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Show minimum federal skill standards for all cycle riders. Jack Ford, manager of California's Improved Motorcyclist Licensing and Testing Project, insists it takes a much higher skill level to operate a motorcycle than a car." His pilot project, funded by a NHTSA grant, requites two out of every three people in Sacramento and San Diego applying for a motorcycle license for the first time to take a three-hou- r training course in how to turn and accelerate, start on a hill, and other cycle exercises. Ford claims the 45,000 who've undergone training over the last three years have experienced a "substantial accident re- Cycle Safety Tips Regardless of state law, wear a helmet with reflectorized tape any time you ride, plus a face shield or goggles. Wear gloves, bright jacket, sturdy trousers, boots or over-the- - shoes. Passengers should do the same. Ride with headlight on at all times and sweep eyes looking for potential hazards. Never borrow a motorcycle or loan out yours. urtlcle side-to-sid- e Know how to find and use all controls by feel or touch clutch, switch, brakes, turn signals. You cant take your eyes off the road to look for them. Never ride in a group larger than four cycles. Never drink and ride. engi- ne-cutoff advertisement SM CBS duction." But safety experts and motorcyclists agree rider education and skill testing alone won't keep the bikers out of trouble, especially if they doa lot of city riding. USC's Dr. Hurt claims it's rarely the cy- MES clist's fault he's hit by a car: "In 68 percent of the urban inif tersection accidents, the motorcyclist isn't doing anything wrong. He just heads into the intersection, and some sucker pulls out from a side street or turns left in front of him and wham!" Law enforcement officers and motorcyclists maintain that automobile drivers may look right at the cyclist and not see him. Dr. Hurt notes: "In most accidents, the car driver rushes out and says, 'I didn't see him, didn't see him.' The motorcyclist says he made eye contact with the I driver, so he thinks he was hit intentionally Not true. Onlyl percent of the motorcycle accidents we've studied have been intentional hits. Mostly, the car driver is looking for cars and does not really see PARADE MAY 11. 1979 21 anti-ski- d g Iron poor blood is the most widespread nutritional ailment in America today. And taking vitamins cant help, because vitamins dont contain iron. Take Geritol, every day. Geritol is so rich in iron, each tablet contains more iron than even a pound of calfs liver. Plus vitamins important to your health. Geritols iron will actually build your blood back to normal. Thats what makes it different from just plain vitamins and so important to you. the cyclist." Some people feel the motorcycle itself should be made safer, with brighter lights and horns that blast like car horns. Ed Youngblood, government relations director for the American Motorcyclist Association, says a recent effort to get motorcycle lights a higher candlepower rating was blocked by the National Highway Traffic Safety which did okay Administration, brighter illumination for auto headlights. William Dutcher feels that two one at each end of the headlights handlebars might make motorcycles look wider, hence safer, since car drivers look for "wide, horizontal movement." Jim Turner, founder of the Montgomery Street Motorcycle Club, a group of some 40 San Francisco businessmen, says visi bility is the problem. Reflective tape on the motorcycle, reflectors built into the helmet and stitched into riding jackets and pants would be a big help, he says. "The machine itself is for safety. You could always build a giant roll cage around the rider, but that would de feat the feeling of freedom, the exhilaration." However, the major manufacturers have engineered new advances designed to let the motorcyclist concentrate on traffic and road conditions. Newer cycles have automatically canceling turn signals, kickstands that retract automatically when the motorcycle moves forward, and outside turn signals that continually glow like parking lights. Disk brakes are now standard, but a new brakingsystem isonthedraw-inboard and may hit the market by 1981. Automatic transmissions are under development. One manufacturer already has a shaft-drive- n motorcycle, which eliminates the danger of breaking a chain, and an emergency shutoff switch- if the cycle falls over. Meanwhile, Bill Mitchell, retired General Motors chief designer who was responsible for the Corvette and Cadillac Seville during his tenure, insists the motorcycle of tomorrow will be a safe 42-ye- "three-whe- commutercy-cl- e where two passengers sit Until then, he ." is pushing his patented helmet mounted with a periscope "so you'll have your own rearview mirror that will see everything." In spite of technological and legal advancements, motorcycle safety is still very much up to the individual biker. The dangers aren't lost on even the most avid motorcyclist. Anthony Hamded, for instance, is shopping these days for his first car. His souped-u- p "hog" is for sale. "I can no longer get on a bike and feel comfortable," he says. "Before, when I saw someone on a motorcycle. I'd get this rush of excitement. Now, when I see a biker especially without a helmet I get 1? this rush of fear." , |
