May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month, an important event that aims to increase awareness of motorcyclists at a time of the year when large numbers of riders are taking to California’s streets, according to a press release from the California Highway Patrol.
The CHP’s primary mission is to prevent loss of life and injury to all motorists. That mission parallels the Strategic Highway Safety plan, a road map for improving safety on the state’s roadways that all state traffic organizations follow, according to the CHP. One element of the plan is to improve motorcycle safety.
“Our goal is to encourage the motoring public to be vigilant in observing motorcyclists on the road and to encourage all riders, new and returning, to get trained,” said California Highway Patrol Commissioner Joe Farrow in the release.
The CHP also released statistics county by county on accidents from 2004 to February 2007. In San Benito County during that time, there were 34 total collissions involving motorcycles, two fatal and another 27 with injuries. Compare that with Monterey County, where there were 107 total accidents and two fatalities in that time frame, or Alameda County where there were 9,488 total accidents.
