Motorcycle Awareness Month

This year, September is Motorcycle Awareness Month. Here’s the good oil on what it’s all about. 

Our time in the sun

For many of us, September marks the start of the real riding season. Whether that’s after a winter lay-off or taking the opportunity to ride more often or for longer.

That’s why we've decided to make September Motorcycle Awareness Month (MAM). Why do we need an awareness month? For safety. This time of the year motorcycle crashes, injuries and fatalities pick up. It's because more and more riders get out on the roads.

Riding is also becoming more popular. This increases motorcycle-related crashes, deaths and injuries. It went up 60% in the last decade. When you figure that we account for less than 3% of road traffic, but 17% of deaths and 10% of injuries, you can see the problem. This year, 22 riders have died in road crashes.

While Ride Forever continues to do its bit with rider coaching, there’s a pressing need to improve the statistics. Hence Motorcycle Awareness Month. The Motorcycle Safety Advisory Council (MSAC) and local councils are supporting us to promote MAM. For more information you can visit the website here Motorcycle Awareness Month (MAM) website. You can also show your support for Motorcycle Awareness Month with the Helmet me App  here .

 Why awareness matters

What’s the deal with awareness? There are a few aspects to it, covering riders and other road users. Ride Forever has the Get Ride-Ready promotion. Get Ride-Ready has two special offers. One is a free, no-obligation, 10-point safety check at participating dealerships nationwide. The other is a special online code to get your choice of Ride Forever course free. 

The Get Ride-Ready promotion

These two offers aim to improve rider skills and avoid mechanical failures that might cause a crash. We want to improve awareness of the value of training and checking your bike over thoroughly. Especially at the start of riding season.

We're not just aiming the campaign at riders. We'll be pushing a ‘Look Twice for ‘Bikes’ message to other road users. We'll emphasise how spotting a motorcycle is harder than spotting larger vehicles.

We'll tell other road users  to look out for bright yellow helmets popping up in unusual places around the country.  It's to remind them that bikes can appear unexpectedly, and to keep an eye out for them. For riders, it's  a reminder that we’re not always seen and to ride accordingly. It will also show that's it's easier to see  a bright yellow helmet than a darker colour, such as charcoal grey. 

Other initiatives

MAM coincides with a major push from the Motorcycle Safety Advisory Council (MSAC) called Ride & Decide.

Ride & Decide brings together key figures from the world of motorcycling for their input into safety initiatives.

Find out more about Ride & Decide

MAM will also play a role in the Ride Forever NZ Motorcycle Show in September.

The NZ Motorcycle Show 2017

 Top motorcycle safety tips

• All The Gear, All The Time (ATGATT). Always make sure you’re wearing proper motorcycle clothing with impact and abrasion resistance, visit Rock the Gear 
• Full-face helmets. Why wear anything less when 34.6% of cranial impacts in motorcycle crashes are to the face and chin?
• No drugs, no alcohol and don't ride if you're tired or not in the right frame of mind. Riding a motorcycle takes skill. It also demands all your attention, and your physical and mental commitment.  
• Ride Forever coaching. Delivered by the best instructors in the country, always a fun and challenging day out. Gets you up to $50 off your insurance with many providers, and usually only costs $20 or $50 for a value up to $300. Except right now it’s free, as part of getting Ride Ready for spring.
  More about Ride Forever coaching