Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

ARIZONA EXPERIMENTS IN CYCLE SAFETY TRAINING From left: Jay Smith, chairman of driver education at Mesa High Schools; Dr. Ne lson L. Hauer' son, profe ssor of secondary education at ASU; Dr. R. Craig Rover, professor of secondary educati on at ASU; Bil l Hegarty , Sa&\laro High Schoo l driving Ins truc tor; and Bill Wade, McClintock High Schoo l (T empe) driving Instructor. By Ernie A. Flor es , J r. The inc r easing number of motor cycll s ts In the s tate of Ar izona has put In motion a unique projec t designed to make motorcycling safer to the r ider and the publi c. The pr ojec t Is to make two-wheel vehi cl e safety training an Integral part of driver education pr ograms In schools . Although plans are still on the drawing board for this massive program som e s pade work had already been made at the Arizona State University In Te mpe. Here, twenty-four dr iving teachers and under gr ad ua tes undertook the tlrs t motorcycle an d moto r scoo ter safety conference for high school Ins tructors last J une . Participants, coming fr om as far as Oklahoma , s pent three hours each day r iding the bikes and two hour s In the classroom dur ing the two- wee k seminar . Dr . R. Craig Rover , director ofASU's driver education program an d supervisor of the course said that the rising number of cyclis ts all over the co untry has pr ompted him to put up the seminar . Accor ding to Cr aig, cyc lists are in creasing a t the r ate of one million a year an d so methi ng sh ould be done to make things safer for them an d the publ ic, Jay Smith, chairman of driver education for Mesa High Schools and a cyc le oper ator since his high school days , was designated Instructor during the seminar, tl rst course of Its kind In the area. The art of defensive driving was particularly stressed during the seminar. Among the topics discussed and practiced were courtesy an d respect on the road; trattlc la ws and ordinances In the communi ty; driving through Inter sectio ns where most moto rcycle - auto col li sions occur; watching the road surface In anticipa tion of ha zardous r oad situa tions ; and making one's self and moto rcycle visible for day an d nigh t ti me drivIng. There Is no doubt that training moto r cyclists and wouldbe motorcycli sts in all aspe cts of riding a motorcycle will go a long way In reducing a ccidents Involving the two-wheel vehi cle. C M IN Trojan S w O B ED ho Brian Spin ks (#55) and Hodaka Jockey E.C. Blrt avo id firs t turn pile-up sho wn In the pro- cess. According to a pamphlet issued by the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, there Is evidence that motorcycle r iders are killed and Injured In accidents because ( 1) many new riders lack adequate tralnlng an d experience In controlling their vehicles (2) riders have not been well Informed of the Inherent dangers of riding motor cycles an d are unprepared to overcome the hazardous trattic s itua tions tha t lead to accidents, Injuries, and deaths; an d ( 3) pedestrians or operators of other types of motor vehic le s are not properly prepared to recognize an d solve trattic pr oblems Involvi ng motorcycles . The same pamphlet said that one study in this country found that 20 per ce nt of the Injured persons were r iding the motorcycle for the tlrst or second tim e, while 70 per cent had either rented or borrowed the motorcycle . Studies In Europe, the pamphlet stated, indicate tha t moto rcycli sts have acc idents more than lwlc e as fr equentl y during the tl rs t 6 months of r iding ex perience than they do after 6 months' expe rience . Accor ding to tl gures r eleased by the Arizona T raffic Safety Divi sion, there were 1, 165 motorcycle accidents in 1967 In which 983 persons were Injured , 34 of the m fa tally. Motor scooter s wer e Involved in an additi onal 74 ac cidents with 56 Injuries and 'two tatalltles . The plan to make cycle training a part of driver education will complement the new Arizona la w requlrlng driver's li censes for cycle operators and es ta blishing equipment regulations which will take effect January I, 1969. The law requires written and road tests be administered to cycle and scooter operators and those who pass the test will be Issued special licenses. Appll cants will have to pass the s tan dard four wheel vehicle operator's test before they will be give n the two- wheel test. Arizona school a uthorities have not Included funding for motorcycle ins tructions in the budget for this school year • However , they are optimistic It wlll be inc luded In next year's budget. In the meantime, more seminars like that held at the Arizona State University are planned this year . The 100cc TT Trophy Dash was an other one for the Gary Bailey (Van Tech) r ecor d book as he was able to keep ah ead of Dale Hopkins to take the trophy an d the kiss from the lovely trophy gir l. Dale Hopkin s is about the biggest threat that Gary has in the Senior 100cc class, but In the Main Even t, Ihle pulled one of the oldest boo-boo's in the game; he forgot to turn the petrol on and ha d to pull to the Inside In th e tlrst corner . But he was undaunted as he got it going again and worked his way back up to a third place. In the 100cc Junior TT, the battle was between Dan Hazel (Yamaha) and Larry Helnselman, (Hodaka) with Paul Wilde (Yamaha) and Norman Benham (Hodaka), right behind them , and after much position changing, they fini shed in thi s order . HUSQVARNA OCEANSIDE CYCLERY 216 VIA DEL MONTE OCEA NSID E , CALIFORN IA (714) 722-0836 PENTON - BRJDGESTONE SALES SERVlCE HOCKIES MOTORCYCLES HO DAKA YANKEE OSSA Complt tt M~ ch l nt 220 25 So. F ig ue roa T orran c e, Cal i fornia Shop GREEVES F~c llltl .. (213) 328-1242 Walt~ Tri umph-5uzuki Motors 1049 West 5th Street Pomona. Calif. (714) 629-8642 ...-------,---... SACHS TRA ILBIKES Deale' Inquiries Invited Hercules Dlsl. Co. LT D - 11718 Sant a M ca Blvd. Los Angeles 3, Ca. 90025 onl Fil lron .o\ ir F ilters, J udson P rods . Francisco Castorof l , Dri -slide. F i- berglass tan ks& seats. John Coope r & Big J ohn Roots. ,\11 a ,.. ila ble · from SIMPSON MO TORS 4210 San Femando Rd. Glenda lt , C ~. 91204 (213) 247-3068 Bailey Streak Stopped By Mike Capallte Photos by Bill Pettigrew SOUTH GAT E, cai., Aug. 22- The action was fast and furious at Tr ojan Ra ce way Thursday night as the entry llst soared over the 60 mark with r iders entering both the TT and the Short Tr a ck even ts for a double try at the gold an d the glory • The races were a lillle la te getting s tarted, due to a track maintenance proble m, but co -oper a tion by the r iders made It possible to finish before the curfew. The 100c c Short Track, which is becomin g the most popular of the oval cla s ses , was again topped In the Senior class by Pa ul Wilde on his speclal-bullt Yamaha, with Ihle Hopkins (Suzuki) finishing a c los e s e cond. Watch this boy as the time goe s by, he Is jus t gettlng started, an d it looks li ke he wlll be a short track natural. In the 100cc J unior short track, Norm Benham (Hodaka) was top dog over second place man Bill Hardin (Suz uki) while Mark Blackwell ( Yamaha) and Larry Helnselman (Hodaka) tl nls he d third an d fourth. The 250cc Short Track was an all-Junior entry, and Eric Olesen again showed them the way around with his s pectacular ridi ng style as he was able to keep his Bultaco out front all the way for the win with Paul Coberly ( Bulta co) right on his rear wheel for a second place . Third and fourth went to Larry Shoemaker (Bultaco), and Dlvld BaIrd (Bultaco). Gary Bailey (79 x) and his trusty Greeves rece ive their bra ss f,om two of the ugllestlrophy gl, ls we've seen In a long time . P au l Wilde and his supe r modified Va maha na tl,a cke , made It an ea sy win In the 100cc evenL In the 250cc TT Trophy Dash, off the line , it was Gary Bai lcy (Greeves) taki ng the lead, an d it looked like it was going to be another domi natio n of the Dashes by Gary who for the last four times out has taken both the 100cc and the 250cc Dashes, when su ddenly as he ca me over the jump an d se t up for the right- bander , he los t his adh esion and went down. ThIs was what Pa ul Coberly ( Bul taco) nee de d, and he jumped into the lead and held it all the way to the checkered flag an d the win, he was given a huge ova tion by the cr owd as he a cc epted his trophy and his kiss from the t r ophy gi r l. Gary ca me back to pus h his Gr eeves to a win in the alker 250cc Senior TT Mai n, with Eddie W (Tr iumph) fini sh ing second. For Paul Cobe r ly, it was a perfe ct night as he came ba ck on his Bullaco after winni ng the Trophy Dash to take the win in 250cc J unior TT , slaying ahead of R. W. Ring . (Hus qvarna), who finishe d s econd. Robe r t Millner ( Bultae o) was able to move Into third place ah ead of fourth man Stev e Gardner ( Bultaco). The action happen s every Thursday, an d the ex citeme nt is growing with the en try lists, an d it is a good way to s tay in shape during the week. Anothe r rumor confir med is that the track is thinking of r unning Mini-Bike T T races on Friday night if there is enough Interes t In it, s o anyon e who would ll ke to try It, give the Trojan track a call. The phone num ber is in the calendar of events and in their ad for the Class A Speedway on Sunday night. (Resu l ts on page 20) rW~t>.\\t\\ 9Q~~\\ & development co. U.S. Distributor GARDNER CARBURETOR 269 Orange A~ . G oleta. Calif. 9Il l7 6JU LAKE LEVIN _"SAN..... CAL~MIA _Z,1I9 H oduk u \I Ol o r,,~' e1 es Greeves Monces

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