May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month, but you wouldn’t know that from foillowing the news. This week, there have been five motorcycle crashes, four in which the motorcyclists died. Richard Sturgeon and Joseph Gonzales, spokesmen for the New Mexico Motorcyclist Rights Association, say the uptick, in part, is that there are suddenly more motorcycles on the road this time of year.”It’s also partly the motorcyclists themselves,” Sturgeon said. “They haven’t been riding and, you know, all of a sudden they get on thebike and zoom off and are not prepared for the roads as they should be.”The month’s motto urges motorists to watch out for motorcycles, but when a report on a crash says speed was a factor, Gonzales says that it could be the bike or the vehicle.”What’s that thing saying?” Gonzales said. “Check twice. Save a life. Meaning what? One car and one bike. You know, everybody needs to check, not just one side or the other. We’re supposed to share the road.”LED billboards and DOT slogans are a reminder, but Sturgeon was principal in bringing the message to a year-round medium that’s most relevent: license plates for motorcycles and vehicles.”One day I was driving along and I got behind a vehcicle that had a specialty plate for, I believe it was autism, and it just clicked that why could’nt we get a motorcycle awareness plate so that if a driver is behind you, they’re going to see that plate whether you’re in a car or on a motorcycle,” Sturgeon said. It took a bill being passed by the legislature, and permission to use the Zia image, but all the money raised by the plates going to classes for motorcycles awareness done through the Motorocycle Safety Foundation, as well as signs proting safety, Sturgeon said. Information on the plates is avilable online at mvd.newmexico.gov.
May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month, but you wouldn’t know that from foillowing the news.
This week, there have been five motorcycle crashes, four in which the motorcyclists died.
Richard Sturgeon and Joseph Gonzales, spokesmen for the New Mexico Motorcyclist Rights Association, say the uptick, in part, is that there are suddenly more motorcycles on the road this time of year.
“It’s also partly the motorcyclists themselves,” Sturgeon said. “They haven’t been riding and, you know, all of a sudden they get on thebike and zoom off and are not prepared for the roads as they should be.”
The month’s motto urges motorists to watch out for motorcycles, but when a report on a crash says speed was a factor, Gonzales says that it could be the bike or the vehicle.
“What’s that thing saying?” Gonzales said. “Check twice. Save a life. Meaning what? One car and one bike. You know, everybody needs to check, not just one side or the other. We’re supposed to share the road.”
LED billboards and DOT slogans are a reminder, but Sturgeon was principal in bringing the message to a year-round medium that’s most relevent: license plates for motorcycles and vehicles.
“One day I was driving along and I got behind a vehcicle that had a specialty plate for, I believe it was autism, and it just clicked that why could’nt we get a motorcycle awareness plate so that if a driver is behind you, they’re going to see that plate whether you’re in a car or on a motorcycle,” Sturgeon said.
It took a bill being passed by the legislature, and permission to use the Zia image, but all the money raised by the plates going to classes for motorcycles awareness done through the Motorocycle Safety Foundation, as well as signs proting safety, Sturgeon said. Information on the plates is avilable online at mvd.newmexico.gov.
