Edmond motorcycle class is hitting the road

Off the Wire
News NORMAN — Edmond police are packing up their civilian motorcycle survival course and taking it across the state.
They have purchased a state-of-art mobile classroom thanks to a $150,000 federal grant from the Oklahoma Highway Safety Office. The 32-foot trailer was unveiled Tuesday in Norman at the annual highway safety meeting.
"We have had a silent epidemic that has taken place in Oklahoma,” said Edmond Police Chief Bob Ricks. "During the past decade, deaths by those using a motorcycle have increased 250 percent. This is a significant rise. Something must be done.”
Edmond police have been teaching civilian motorcyclists how to survive on the roadway since 2002. The course, which teaches skills used by police officers, is not for beginners, but riders with some experience.
"One of the ways to prevent motorcycle deaths is education,” Ricks said.
Scott Watkins, state highway safety director, said the state hasn’t done a very good job of educating motorcyclists and the other motorists on how to share the road.
"I think that we have been lacking in this state in the past — not anyone’s fault, we simply didn’t have the funding,” Watkins said.
State public safety leaders are working with legislators to get more funding for this program.

Highway safety statistics show that 1,978 motorcycle operators and passengers were involved in accidents in Oklahoma in 2008.
In 2008, there were 115,381 registered motorcycles, according to the Oklahoma Tax Commission. That’s a 14.3 percent increase over 2007.
The grant money also bought a 1¼-ton pickup to pull the trailer, two Harley Davidson Road King motorcycles, a generator and everything needed to present the course anywhere in Oklahoma.

The trailer is decorated with graphics displaying Edmond’s motorcycle officers riding their bikes. A portion of the money will pay the Edmond officers to teach the course.
"We can go anywhere,” said Dan Butcher, an Edmond motorcycle officer. "We can set up in the boondocks if we need to.”
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