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Show Motorcycle safety campaign to kick off April 3-4 programs will receive motorcycle safety materials including a video titled "A Driver's View of Motorcycling" Motor-cycling" produced by the AAA Foundation of Auto Safety. It explains ex-plains why motorcyclists must react differently to road conditions and how a motorist can share the road more safely with motorcyclists. The video will also be made available for loan in addition to other motorcycle safety materials, through the Bureau of Health Promotion Pro-motion and Risk Reduction, 538-6120, 538-6120, local departments of health, and Gold Wing Road Rider Association chapters. The Utah Gold Wing Road Riders Association and The Utah Coalition for Motorcycle Safety will kick off a campaign to remind motorists to "Keep an Eye Out for Motorcycles" on April 3 and 4 at Valley Fair Mall as part of the annual an-nual Honda Gold Wing Touring Bike Show. According to Rhonda Green-wcd. Green-wcd. Motorcycle Safety Program jffjilist for the Utah Department oSwealth, motorists have the roads to themselves during the long winter months, but when the weather weath-er warms up thousands of operators of motorcycles, scooters and mopeds will be sharing the road. New bumper stickers, fliers and litterbags for cars will be distributed at the mall show to remind motorists to be watchful of motorcycles. At least 50 new, restored or mint condition Gold Wing touring machines will be on display including in-cluding trailers, pop-up tents and other travel accessories used by Gold Wing riders. The Gold Wing Road Riders Association boasts over 350 members and 13 chapters in Utah and over 3,000 members in the region. The mall show will also include safety displays. Greenwood stated that automobile drivers cause most of the crashes with motorcycles. She cited several reasons: Motorcycles are smaller and harder to see, automobiles have blind spots that prevent motorists from seeing approaching ap-proaching motorcycles, and automobile drivers don't conscious ly look for motorcyclists. According to the Insurance Institute In-stitute for Highway Safety, 54 percent per-cent of all motorcyclist deaths occur in multiple vehicle crashes. About one-third involve cars turning left into the paths of oncoming motorcycles. motor-cycles. The most common accident between be-tween cars and motorcycles is at intersections in-tersections when a driver is making a left turn in front of a motorcvcle. More than half of all motorcycle-auto motorcycle-auto crashes involve drivers who say they either did not see the motorcycle at all or not until it was too late. The new safety materials are being be-ing distributed statewide through the Gold Wing chapters and the many health, safety and medical organizations of the Utah Coalition for Motorcycle Safety. "Keep An Eye Out for Motorcycles" fliers include in-clude these safety tips for motorists: Keep a safe distance from cycles. Check blind spots before turning, turn-ing, changing lanes, backing or parking. Be extra alert at intersections. Be prepared for the motorcyclist motor-cyclist to change directions or speed suddenly to avoid road hazards. Use extreme care when passing. Greenwood cited safety measures for motorcyclists as well: Wear brightly colored and reflective clothing. Allow plenty of time for signaling signal-ing intentions before turning. Create a cushion of space around front, sides and rear to give plenty of time to react in an emergency. Avoid riding in a motorist's blind spot Always wear a helmet, eye protection, pro-tection, boots or over-the-ankle shoes, gloves, jacket or long sleeve shirt and long pants. Turn on headlights even during the day. She said both motorcyclists and automobile drivers should avoid tailgating. Both should keep at least one car length behind for every 10 miles per hour of speed. Motorcyclists Motor-cyclists should avoid sharing lanes with automobiles or weaving in and out of traffic. High school drivers' education |