While the road remains a dangerous place for motorcyclists, Ohio does a good job in educating and licensing those that prefer two wheels to four.
According to a study by the American Institutes for Research that was conducted for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Ohio is one of 10 states identified as having a high level of “promising practices” that promote motorcycle safety.
Oregon, Delaware and Idaho topped the list.
The study entitled, “Promising Practices in Motorcycle Rider Education and Licensing,” assigns scores to each of the 47 states that offer state-legislated motorcycle education programs. Alaska, Arkansas and Mississippi were not included because they did not have state-legislated education programs.
States were put into three categories of promising practices — “low,” “medium,” and “high” — based on their level of implementation of high-quality rider training and comprehensive licensing. In addition to the 10 states rated in the “high” category, 29 were in the “medium” category and eight in the “low” category.
Other states in the “high” category of promising practices included: Nevada, New Mexico, Maryland, Hawaii, Washington and Minnesota. The states with scores in the “low” category were Kansas, Arizona, Kentucky, New Jersey, West Virginia, Wyoming, Rhode Island and South Carolina.
“This study is the first one to develop a research-based model of promising practices for rider education and licensing and to use the model to identify states that have implemented high-quality rider training and comprehensive licensing,” said Stephane Baldi of AIR, who served as project director for the study.
The promising-practices framework used in the study was based upon scientific research in three areas: program administration, rider education and licensing.
The practices reviewed included: integrating rider education programs and licensing agencies; focusing on unlicensed riders for education programs; and rider education programs training examiners, providing guidance on licensing standards, and writing or reviewing the state motorcycle operator’s manual.
We’re pleased that Ohio rated highly and hope that the scientific research used to rate the states will lead to better rider education and licensing programs across the nation.
Republished with permission from: Ohio JournalNews, Hamilton, Ohio