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Motorcycle Safety Seminars Set for Nov. 7
(Posted: October 14, 2009) (Printable Version)
The Center for Lifelong Learning at the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith is offering a series of four motorcycle safety courses Nov. 7 as part of the Center’s fall schedule of personal enrichment courses.
Courses will be led by Vonelle Vanzant and Garry Floyd, certified Goldwing Road Riders Association Leadership Training Instructors and Rider Education Instructors, and Brenda Penepent, R.N. and GWRRA Certified Rider Education Instructor.
Vanzant, who rides a Goldwing 1500 SE Trike with a California Sidecar, encourages all riders and co-riders to attend, as she believes the information covered in all the courses are valuable to anyone associated with motorcycles.
“We are very pleased that UA Fort Smith is joining with us to bring motorcycle seminar training to our area,” she said. “Arkansas is a beautiful state, with lots of curvy roads and an extended riding season. However, it is also one of the highest-ranking states in motorcycle deaths per capita.”
The training, she said, is specifically designed to encourage safe and enjoyable motorcycling for all riders.
“When motorcycles are involved in an accident, it doesn’t matter much what kind of bike one is riding,” she said. “Serious injury or death is a real possibility. Making the roads safer for all motorcycle enthusiasts through training is one of GWRRA’s primary goals.”
The first session, from 9-10 a.m., involves co-rider safety and teaches the importance of rider and co-rider acting as a team, rather than the co-rider sitting at the mercy of the rider, the bike and the road.
The second session, from 10:15-11:30 a.m., focuses on motorcycling for the mature rider. This course introduces new approaches and concepts, including compensating for normal age-related physical changes that may affect riding ability. This session also provides opportunities for each participant to identify individual problem areas and apply information that can help extend riding into later years and presents ideas to enhance the co-rider’s involvement in the riding experience.
“The mature rider seminar is for those of us who want to extend our riding enjoyment even as aging takes its inevitable toll on our ability to see, hear, react and even hold the bike upright,” said Vanzant. “One of the best tools a mature rider can have is an experienced co-rider, so this seminar targets both mature riders and co-riders.”
Sessions will continue from 12:30-1:30 p.m. with a course on team riding safety. This seminar teaches how to keep a group coordinated, together and traveling safely. Topics covered include the roles and responsibilities of the road captain, the lead and the tail, as well as how to work with riders who have a CB radio and hand signals for those without.
The final session of the day, from 1:30-3:30 p.m., covers crash scene response. Topics will include how to secure and control the crash scene, how to provide rapid and appropriate emergency medical services response and how to deal with the aftermath.
“This course brings an educated insight on what to do – and what not to do – if someone in the group is injured in an accident” said Vanzant. “Although the seminar is targeted to bike riders, everyone who is likely to come up on an accident, whether on two wheels, three wheels or four wheels, will benefit from this seminar.”
Fee is $10 per course. Participants can attend any or all courses. Each course will meet in Room 100 of the Flanders Business Center on the UA Fort Smith campus.
For more information or to register, call the Center for Lifelong Learning at 479-788-7220, e-mail cll@uafortsmith.edu or visit the Web site at www.uafortsmith.edu/lifelonglearning.
The Goldwing Road Riders Association is an international non-profit organization headquartered in Phoenix and consisting of more than 4,000 volunteers and 80,000 members. The local Chapter R is based in Van Buren. The Association’s goals follow its motto of “Friends for Fun, Safety and Knowledge.”
| Article by: Jessica Martin, Public Relations Assistant |
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