A couple of weeks ago, officers of the Berkeley Police Department were stationed throughout the city on streets with the highest rate of motorcycle accidents.
This operation came out of the growing issue of motorcycle fatalities in California. A CBS San Francisco article said that data has shown the causes of these accidents to be mostly:
- Speeding
- Unsafe turning
- Driving under the influence
- Inexperienced riding
If these are the causes of accidents, it would seem that police vigilance is not going to be the cure-all to our problem. Instead, the best way to decrease dangerous riding might be to improve the manner in which all motorists are driving out on the road. For motorcyclists, rider training is readily available to refresh your memory of the rules of the road. Such training is offered through the California Motorcyclist Safety Program, which can be contacted by visiting www.CA-msp.org.
The police may be able to catch and charge unsafe drivers and motorcyclists, but they can only address half the issue at hand with tickets and fines. It’s the motorists that will need to take on the challenge of safely sharing the road.
