The Wisconsin DOT continues to falter when it comes to motorcycle awareness.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation and its Motorcycle Safety Program continue to blindly cite the same old statistics put out by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) regarding motorcycle fatalities. They continue to push motorcycle helmets along with bright clothing and the like as some type of "silver bullet" to solve the motorcycle fatality problem even though they are unable to produce any hard evidence that those practices create any measurable difference. If the Wisconsin DOT and its Motorcycle Safety Program were really serious about saving lives, wouldn't you think that they would take a page from programs that are actually working and stop wasting valuable time and money pushing an agenda that has questionable results?
What has actually worked in reducing motorcycle fatalities then? Let's use Florida as a shining example. The state of Florida has made a concerted effort to lower the motorcycle fatalities in its state by launching a massive billboard campaign, state-wide distribution of public service announcements on radio and television as well as creating a massive "Share The Road" program to educate young automobile drivers. Florida's Motorcycle Safety Coalition also ramps up their activity during the busier months of the year. So what have been the results? Florida has dropped their fatalities by over 200 per year using this approach and continues to improve! Now those are real numbers you can get excited about! This is exactly what ABATE of Wisconsin has been doing for years and all with donated dollars.
So, how does the state of Wisconsin stack up? As far as a billboard campaign, the state of Wisconsin Motorcycle Safety Program has created no motorcycle awareness billboards while ABATE of Wisconsin has put up over 150 to date. In the public service announcement arena, the state of Wisconsin Motorcycle Safety Program has created none while ABATE of Wisconsin has PSA's playing in all major markets in the state on radio and television. ABATE of Wisconsin is very proud of its "Share The Road" program where it has educated over 45,000 drivers education students about motorcycle awareness while the state of Wisconsin Motorcycle Safety Program has done nothing. And while motorcycle fatalities are rising in the state, the Wisconsin Motorcycle Safety Advisory Council has suspended their meetings instead of increasing their efforts.
The state of Wisconsin and its Motorcycle Safety Program spends thousands of tax dollars every year yet they continue to sound the alarm that fatalities are out of control. Well then, maybe it's time for them to admit that the things they're doing aren't working. If the state of Wisconsin was really serious about motorcycle fatalities, then they should reallocate funds to programs that actually work or give it to motorcycle organizations that know how to get the job done.
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To learn how you can join ABATE of Wisconsin, please contact Dean Bartosh at 414-416-2940 or pubrel@abatewis.org or join on-line at www.abatewis.org
