A few days ago I noticed that many of the freeway condition signs in Los Angeles were displaying the message “SHARE THE ROAD LOOK TWICE FOR MOTORCYCLISTS.” I was encouraged to see this happening especially since it seems every time I turn on the radio and hear a traffic report, there’s a motorcycle accident mentioned.
The California Office of Traffic Safety will be funding a number of upcoming southern California police programs aimed at curbing motorcycle accidents and fatalities. Most of the police efforts seemed to be focused around increased presence in areas where motorcycle accidents are common (e.g. popular canyon roads). Fueling the state’s efforts was the substantial increase in motorcycle accidents and fatalities over the last several years, but the articles neglect to mention that there was also a large corresponding increase in the number of registered motorcycles during that time (thanks to the booming economy). What is also very interesting is that according to the California Office of Traffic Safety report linked below (the last link), motorcycle fatalities were down quite a bit in the first half of 2009 vs. the same period in 2008.
Update: unexpected backlash here:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/feb/19/sign-of-trouble/