Texas Motorcycle Safety Coalition Meeting

Name: Texas Motorcycle Safety Coalition Meeting
Start: 2026-06-11T10:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-06-11T12:00:00-05:00
Location: Texas A&M Transportation Institute

June 11 @ 10:00 am - 12:00 pm CDT

Location

Texas A&M Transportation Institute
1111 Rellis Parkway
Bryan, TX

Map/Directions (Google Maps)

Organizers

Texas A&M Transportation Institute Texas Department of Transportation

Texas Motorcycle Safety Coalition Meeting Minutes

June 11, 2026, 10:00 am – noon
Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Headquarters RM 1140 & Teams

Welcome & Agenda

Cathy Brooks welcomed attendees to the meeting and invited everyone to introduce themselves.

Safety Minute: The 100 Deadliest Days of Summer

The 100 Deadliest Days of Summer
Crash risks increase during the summer months. There are more young drivers and motorcycle riders sharing the road during the summer. Talk with young drivers about staying focused, limiting distractions and making safe choices. As riders, be extra alert to how the drivers around you are acting and give yourself the extra time and space to respond to changing conditions.

Task Force Update

NHTSA Statewide Motorcycle Safety Self-Assessment.

Thank you to all the task force members who provided information and referrals to conduct a self-assessment of the Texas Motorcycle Safety Program. This work will go a long way to help the state evaluate the current state of the overall state program and prepare for a potential NHTSA formal assessment. Additional TTI staff have been asked to help assemble the information to present to TxDOT. We hope to have the approval to share with the coalition at the next meeting on August 27th.

Guest Speaker: Nathan Schultz, “Development and Evaluation of Crashworthy Steel Railing for Use on Top of Barriers”

Nathan Schulz gave a presentation on a recent project TTI conducted which developed and tested an improved railing on top of concrete barriers. These railings can be used by pedestrians or workers, but could pose a hazard to motorcyclists if they collide with the barrier. The goal of the new design was to design a railing that would be safer for motorcyclists as well as passenger vehicles in the event of a crash. Several designs were evaluated, first with computer simulations, then with full-scale crash tests using an instrumented crash test dummy on a motorcycle.

Forum Report

Cathy Brooks provided some highlights from the 2026 Motorcycle Safety Forum, including the 2026 award winners: Safety Champion Mark Dumdie, Motorcycle Safety Manager for Goodfellow AFB, and Difference Maker Dennie Spears, former motorcycle shop owner, motorcycle instructor, and racing mentor. Sessions included presentations from Bot Auto, Bosch, the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, and others. More information on the Forum can be found at https://www.looklearnlive.org/event/2026-texas-motorcycle-safety-forum/.

Announcements

Look Twice yard signs are all gone! Thank you to all who helped distribute this year. If the next year contract is awarded, we hope to have more by the end of this year.

If you are or know someone who is about to take a course for their motorcycle license, there are eight spots still available to take paid surveys as part of the Unlicensed to Ride study. Eligible participants are enrolled, but have not started, in a state-approved motorcycle safety course. There are other eligibility requirements. If you are interested or would like to receive more information, please contact the project team at [email protected]. The deadline to take the class and surveys is August 15, 2026, but availability might run out sooner.

Open Forum

No one had any comments for the open forum.

Adjourn

If you have any topic ideas for future meetings (or the Forum), please send them to Cathy ([email protected]) or Laura ([email protected]).

Ride safe and have a great rest of your week!