COMPILED BY THE RISK MANAGEMENT STAFF
If your confidence and decision-making skills behind the handlebars are generated from experiences while riding, when do you actually become an “experienced” motorcycle rider? To answer that, you must first address a few misconceptions.
One misconception is that if a rider has owned a motorcycle for a long time but only ridden it a couple of months each year, they are an experienced rider. Similarly, just because a Soldier rides a few miles to work and home every day on the same route doesn’t make him or her an experienced rider. These are examples of experienced owners, not experienced riders.
Another misconception is that if you are senior in rank and ride a motorcycle, then you are an experienced rider in the unit. Again, this is not always true because many people do not get into motorcycling until their 30s and haven’t been riding all that long. Rank does not make experience; riding time does.
This can be a challenge for units to recognize. We naturally tend to assign the senior-ranking individual to be the senior mentor for the unit. However, just because you are a leader in the Army does not qualify you as the most experienced person to mentor younger riders. Unfortunately, sometimes our pride gets in the way, making it hard to listen to guidance from a younger, junior Soldier who is more experienced on two wheels.
Since there is no cookie-cutter pattern for identifying experienced riders, here are a few things to consider when selecting mentors for your unit. First, look at how you conduct day-to-day business in your unit. You use individuals with loads of experience to train and prepare Soldiers for their missions. Why not do the same with your motorcycle safety program?
Second, understand the need to select mentors based on their experience with certain types of motorcycles. A perfect example is to look at aviators. You don’t have UH-60 Black Hawk pilots training AH-64 Apache pilots. Why don’t we use the same reasoning when selecting mentors for motorcycle riders? Units can follow the same concept by selecting a mentor for each of the two primary types of motorcycles — sport bikes and cruisers. These two types of bikes handle differently and require different skill sets. Many Soldiers don’t have experience on both, so a single mentor for both types of riders may not be the best choice. The more specific experience and knowledge mentors have, the stronger they can lead the program.
Third, an experienced rider must also be one who knows the Army standards for safe operation; practices safe and disciplined riding at all times; and can be the example of responsible riding while they mentor other riders in a unit. These are only a few recommendations for units to consider when selecting mentors and don’t reflect all the criteria needed.
The truth is experienced riders are not always those who are senior in rank. Each unit should review a rider’s history, interview the individual and select the best choice to lead their program. It may be that the specialist who began riding as a kid and progressed to larger bikes as an adult is the senior experienced rider in your unit, not the sergeant first class or first sergeant. Experience goes a long way in training others to survive, especially on two wheels. To identify an experienced rider for your motorcycle safety program, look at the individual, not rank.
Did You Know?
Each year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration designates May as Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month. The observance coincides with the beginning of riding season for many Soldiers and serves as an early kickoff for the critical days of summer. To learn more, visit the USACRC’s motorcycle safety page at https://safety.army.mil/OFF-DUTY/PMV-2-Motorcycles.