SAFETY-SHOULD YOU BELIEVE THE HYPE

Written by Vic Motley, National Safety Director

Welcome to the AGWA Safety articles.  SAFETY you say? Booooriiiiiing!  Well I would have to agree that safety is not nearly as exciting as an accident.  I mean it just doesn’t compare with having your life flash before your eyes, watching in what seems like slow motion as death or serious bodily injury is speeding towards you, and as you try to think, take evasive action, or just get tunnel vision, it all seems to move so slowly, until those last split seconds.

Hi, I’m Vic Motley, your new AGWA National Safety Director.  I just got elected to this position without even running for it.  I guess I should have attended that meeting.  It could have been worse; they might have had the office of dogcatcher open.  I have only been in AGWA for a little over a year, but I would have to honestly say that I haven’t met a single member that I don’t like.  This organization has the format for a great member controlled organization and I feel fortunate to be a part of it.  I would say that I have probably ridden something in the area of 200,000 miles in my lifetime and I truly love it.  I served in another motorcycle organization from 1996 to 2001 as a ____ Tennessee State Rider Education Director.  I spent those years crisscrossing the state of Tennessee attending meetings and rallies and giving short safety seminars and encouraging folks to get on the safety program, take MSF courses, and also First Aid and CPR courses.  I already know what some of you are thinking, I don’t need one of those MSF courses, I am already a great rider, what could some clown with a bunch of books teach me about anything. Well I saw a lot of long time riders take the courses over those years and you might be surprised what they can teach you.  If you take those courses can you ride your motorcycle safely and without risk?  NO! Our sport of choice is a dangerous one and the better prepared you are, the better chance you have of doing what you love, and still getting home in one piece.  I have also had one person tell me at a meeting that there is no need to know CPR and first aid in the sport of motorcycling.  You know, when something goes wrong it is usually in the worst possible place and at the worst time, and I can tell you from experience there is no worse feeling than having a friend or loved one injured and not being able to do anything to help save their life.  I am not a writer, which probably shows by now, but I intend to spend the time I am in this position to do everything in my power to pass on information to all of you.  If the information that I provide only helps one person come home in one piece, then it will be more than worth it.

I will need your input to do these articles.  If you have information on any minor or major accidents on motorcycles in your chapter or area please write or email the details to me.  I don’t want full names, as I would never want anyone to use my name as someone who may have made a mistake.  I will need as much info as you have on the accident, as in time of day, what actions were taken, what contributing factors were involved such as speed, health, temperature, road conditions, and weather conditions.  I will list events without names and then see if any of you can send in responses to what caused the accident and what could have been done to avoid it.  You know experience is a great thing, I’ve heard it described as, something that happened that you remember so that when you make the same mistake over again you will recognize it.

People are creatures of habit and what we need to do is correct our bad riding habits and change them to good ones. 

Anyone wishing to summit an article about safety please do so, they will be welcomed.  I intend to try to keep my articles short so you don’t get too bored and lose interest.  You can also expect to see names listed here of the people already on the current Safe Miles program with total number of safe miles already ridden.  If you need to contact me or send in a story for this section I can be reached at Vic Motley, PO Box 8062, Hermitage, TN. 37076 or email at agwachptdtn@att.net.  Thank you for taking the time to read this and I look forward to hearing from you. 

Ride Safe

Vic