News
Motorcycle Awareness Month
By Mario
This year, September is Motorcycle Awareness Month. Heres the good oil on what its all about.
News
By Mario
This year, September is Motorcycle Awareness Month. Heres the good oil on what its all about.
This year, September is Motorcycle Awareness Month. Heres the good oil on what its all about.
For many of us, September marks the start of the real riding season. Whether thats after a winter lay-off or taking the opportunity to ride more often or for longer.
Thats 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, theres 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 .
Whats 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.
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 were 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.
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.