Next month’s Motorcycle Safety Day to be biggest yet

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Samuel Taylor
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. - --  Over the past 10 years, the Air Force has lost hundreds of service members - parents, children, siblings and spouses - to an indiscriminate killer. These lives were not lost on convoy operations or in firefights overseas, but on the streets of America. Too many deaths were completely preventable, yet all of them are never reversible. At Dover Air Force Base, Del., a group of service members has taken a stand to protect their brothers and sisters in uniform from a persistent foe - motorcycle accidents.

Their weapon - education, and a culture of riders that promotes it. Their classroom - Dover AFB's 7th Annual Motorcycle Safety Day taking place from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. April 13, 2012, where approximately 500 service members, civilians, and local and international venders are expected to attend. The day's events will include test rides, riding competitions, safety demonstrations and a cookout. According to Master Sgt. John Willard, chief motorcycle safety course instructor at Dover AFB, this year's Motorcycle Safety Day is truly unique.

"This year's event looks to be the biggest and best this base has ever seen, with more attendees, demonstrations, and activities than any previous [Motorcycle Safety Day]," said Willard. "However, underneath everything at the event, there is a core of riders who understand the whole goal of this day - keeping our brothers and sisters safe on the road."

Motorcycle Safety Day evolved from an Air Mobility Command requirement to host an annual safety briefing on motorcycle safety. Team Dover seized upon the chance to accomplish that requirement while hosting a celebration of the motorcyclist culture on base and within the local community. Seven years later, Motorcycle Safety Day has matured into a base-wide event showcasing the effort that helps Team Dover "keep the shiny side up."

For the past four years, Willard has been one of the many dedicated two-wheelers at Dover AFB who turn that goal into a reality. During that timeframe, Dover AFB was crowned Air Mobility Command's best motor cycle safety program four consecutive years, and produced two of AMC's rider coaches of the year. During fiscal year 2011, there were zero class A and B motorcycle accidents and more than a 35 percent reduction of total costs related to motorcycle mishaps. These results are the payoff of dedicated volunteers who allow Dover AFB to be one of the few non-contracted motorcycle safety programs in the Department of Defense.

The services we offer here are aimed at cultivating the best tool to keep a rider safe - their mind. A smart rider knows that it's natural to want to roll back on the throttle, yet does so at a safe venue, like a race track, instead of on the street, said Willard. It's not an orange safety vest that prevents disaster, it's an educated rider.

While hundreds of riders are already committed to next month's Motorcycle Safety Day, Willard's vision is to invite more riders throughout the DoD to share the event. With more participants receiving world-class education on motorcycle safety, more families, offices and squadrons may feel confident that the riders among them will arrive safely to their destinations, every time; all they have to do is attend.