Tinker to offer sport bike safety course for Airmen 25 and younger

Published March 20, 2008
By Brandice J. Armstrong
Tinkrt Public Affairs

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE -- Tinker will follow the Air Force Materiel Command lead and host a new safety course for sport bike motorcycle riders.
   The course, which will likely be introduced at Tinker in mid-May, is aimed toward Airmen who are 25 years old and younger.
   "The sport bike motorcycle training course is geared to teach these younger Airmen how to ride a bike that has more power, a little more safely," said Lt. Col. Thomas Painter, 72nd Air Base Wing Safety chief. "It's the dos and don'ts of safety."
   Colonel Painter said the class will likely be held one Friday a month for 12 students. Each eight-hour course will be free to interested participants and will not require the participant to use leave time.
   The colonel said the classes are necessary because even though sport bike drivers are cautious when driving on base, the scenario doesn't always remain true when a rider leaves base.
   "My biggest concern is the folks who ride the bikes off base," Colonel Painter said. "We can tell young Airmen that the Department of Defense Instruction says, 'Thou shall not your ride your bike without helmets off base,' but when they're not in a controlled environment they don't always use good judgment.
   "If someone doesn't see them and correct them on the spot, we don't know about it," Colonel Painter said. "We need to get the word out to them that we expect all Airmen to ride following all the rules, all the time."
   Outside of Tinker's gates, the law only requires persons 17 years old and younger to wear helmets when riding a motorcycle.
   Yet, in 2006, there were 64 motorcycle fatalities in Oklahoma. Of them, 75 percent of the riders were not wearing helmets, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's 2006 Traffic Safety Facts.
   The same report showed more than 4,800 motorcyclists were killed in the United States in 2006, which was a 5 percent increase from 2005.
   Of the motorcycle mishaps at Tinker, about 75 percent of them involve sport bike riders, said Emily Wolfgeher, 72nd ABW chief of Ground Safety.
   If sport bike riders are aware of other facts - the faster a driver is going, the longer it will take to stop and too much throttle can cause a driver to lose control of the bike - accidents could be reduced, officials said.
   Currently the course is offered on a voluntary basis, but Colonel Painter said AFMC is considering making the course mandatory for all military members who ride sport bikes.