Fatalities drive home need for biker safety
Women gather for group ride during awareness month
A fatal accident in Richmond last week involving a motorcyclist didn’t deter a group of women B.C. riders from taking part on in a group ride this Saturday — but it was a stark reminder about the importance of road safety.
“When motorcycles ride, we always give each other a wave and we always help each other,” said Melly Kage, one of the organizers of the International Female Ride Day event in Vancouver. “We always feel sad if something happens to someone, even if we don’t know them.”
The global event, which celebrated its 10th anniversary this year since being launched by Motoress Magazine, was launched to encourage more women onto motorbikes. Another all-female ride took place in Victoria on Saturday.
It also takes place during Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month, which aims to raise awareness of safe practices — among bikers and other road users. It’s particularly important in an area like B.C.’s South Coast, where the mild climate makes for a longer riding season.
“It’s the time of year when everyone’s pulling out their bikes and getting going,” said Brian Antonio, director with ProRide Motorcycle Training, where a number of Vancouver police and RCMP officers have been trained.
“We train habits. There’s a lot of safe riding habits you can learn,” Antonio said, adding that motorcyclists often get into trouble when they transfer bad habits from driving a car or dirt bike.
Last Tuesday, Richmond RCMP were called to a crash between a public transit bus and a Harley Davidson. The motorcyclist, a man in his early 40s from Fort McMurray, Alta., was taken to hospital with serious injuries but did not survive.
Days later, a video surfaced online of another motorcyclist being arrested by Vancouver police for allegedly speeding dangerously and evading police.
According to the most recent ICBC statistics, there were 2,200 crashes in B.C. in 2013 that involved a motorcycle. Of those, there were 1,500 injured riders, drivers or passengers, and 29 fatalities.
This week, Burnaby RCMP is hosting a Motorcycle Safety Skills Challenge over two days, where anyone with a Class 6 licence and a motorcycle can try out their riding skills on an obstacle course.
On Friday, a women’s only riding challenge will be open 2-6 p.m. at the Burnaby Rugby Club. It’ll be open to all on Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m.
Kage, who attended the event last year, called it a “humbling” experience. “Those guys know how to ride their bikes,” she said.