for awareness.
Alabama - Fred Love has lost too many friends to motorcycle accidents.
He worked out at the YMCA with Demetrice Banks, the Alabama State Trooper killed in an off-duty accident in 2008 when he was hit by a vehicle pulling out of a bank parking lot on McFarland Boulevard. He was friends with Doug Bates, the Tuscaloosa police officer who was killed on Easter Sunday when he lost control of his bike on a curve on a Hale County road.
Last week, another friend in Birmingham broke six ribs in a motorcycle crash.
Love and other members of the West Alabama Bikers Association hope that an awareness campaign will help reduce the number of motorcycle accidents.
The group hopes to raise money and awareness with a ride on Saturday sponsored by the bikers association, the West Alabama Traffic Safety program, the Tuscaloosa and Northport police departments, the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Office and the Alabama State Troopers.
Money raised will be used for fliers, posters, bumper stickers, billboards, and radio and television public service announcements that warn drivers about motorcyclists. The billboards would be similar to those used in other states with messages such as 'Your car can kill' and 'Look out for us. Please.'
'As a motorcycle family, we're trying to help save the lives of everybody,' Love said. 'We just want to make other drivers aware of us and to share the road with us.'
Love contacted Gov. Bob Riley, who put him in touch with Capt. Marc McHenry, assistant division chief of the State Troopers. McHenry wrote in a letter that motorcycle fatalities accounted for 6.3 percent of highway deaths in 2007 and 9.1 percent in 2008.
'With the high price of gasoline, residents have either elected or were forced to seek a less expensive mode of transportation such as carpooling, smaller more economical cars and motorcycles. Unfortunately, you can assume that a number of these people were inexperienced riders and unknowingly placed themselves in harmful situations that ultimately cost them their lives,' he wrote. 'Others regrettably were victims of someone else's negligence.'
Love hopes that the campaign will make motorists more aware of motorcyclists, and also encourage new riders to seek safety training, which is offered at Shelton State Community College.
'So many people go out and haven't had any training whatsoever. That's dangerous,' he said.
Registration for the ride will be at the Tuscaloosa Police Department at 11 a.m. Saturday. The ride begins there at noon and ends at 2 p.m. at the Northport Civic Center. Refreshments will be served. The scheduled speaker is Rick Randolph, manager of the Alabama Motorcycle Safety Program at the University of Montevallo's Alabama Traffic Safety Center.
Source: Tuscaloosa News
This article contributed by editor on Friday, April 24, 2009 (03:03:20)
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