Motorcycle Safety is Important in the Mountain State
From The Governor’s Desk
A weekly column by Gov. Joe Manchin
Charleston, WV (HNN) -- West Virginia had a long and grueling winter this past season. Many of our citizens spent time digging out from record snowfall that blanketed our highways and neighborhoods. With that behind us, thousands of our citizens will now take to clearer roads, not only in cars and trucks, but also on motorcycles.
Recently, I was pleased to join a group of motorcycle enthusiasts and officials from the West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles to proclaim April as Motorcycle Awareness Month.
Since the weather has warmed up, this is a great time to encourage motor vehicle operators to be cautious and aware of bikers, especially during their seasonal return to West Virginia roads and highways.
All of our motorcyclists have safety courses which they must complete in order to travel our highways and byways, and these safety procedures are very important to ensuring a safe riding experience. It is important that all motorists stay alert, use common sense and following driving laws. Our lives depend on it.
The West Virginia Motorcycle Safety Program offers motorcycle rider courses developed by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation and taught by certified, professional instructors in seven locations across the state.
Currently there are at least 55,000 registered bikes in our state. In 2009, approximately 2,000 people completed the safety program’s basic and experienced rider courses, and there has been more than a 40 percent increase in ridership since 2004.
Safety is the upmost importance while biking, and as a fellow motorcycle enthusiast, I always practice standard safety procedures while riding. As I approach an intersection, I flash my headlamps from low beam to high beam. This is just one extra personal safety practice that I do in order to alert drivers. In addition to following the common safety procedures of riding motorcycles, all riders must do their part to develop personal safety practices to prevent an accident.
Motorcycle tours have been a fast-growing segment of our tourism economy and I believe that it is a great way to showcase the Mountain State to the people across the nation.
We have a bounty of natural beauty and adventure to offer here in West Virginia and enhancing our motorcycle riding industry is another way people can experience the richness of our great state.
I want to thank all of the hardworking people that coordinate the West Virginia Motorcycle Safety Program and the West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles for their diligence to inform and educate motorcycle riders and all motor vehicle operators.
Working together, we will continue to make biking as safe as possible in West Virginia. As they say, live to ride and ride to live!