District Educator Article

Promoting the Rider Education Program
By David Dirig

Greetings all! Hope you're having a great transition into summer. As we head into the summer months with the riding season in full swing, this is the ideal time to push rider safety on many levels. Last month I alluded to how we can all consistently and successfully promote rider safety and increase individual riding skills. There are a number of ways we can do this, and everyone will approach this with their own individual interpersonal skills/styles. Several basic themes relate, nevertheless in the interest of protecting your Chapter Members. This goes well beyond pins and patches and the rules/requirements of the Rider Education levels and relate more directly to decreasing the risk to your members. These are leading by example, by presentation, and by discussing issues one-on-one.

The first is the easiest and requires no interpersonal skills whatsoever. There's no talks or newsletter articles or active 'promotion.' It is simply a matter of consistently promoting rider safety through your own actions. The key word here is consistency. Moving your bike across the parking lot; did you put your helmet on? How about other safety gear when its hot or inconvenient? I was stopped by a previous District Educator and reminded of this 'Leading By Example' when moving my bike one day (without my helmet ;-). People look to us as examples of the Rider Education program, for better or worse. If we portray safety conscious riders at all times, then this promotes the Rider Education Program in its best light. If we cut corners and don't do as we profess, then this takes away from the program as well as our individual credibility. We represent the Rider Education Program every time we get on our bikes. Consistency between what you promote/present and how you ride is one of the strongest messages you as a leader can send to your chapter members. Will it be a message of Uncompromising Safety or one of "do as a I say, not as I do?"

Leading by presentation is the basic one-two punch of safety articles and safety talks. You have an opportunity once a month to increase the chapter's awareness of safety issues on a certain topic. You can use this opportunity to both write and talk about a certain topic, or cover two different topics. I generally try to write about one thing and talk about another, so I don't lose the interest of those who have already skimmed my article by the time I give my safety talk. Nothing however dictates that you must write this safety article yourself or come up with a stellar award-winning presentation. There are a lot of web sites that focus on rider safety, and a couple sites even have safety articles and how to tips that you can use (with proper recognition of the author) in your articles. Motorcycle Consumer News is another great source. Stand up and talk about this article. It doesn't matter if you repeat the same stuff; some people learn better reading, some learn better hearing the info. You cover them both ways in the interest of communication. If you don't write, maybe someone else in the chapter does; ask for volunteers at the next meeting, you may be surprised. This not only takes care of your article, but someone who is interested in writing articles or presenting on a given topic for you would make a great Assistant Chapter Educator, wouldn't they? I see some newsletters without a safety article; that's an opportunity to protect your chapter members that is lost forever. Good topics for this season - Riding gear, bad weather gear, riding in the heat, heat stroke signs and symptoms, maintenance, trailering precautions, group/team riding techniques, CB etiquette. The list goes on and on.....

The last topic is the most difficult; one-on-one promotion. This is the most difficult, but often the most effective when dealing with a safety issue. It is the most difficult because we all have a lot of pride and ego tied up in our ride and our riding style/skill. To have someone propose that you change this or point out something you are doing wrong can be bitter pill to swallow. Some will resist, some will argue, and most frustrating, some will ignore you completely!! We are educators, not enforcers, so one-on-one interactions should always be approached with the most tact and concern for the rider's feelings. Its not a matter of saying -- "hey you're riding in the wrong track," instead its pointing out what happens when 'someone' rides in the wrong track. "Oh and by the way, I noticed this when I was riding behind you on the last dinner ride." Although individual members' feelings are paramount, you must weigh the risk of offending someone against their riding style increasing the risk to the group. Someone who doesn't wear long sleeves is one thing, but someone who passes others in staggered formation or ignores group riding basics is a whole different animal. I won't take space to discuss this, as this is a topic for another article. If you get into a situation where you feel you must talk to someone about changing how they ride in the interest of chapter safety, its always a good idea to get a second opinion before you approach them. Capitalize on your CD/ACD as resources for this sort of thing. They may have other ideas/suggestions and act as good 'sounding boards' for how to approaching someone. Remember that Dori and I are also resources at your disposal; give us a ring. The only bad question is the one that goes un-asked.

A really good way to promote rider safety and increase individual riding skills is skills practices. Parking Lot Practices (PLPs) give you a forum in which everyone who attends is there to learn and improve their skills. The ego barriers are down, and everyone is there recognizing that the Educator is going to point out things and criticize in the interest of increasing riding skills. If you have any MSF instructors in your chapter, capitalize on this resource; additionally members who have taken an ERC may have suggestions for drills. The Skills Games are also a great set of drills to improve basic slow speed bike control. Beyond that, a dozen cones, a 100ft tape measure, and some children's chalk will set you up well for cornering drills. Check out the CA1F website for stories and details of our first few PLP's. On my website, there are also links to a couple of web sites where you can download the diagrams and layouts for a number of basic PLP drills.

The bottom line is that there are many ways to address/promote Rider Safety and protect your chapter members. Each of us will approach it with their own style and focus, but some basics apply to all of us. Through leading by example, capitalizing on those opportunities presented in a group setting, and working with people one-on-one to improve their riding skills, we can all effectively increase the awareness of safety issues within our chapter and decrease all our risk, riding safely and having fun. And that's the name of the game isn't it?

Until next month, Ride Safe and COAST (Concentrate On A Safe Trip).

David & Dori Dirig
ddirig@gwrra-ca1f.org