My name is Shawn, and I'm employed as a police officer in Pennsylvania. I've been so employed for nearly eleven years, and for the last three years I've been assigned to the departments motorcycle patrol unit. Now I've ridden motorcycles ever since my 16th birthday, but I never thought I'd ride a motorcycle for a living. Most people think that I have the best job in the world. I mean - how can you beat getting paid to ride a motorcycle? For the most part I would agree with that wholeheartedly, however; as much as I enjoy the riding, there are some real safety issues that must be taken into consideration. As an officer, I was used to riding around in a big old police car that offered me a fair amount of protection. Now I'm on two wheels and really don't have any protection to speak of. You can believe me when I say that the general public doesn't see my marked police motor any better than they see the average street bike. I've been run off the road and had people pull out in front of me countless times while on patrol. I'm always being passed on the interstate by speeding motorists. The only difference is that I can then chase down these drivers and offer them a piece of the commonwealth in the form of a ticket. The first question they always ask me is, “Where did you come from?” I was very fortunate when I attained this position, as my department sent me to the two-week motorcycle operators training course offered by the United States Park Police. I have used the training that I received there every day while on patrol. They placed a great deal of emphasis on defensive driving skills, especially emergency braking and evasive maneuvers. One key point that I learned is that when you lock up your rear wheel during braking you must ride out the skid until you come to a complete stop. Many riders make the fatal error of skidding and then letting go of that rear brake, which is what causes the dreaded “high side.” There is very little chance of recovering from a high side. Just imagine that you are traveling at 55 mph; you lock up the rear brake and the back wheel comes to a stop. Now you may have slowed down somewhat during the skid, but when you release that rear brake your wheel goes from 0 to whatever speed you're traveling in an instant. This causes the back end of the motorcycle to kick out violently to one side or the other. The next thing most riders remember after that is waking up in the hospital. So remember, ride out that skid to a complete stop! That's why it is so important to practice your emergency braking technique. The second tip I'd like to share goes something like this: Always think about where you are going and not where you have been. In other words, when doing any type of riding, you need to constantly think about where you can move to if you have to make a sudden evasive maneuver. If you are following another vehicle think to yourself, “Where can I go if this car suddenly stops?” Try to utilize the entire lane that you are traveling in. What I mean is, move back and forth within the lane to give yourself room to make an evasive maneuver. I've driven into the median and onto the shoulder at times to avoid vehicles that slow or stop suddenly in front of me. Of course this technique is not very well liked by those that like to drive side by side while riding together. I would agree that riding side by side looks cool, but it's really not very safe. A staggered formation while riding in groups provides many more options to make evasive maneuvers. I think other motor officers would agree that many instances of police motor accidents occur when we run into each other while riding in tight formations. Well I could go on forever, but I don't want to give away all of our secrets. Just kidding! Perhaps I can write another letter someday further down the road. Stay safe and remember to always ride within you're ability! |