Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125517
5ening all Ibe west ITHE VOICE OF CALIFORNIA' PubUsber, Editor and Advertising c .... 6411 N. L.g Beadl BI,'" Lo. Beaell. Calif. . .5 Or: Btx UB, LIIC Beaell, Calif. P"'e: 42H4D. (Area CHe nJ) F. . L.A. PIIeIes: &3&-8844 Editorial stories, cartoon. photos. MaDacer••••••C.des C. Clayton etc. are welcomed and will be paid Business Manacer•• Sharon Claylon for upon publication (except press Circulation Mer••• Gaye Thomason releases and ·Voice- letters. AdPboto Editor•••••• Bemis Greene dressed, stamped envelope assures Editorial 'Assistant.Robert BracWord return. AdverUstnc Asst. • LYJIII Lancaster Single ropy price ••••••••• 2~ Publisbed weekly except the first SUbscription: One year 2nd class and last week of the calendar year Mail •••••••••••••••• $7.M! by C&S Publishing Co., Post Office One Year First Class Mail•• $14.00 Box 498, Lo!)g Beach. California. (SUbscribers please allow three second Class postage paid at Long weeks (or address c'-Dge.) Beach, Calif. Advertising rates and circulation information will be sent upon re.quest. BY CHUCK CLAYTON GUIlD IlDE1 TUlllIIG PIOGUJI UUllCllfD nllllt If IIasellall IIId 8eJ sc.... all ..... s a""e ,Ie. WIIat lit y. &II? A"a. nats -rigid! lit,. N.w allll .....tes, frI_ly "'1..-, tile Alto CI.1t lilt aalsters .f 1IIe eIIurcllalll wIIIt IllYe? M.e Amerla. Tep II .ff willi a _ _Illig vlsil Brlna's dllef lIIgallalY II lIIe U.s., .... ~mllassalltr Sir Patrick D ye. DYe a ......Cli.a lIIe likes . . . .ell _Ill .Iy . . , . .. CaDfIrIla! The occasion for all the hoopla last Tuesday was the announcement of a joint venture in motorcycle safety undertaken by the Los Angeles Police Dept., the Boy SCouts of America, the Automobile Club of Southern California and BSA Motorcycles-Western. As the press and dignitaries learned at the Los Angeles Police Academy. the venture is a pilot program to develop a ",comprehensive classroom and behind-the-handle bar instruction course for motorcycle riders." There ha VP. been other pioneer efforts recently aimed at teaching people De_. u.s. EqI_d'. A uador to lItI Sir Pltrlck I.tt, lbak.. bind• •ltII In AlIIIrlca. willi. two ., official. _d BSA-Jo_ &. . .11 ......r Eo •• Pat. ColIDln, rlPt. &I"t T.....dItI. Qlr! SCout It raaptJ. TU.adI, prlor to tIIa IIfaIJ trllnlnCIDDO.c._ .. porIad • till. pap. how to ride cycles right, but none so ambitious or highly endo,rsed as this one. L.A. Police Chief Thomas Reddin gives it his support as well as Mayor Yorty of Los Angeles. Certainly the need for an approved course of instruction and testing has never been so great. It is hoped that by the time Calif. passes special license requirements for motorcycle riders. the program will be complete to guide government and private enterprise in setting up similar procram s all over the state. . Robert J. Cheney. Manager c1 the Auto Club's Public safety Dept•• said the need for the course is apparent when "70% of the motorcycle accidents involve a rider who is on a borrowed machine and a high percentage of the motorcycle traffic deaths involve a person in his first seven weeks of riding." "Currently taslc instructional programs or courses available to motorcYclists are generally lacking and as a result many accidents are caused from botIllack of proper training and riding ability, •'.our pUot program is being structured to provide a basic course of instruction for novice motorcycle riders and when completed will be available for organizations or groups interested in establishing courses of this type," The Auto Club Manager said. The honor c1 being the first class in the new program goes to 14 members of the La Mirada Boy Scout Explorer Post 981-X. Before the start of the project 12 of the boys had never been on a motorcycle before and two had ridden only a few times. ~ (~I. IIIH .1ltatIIIelI.d ......, ~ _em-lftoa.·lD EIqIIo Scwta trIlHd II, U. U.,...Ita" l$A·rlll., ( SUIl A....) I$A'. '-Jel.........den and "-111, Ia flIbIN Eacathe Joe Hope, _0 lid _ell ID l*-c:a tIIa 'ftI1acL LOS AII.fLES POUCE CHIErr 11Iou. Ilh. Eo •• CoI_ (to lad ,alice offtcara Ed F1fz1ar1ld Sc..tl of A....ea} rl-" Mat plctInd I. lISA ........ l D _......." .. I.., lIad41l. Il~ after wi" __ Ira" ..... Cllls Will Teaell At the initial meeting the boys and their parents heard the project outlined to them by representatives of the sponsoring organizatims and their two instructors, Motor Officers Les Lillywhite and Ed Fitsgerald of the Los Angeles Police Department. The officers have undertaken the project as an off-duty activity. The entire course has been divided into four phases for the pilot program. The first is classroom work where the basic rules of safe driving are explained. This includes a review of basic traffic laws and discussions on defensive driving techniques. Classroom work was held in a meeting room in the La Mirada First Methodist Church. 15700 East «osecrans Boulevard, La Mirada. CONTROL - ne. Tnfflc Phase two calls for familiarization with the motorcycle, explanati en of the basic controls and discussions of their functions and use. The actual first ride 00 a motorcycle is received in phase three. The first few rides on a motorcycle are controlled and designed to only allow the rider to familiarize himself with the operation of the clutch and brake. When the instructor is convinced that the rider is completely familiar with the basic operation. the boys begin instruction on the skills they will need in traffic. The students will then be allowed to move into the actual daily traffic flow on the IIlghways. The project has been underway since June 10. Since that time the class has been meeting every saturday morning for three-hour sessions. Cheney pointed out that the popularity of motorcycles has been increasing in an extremely fast rate and due to the lack of rider training the accident rate for motorcycles is high. An example of the motorcycle's popularity can be seen in comparing the 1900 California registration figures with the 1966 motorcycle population. In 1960 only 75,590 motorcycles were registered while in 1966··310,072 were registered, an increase in six years of more than 300%.