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Montana Motorcycle Safety Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes 2. October 19, 1999 Meeting Minutes 3. 2000 Training Season Update The MMRS website address has changed to http://motorcycle.msun.edu to be easier to find and remember. The new address also mirrors the e-mail address at motorcycle@msun.edu. The website soon will have incorporate the new brochure’s content, and add a “news” section. All 45 training motorcycles owned by MMRS are receiving full maintenance and repair this winter. An additional 2 Suzuki DR200SE training motorcycles were recently acquired from a dealer that supports MMRS with dealer-loan motorcycles. Three (perhaps 4) additional 22’ enclosed storage trailers will soon be ordered for use next season. Honda and the National Motorcycle Safety Fund recently donated 18 AGV helmets to MMRS. Range work is scheduled at most sites next spring. An agreement has been reached to establish a new training site at MSU-Bozeman. A new classroom is needed to re-establish the Butte training site, and a new range is needed (again) to keep the Helena training site open. Based on lots of local interest and some political help, MMRS may be able to establish a training site in Glendive for the 2000 training season. An Instructor Preparation class has been scheduled for May 11-14 and 18-20, 2000; Great Falls is the probable site. Following discussion with the Motorcycle Safety Foundation about problems with the IP process, MSF has offered to provide two of its staff trainers to conduct the May 2000 IP at no cost to MMRS. Recruitment has started with 6 possible candidates identified so far – 12 to 14 candidates are needed for the IP. 4. Plan for the Future of Motorcycle Rider Safety in Montana The primary constituents of MMRS services are the students who take rider safety training courses. The secondary constituents of MMRS services are (in order of importance): a) family members of students (particularly spouses of adult riders and parents of young riders); b) motorcycle rider groups (particularly groups that are politically active); and c) motorcyclists in general who pay the motorcycle vehicle and license fees that support MMRS. Following discussion, the MMSAC concluded that students and their family members were of the most importance to MMRS in achieving its mission of training the maximum number of new riders. 4.2. Target Groups Females constitute only about 9% of motorcyclists, but 37% of MMRS students in 1999 were female. Females also are a rapidly growing segment of new motorcycle sales, particularly among buyers of cruisers. New and re-entry middle-age riders (40-54 years old) are the largest segment purchasing new motorcycles, and constituted 41% of all MMRS students in 1999. Students in this group are generally unfamiliar with motorcycles, have ridden few miles, or have not ridden for many years. An important advantage that this group has over young riders is extensive traffic experience. Unendorsed riders are over-represented among accident-involved motorcyclists. Approximately 32% of motorcycle fatalities involve riders who are unendorsed (27%) or have no valid license (5%). The estimated proportion of unendorsed riders in Montana is estimated at 40%, compared to about 20% nationally. Traffic courts and judges may be willing to recommend or require rider training for riders convicted of riding without an endorsement. Anita Drews-Oppedahl suggested that State Patrol officers may be willing to distribute MMRS training brochures when making traffic stops of motorcyclists. The Committee concluded that young riders should be the primary target for special marketing and promotion, based on the assumption that teaching those young riders to ride more safely in the first place will produce safer riders in the long term. Secondary emphasis for special marketing should be directed to new and re-entry riders who share the inexperience of young riders. A final emphasis for special marketing should be directed to unendorsed riders for whom marketing opportunities are provided by traffic stops and courts. The Committee concluded that females were a subgroup of all riders, and that their evident interest in rider training did not warrant special marketing or promotion. More consideration will be given to targeting. The Committee will invite Albert Goke, the Governor’s Highway Safety Representative from DOT, to attend the next meeting and give his perspective on target groups, discuss ways to improve MMRS program effectiveness, and begin coordinating the MMSAC Plan for the Future of Motorcycle Rider Safety in Montana with other state traffic safety plans. 4.3. Licensing MMRS will place 25,000 promotional brochures in every driver’s license manual and motorcycle operator manual throughout the state. This will directly reach riders preparing for the motorcycle endorsement, young riders seeking their first driver’s license, and family members of riders. DOJ and MMRS are working on an arrangement whereby MMRS would train new driver license examiners on administration of the motorcycle endorsement rider skill test. MMRS also would provide update training to existing examiners annually. 4.4. Other Services Off-road training has the potential to be very big in Montana. The new MSF Dirtbike School is poised to provide this training based on the ATV delivery model. The Committee will further consider its role in this at the next meeting. 4.5. Service Delivery Options 5. Next Meeting 6. Adjournment |
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