December 6, 2023
A motorbike that crashed in Cortez Hill in 2018. Picture: OnSceneTV

Forward of “Nationwide Motorbike Trip Day” on Saturday, the California Freeway Patrol has introduced a federally funded program to encourage security on the 2 wheelers. 

The year-long program, “Get Educated and Trip Secure VI” (GEARS), will function statewide.

The GEARS VI targets are designed to scale back the variety of motorcycle-involved crashes and crash victims.  In the newest out there information, there have been 7,639 motorcycle-involved crashes, leading to 381 deaths and 6,969 accidents inside CHP jurisdiction.

That’s an 8% enhance from the earlier 12 months. The numbers are based mostly on provisional information from the federal fiscal 12 months that resulted in 2022.

“Motorbike riders are statistically extra prone to be injured or killed when concerned in a crash,” mentioned CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee.  “The GEARS VI grant will assist the division’s efforts to enhance security for bike riders and different street customers by centered training and enforcement.”

Through the grant interval, the CHP will enhance bike security actions in areas with a excessive variety of bike incidents and take part in visitors security training campaigns. 

As well as, this system will promote using U.S. Division of Transportation-compliant helmets and lift driver consciousness of sharing the street with motorcyclists. 

The CHP additionally will enhance enforcement in areas with elevated numbers of bike crashes which resulted from pace, improper turns and driving inebriated and/or medicine.

Funding for this system was offered by a grant from the California Workplace of Visitors Security by the Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration.