We talked about this just a few weeks ago, in the context of the MSF classes. This article was published in the 10/25/08 edition of the NYT:
October 26, 2008
For Some in the Military, Danger Is Seen Off Duty, Too
By SARAH M. RICHARDS
WASHINGTON — Whether Seaman Greg Harm knows it or not, the military is worried about him. And it is not because of what he does when he is working as an aviation technician stationed at Andrews Air Force Base.
It is what he is doing when he is not at work: riding a 2003 Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle that can reach speeds of 160 miles per hour.
So many members of the armed forces have been dying on sport bikes like the Ninja that the Navy and Marines have made special training mandatory for sport bike riders this year. In one weekend in September, the Navy lost four men in sport bike accidents.
Some military officials are concerned that industry pressure to sell motorcycles and lax state licensing are allowing riders with poor skills on the road.
Dale Wisnieski, a former motorcycle police officer in Virginia who manages the Navy program, began developing it last year with the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, an industry financed nonprofit group that oversees motorcycle training in most states.
“We’ve got machines right now that are governed at 187 miles per hour that you can buy on a showroom floor in our country and not even have a motorcycle license to buy it,” Mr. Wisnieski said.
Seaman Harm, 23, who returned in March from four months in Afghanistan, paid $2,900 for his motorcycle.
“I always wanted one and my friend was selling it for cheap, so I bought it,” Seaman Harm said. “I love the rush, having it.”
He was participating in the new program, held at the Anacostia Naval Station here.
In the last 12 months, 50 of the 58 sailors and marines killed on motorcycles were on sport bikes, which are faster and easier to maneuver than their cruiser counterparts. The Army, which also has a training program, lost 36 soldiers in sport bike accidents in the same time period.
The accidents follow a pattern: excessive speed, poor cornering and insufficient braking.
Tracy Martin, who runs a private riding program aimed at high-performance motorcycles, said an Air Force safety official told him that he could predict who was going to die next.
“He said it would be a guy under 25, working in maintenance, he’d have a sport bike, and he’d own it for about a month,” Mr. Martin said. “He said, ‘The only thing I don’t know is his name.’ ”
Concern in the military grew so great that Navy officials went to Irvine, Calif., last November to meet with members of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation. Collaboration among Navy, Army and Motorcycle Safety Foundation officials led to the creation of the Military Sportbike Rider Course a few months later.
Military personnel already have stricter motorcycle regulations than civilians. To take a motorcycle on base, riders must have at least passed the beginners’ course offered by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation. They must also wear helmets, regardless of state law.
Nevertheless, officials say, many simply ride without a motorcycle license when they are off duty.
During the recent sport bike class at Anacostia, two trainers stood in the middle of a large concrete lot as military helicopters buzzed overhead. The 12 students were either military personnel or civilians working for the Navy.
The riders had spent the morning in a classroom discussing issues like risk assessment and were now practicing braking and cornering.
“We’re really trying to find a way to touch these soldiers and sailors and get a handle on this because it’s a shame,” said Bridget Hunke, one of the instructors. “They go overseas, go into combat, come back, and they get killed on a motorcycle.”
Some officials theorize that military personnel returning home from a war zone turn to sport bikes for an adrenaline rush. “How long does it take you after you leave that neighborhood to kind of loosen up?” said Wayne Miller, a retired marine who ran motorcycle safety at Camp Pendleton. “Can you imagine being in an environment for eight months, not knowing whether you’re going to come home or not, and then having to flip a magic switch?”
Military officials say that they have not been able to link combat experience to sport bike fatalities, and that some of the deaths have involved people with no combat experience.
Mr. Wisnieski said that there had been a rise in sailors registering sport bikes and that it was difficult to pinpoint a specific cause behind the fatal accidents.
“Individuals have served overseas two and three times,” Mr. Wisnieski said. “So at what point do they buy their motorcycle? Do they buy it after the first time? Second? Or third?”
Of the 17,000 estimated sport bike riders in the Navy and Marines, roughly 1,600 have taken the new course. One of the four sailors killed in September was a recent graduate.
“The military sport bike course is not the silver bullet to our problem,” Mr. Wisnieski said.
Motorcycle licenses are relatively easy to obtain in the United States. In other countries, including Britain, beginning riders are generally restricted to smaller, less powerful motorcycles.
Ray Ochs, the director of training systems at the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, is doubtful that stricter licensing would reduce fatalities. “They don’t have any better record — at least it’s not documented — than we do in this country” Mr. Ochs said.
Mr. Miller said that he, too, was wary of government intervention but that he thought limiting beginners to smaller motorcycles might help reduce fatalities. “What that does is allow riders to stay alive long enough to buy a third, fourth and fifth bike,” Mr. Miller said. “What a novel idea.”
