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Texas Motorcycle Safety Coalition Meeting
April 8, 2022 @ 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm CDT
Location
Y.O. Ranch Hotel & Conference Center
2033 Sidney Baker St.
Kerrville
Organizers
Texas A&M Transportation Institute Texas Department of Transportation No cost to attendThis TMSC meeting was held at Y.O. Ranch Hotel & Conference Center in Kerrville, TX and virtually on MS Teams. Thank you to everyone who participated!
Texas Motorcycle Safety Coalition Meeting Agenda
Date: April 8, 2022
Time: 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. (CST)
Location: Y.O. Ranch Hotel & Conference Center
1:00 – 1:05 PM Opening Remarks & Introductions (Chris B.)
1:05 – 1:15 PM Business
-Coalition Chair Nominations due
-Task Force Update (Cathy B.)
1:15 – 1:30 PM Motorcycle Strategic Action Plan Activity Part 1
1:30 – 2:30 PM Reducing Impaired Riding Toolkit Activity
2:30 – 2:40 PM Break
2:40 – 3:40 PM Motorcycle Strategic Action Plan Activity Part 2
3:40 – 3:55 PM TDLR Instructor Recruitment Activity
3:55 – 4:00 PM Announcements & Open Forum (open)
-Next meeting August 11th, MS Teams (New Chair vote)
4:00 PM Adjourn Coalition
4:00 – 4:15 PM Task Force Chair vote
Texas Motorcycle Safety Coalition Meeting Agenda
Date: April 8, 2022
Time: 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. (CST)
Location: Y.O. Ranch Hotel & Conference Center
Opening Remarks & Introduction (Chris Beireis)
Chris Beireis welcomed everyone to the TMSC meeting and apologized for the technical difficulties for the online attendees. Approximately 42 people attended the meeting, 26 in person and 16 via MS Teams. An attendee list is attached to these minutes.
Business (Cathy Brooks)
Coalition Chair Nominations Due
Cathy spoke to new Chair Nominations being due that day to be voted on at the next Coalition meeting in August. The new Chair to take responsibilities in October. She also shared that Chris Beireis had been filling the position for the past 6 years.
Task Force Update
The Impaired Rider project started last year that had run into some difficulties should be moving forward shortly. Once the human subjects research application is approved, the survey would go out and the results would be provided to the Task Force for next steps.
Motorcycle Strategic Action Plan Activity Part 1 (Cathy Brooks)
Cathy explained that the 2016-2021 Texas Strategic Action Plan for Motorcycles had expired. TTI was working on the new 2022-2027 plan and asking the TMSC for their assistance. The participants were divided into four working groups in person and one online to review proposed countermeasures under each of the eleven categories from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Uniform Guidelines. Each group was given the list of countermeasures and a tablet on which to complete and online survey. The purpose to eliminate any countermeasures they felt would not apply or be feasible in Texas and add any countermeasures that would likely work and benefit Texas. This task took longer than expected and continued until the break.
Reducing Impaired Riding Toolkit Activity (Laura Higgins)
Laura explained how this project came from discussions in previous TMSC meetings about community based countermeasures that could be put into place to start preventing some of the deaths and injuries
from impaired riding. How as a result of that discussion, TTI proposed this project and it got funded by TxDOT this year. The types of stakeholders identified were motorcycle clubs, motorcycle related businesses, like dealerships and gear sales, event organizers, and even individuals.
She went on to explain what had been done to date in the projects. Including crash analysis, looking specifically at crashes involving a rider that was impaired by alcohol and an online survey of stakeholders. Based on the survey results, some additional interviews were conducted. A search for what other what had been done outside of Texas was conducted. From this information, three items would be created, two of which would be the focus of the meeting’s activity.
Items to be created:
• Toolkit of community-based strategies – to review
• Outreach materials (online/social or print) – to review
• Outreach video (in progress)
Toolkit of community-based strategies (refer to TMSC Meeting Presentation for more details)
Members were given the following considerations when reviewing the Toolkit ideas.
- Who is it for?
- Motorcycle clubs
- Event/ride organizers
- Motorcycle dealerships
- Motorcycle gear shops
- Restaurants/bars/pubs
- Ideas from clubs, businesses, riders, in Texas & other states
- Examples & resources
- Content – examples, links, costs, challenges/considerations
- Is there different/additional information you would like about each option listed?Are there categories/options/examples you know of to add?
- Format
- Online? Print? Online but downloadable?
- Updates by Users?
- Toolkit focus areas:
- Alcohol-Free Events
- Club Bylaws
- Safe Rides Home – With Bike Transport/Protection
- Alcohol Awareness and Peer Intervention Training
- Outreach Materials and Activities
Outreach Materials
Video Testimonial from an impaired-riding crash survivor (in progress)
- 2-minute version
- 30-second version
Online, Social Media, or Print (in progress)
- Concept #1 – What happens to your bike in a crash?
- Concept #2 – How does alcohol change your risk?
Each item was discussed as the presentation advanced. Notes were taken by Laura to help guide next steps in the project. Laura thanked every one for their feedback and invited them to contact her with any additional thoughts at [email protected].
Motorcycle Strategic Action Plan Activity Part 2
Due to time constraints, this activity was not conducted in the meeting. The feedback collected in Activity Part 1 would be compiled and an email sent to TMSC members to complete an online survey. That survey would remove, add, and combine countermeasures in each NHTSA category. The task on the online survey would be to rank countermeasures by most likely to be accepted in Texas. The top ranked countermeasures would then be assessed based on: Effectiveness, Cost, Timeline, and Lead Stakeholders.
TDLR Instructor Recruitment Activity (Cathy Brooks)
Cathy lead a discussion to gain feedback on a Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation project with TTI to encourage riders to become rider instructors. She explained a survey had been conducted on Texas rider instructors. Insights gleaned from that survey was used to create a recruitment brochure or card. A text sample was provided as a handout.
Motivating factors to becoming an instructor:
Insights from the survey:
- learning about safe riding,
- improving their own skills,
- expanding their knowledge,
- helping others, and
- improving safety through knowledge and skill enhancement.
Additional insights from the meeting:
- earn extra money,
- working on the weekends, and
- sharing a great passion for riding.
Planned distribution includes:
Mail/Email the brochures to
- dealerships,
- rider classes, and
- via social media.
Other distribution avenues
- gear shops
- hospitals/ER
Overall Feedback:
Have a mentoring program for new riders to help them build their skills and confidence to become an instructor as TDLR requires a rider hold a valid M license for two year to qualify to become an instructor in Texas. This led to a discussion to eliminate that requirement as it is not required by national curriculum providers. It was pointed out that many riders are unlicensed. These riders, although having many years of riding experience, would not be eligible for an additional two years.
Updates, Open Forum, New Stuff (Cathy Brooks)
Cathy and Chris Sharman of Sherry Matthew announced the Motorcycle Safety Month Kick-off press conference to be held at the Long Center in Austin on May 3rd at 10:00 a.m. Riders were encouraged to attend. Sherry Matthews Group was also looking for anyone would like to share their motorcycle crash loss or survivor story to contact them directly.
Cathy then announced Jude Schexnyder as the new Task Force Chair. The next Coalition meeting would be held via MS Teams on August 11th, 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.. Items that were currently on the agenda included the vote on the new Coalition Chair and an update by Cody Stewart on the “Licensed to Ride” project.
Chris Beireis opened up the floor for any comments, suggestions, etc. There were none.
Adjourn
The meeting adjourned at 4:00 p.m.
Attendees
A total of 40 people attended the Coalition meeting, 16 by phone or Teams and 24 in person.
Teams Chat List
1. Amy Jo Miller
2. Brackston Hildebrand
3. Joel Morris
4. Garrett Hager
5. Mike Ezzell
6. James Fox
7. Guest
8. Johnny Rodriguez
9. Elisa Smetana
10. Jessica Son
11. Benjamin LaBorde (Abilene MPO)
12. Gina Galindo
13. Glen Pugh
14. Redd
15. Veronica Nippert
16. Maurice Maness
In person at Y.O. Ranch, Kerrville, TX
Of the 19 people listed on attached sign-in sheets, 2 were from TxDOT. Additionally, the following TTI personnel were in attendance.
TTI personnel in attendance:
1. Michelle Canton
2. Laura Higgins
3. Cathy Brooks
4. Margaret Fowler
5. Jim Lyle
TxDOT personnel (included in sign-in sheet):
1. Letty von Rossum
2. Carol Campo
TMSC
Instructor Recruitment Cards (DRAFT): Instructor-Recruitment-Cards-DRAFT.pdf