The Texas Motorcycle Safety Coalition met on May 24 to discuss a number of items. Highlights include:

• Opening Remarks and New Member Introduction
• FY 2019 TxDOT Projects
• 2018 Motorcycle Safety Forum Recap
• 2019 Motorcycle Safety Forum; Establishing a Forum Planning Group
• Moving Forward with Motorcycle Safety: New Initiatives
• DPS Motorcycle Program Updates and Discussion: Sunset Review Committee Recommendations
• Adjournment

The meeting minutes are now available to download.

The TMSC serves as a public forum for addressing strategies to improve motorcycle safety; discusses effective programs, regulations, and other opportunities to improve motorcycle safety; reviews, proposes, and makes recommendations concerning motorcycle-related legislation; and serves to promote rider safety and inform the public about being aware of motorcycles and sharing the road safely.

Find minutes from other meetings here.

Join us for the Texas Motorcycle Safety Coalition (TMSC) meeting, May 24, 2018, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The meeting will be held in College Station, Texas, at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute in the Gibb Gilchrist Building, room 102. Both members and non-members are invited to attend the meeting.

Please RSVP to attend by emailing Christie no later than noon on Tuesday, May 22 and indicate if you will drive a State Vehicle, Personal Vehicle or Motorcycle so that we can have an accurate headcount and correct types of parking permits. This is very important because the permits have to ordered/picked up from TAMU Parking.

The agenda will be as follows:

10:00 – 10:10 AM | Opening Remarks & New Member Introduction | Chris Beiries TMSC Chair
10:10 – 10:35 AM | Fiscal Year 2019 TxDOT Projects | Jude Schexnyder TxDOT
10:20 – 10:35 AM | 2018 Motorcycle Safety Forum Recap | Michael Manser TTI
10:35 – 10:55 AM | 2019 Motorcycle Safety Forum: Establishing a Forum Planning Group | Cody Stewart TTI
10:55 – 11:10 AM | Break
11:10 – 11:45 AM | Moving Forward with Motorcycle Safety: New Initiatives | Michael Manser TTI
11:45 – 1:00 PM | Lunch and Networking
1:15 – 2:30 PM | DPS Motorcycle Program Updates & Discussion: Sunset Review Committee Recommendations | John Young DPS
2:30 – 3:00 PM | Open Discussion and Adjourn

501 motorcyclists died in 2017 in crashes on Texas roads

AUSTIN – As part of National Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month in May, the Texas Department of Transportation’s “Share the Road: Look Twice for Motorcycles” campaign is urging drivers to watch carefully for motorcycles. Crashes killed 501 and seriously injured another 2,101 motorcyclists in Texas last year.

“Nobody wants to take a life in a crash or lose a loved one,” said TxDOT Executive Director James Bass. “Motorcycles are small, they’re hard to see, and it can be difficult to judge their speed and distance. That’s why it’s critical that drivers take extra precautions to look twice for motorcycles, especially at intersections.”

Intersections are particularly risky areas for serious crashes involving motorcycles. From 2010 to 2015,

25 percent of crashes involving motorcycles occurred when one vehicle turned left in front of an oncoming motorcycle, likely due to the driver not seeing the oncoming motorcycle.

Motorcycle crashes also are more severe than other types of crashes because motorcycles lack the protective and safety features of other vehicles.

To help everyone arrive safely at their destination, TxDOT’s “Look Twice for Motorcycles” campaign urges drivers to:

• Look twice for motorcycles, especially at intersections.
• Always assume motorcycles are closer than they appear.
• Avoid turning in front of an oncoming motorcycle.
• Use turn signals and check blind spots before changing lanes.
• Avoid following a motorcycle too closely.
• Give motorcyclists a full lane.
• Obey posted speed limits.

This year’s “Look Twice for Motorcycles” campaign will conduct events around the state to coincide with National Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month and the start of the spring/summer driving season. The stops will feature a virtual reality game designed to educate motorists to look twice for motorcycles. Campaign tour stops are:

• April 26 – El Paso
• April 28 – San Antonio
• April 29 – Corpus Christi
• May 4 – Austin
• May 5 – Temple
• May 6 – Houston
• May 18 – Dallas-Fort Worth (Frisco)
• May 19 – Midland

To learn more about the campaign, visit TxDOT’s website.

For media inquiries, contact TxDOT Media Relations at MediaRelations@txdot.gov or (512) 463-8700.

The information contained in this report represents reportable data collected from the Texas Peace Officer’s Crash Report (CR-3). This information was received and processed by the department as of April 12, 2018.