Motorcyclists Urged to Wear High-Visibility Gear in New Campaign
Contact: Lynn Sutfin, OHSP, (517) 241-1513
Agency: State Police
Issued: April 17, 2013
Motorcyclists are being urged to ride defensively and make themselves more easily seen by wearing high-visibility riding gear through the federally funded Ride Safe to Ride Again campaign. This is the first time the effort has urged the use of gear that enhances both daytime and nighttime visibility of motorcyclists to the motoring public and includes the use of colors such as fluorescent red, orange, yellow or green and retroreflective trim.
The Ride Safe to Ride Again campaign, sponsored by the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning (OHSP), recognizes that the best person to look out for a motorcycle rider's safety is the rider. In previous years, the campaign has concentrated on key skills riders need to know to avoid being injured or killed in a crash.
"Riders who wear high-visibility gear stand a better chance of being seen on the roadway," said Michael L. Prince, OHSP director. "No one intentionally pulls out in front of a motorcycle. They do it because they don't see the rider."
In Michigan, more than 10 percent of traffic fatalities annually involve motorcycles. The average age of motorcyclists killed is 43 and more than 90 percent of riders killed are male. In 2012, 129 motorcyclists died in traffic crashes, an increase from 109 in 2011.
In the last decade, motorcycle fatalities have increased largely because of a surge in motorcycle ownership. Many riders are Baby Boomers who are newly entering or re-entering riding. In recent years, OHSP has helped support state-sponsored training programs to increase opportunities for riders to get basic, remedial and advanced training.
The Ride Safe to Ride Again campaign features federally funded cable, television, radio and internet ads in Metro Detroit and West Michigan. From 2007 to 2011, almost half of all fatal and serious injury motorcycle crashes occurred in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Kent, Genesee, Washtenaw, Ottawa and Muskegon counties.
