Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

·. ,. ;: • • ~ t Gl r-.. O"l ~ r-.. C'J >~ ::l ~ ~ .. "~:' GI~ Gl~~~~ - ,. .... . --- . Desert Race Mexicali to San Felipe 225 miles March 6, 1976 -Novice * Amateur * Expert * Powder Puff 0-125 126-250 251-0peri limited to 500 entries Entry fees: 50" payback k Novice, Amateur & Powder Puff $50.00 Expert $ 100.00 50% payback I ndustry awards in all classes Send $25 .00 deposit with any entry form - balance due Mar. 1st. Sta rt ing posit ion determined by order of receipt of entry. If you would like to help mark course or man a check please write or phon e. Thank you. Award Donors K & N Fil ter Bel Ray KTM Champion Spark Plug Krizman Spark Arresters Cycle News Denselube Super Chain Mulho lland Shocks Electro Helm ets Pennzoil Filtron Presto n Pett y Produc ts Gumou t Prem ier Helmets Hodak a Malcol m Smith Racing Products Hustl er Gas Tanks Uni Fi lter Webco Secret hare & hound type course Five bikes start per minute Lights not required Not more than sixty miles between gas sto ps. OOd)~ . II ~~~~~~ W Box 1803 Calexico, CA 9223 1 Phone: 714-352-3767 18 .. • • • • I" earn to ridellive7 exicali Chamber of Commerce and the Baja Racing Assn. l.D __ .. _ . . , Even experienced motorcycle riders frequently get an uptight, feeling when riding In a traffic , stream which seems to have little , J concern for their safety or their rights. Imagine what such situations do to the newly-licensed novice rider, who is on the street with less than adequate training because of the ineffective licensing laws of his state . T ho California State Highway Patrol, in 1968, . found that 19% of accident-involved motorcycle riders had less than six m on th s of experience, and over 51 % had one year of experience or loss. A similar study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), for Michigan and Illinois, fo und that 25 % of th e bike accidents .... involved ri ders with six months or less ex perie nce . T horo are acti ons und erw ay th at may go a long way to ward changing such statistics by developing a hig her level of co m petence in th o new m oto rcy clist who takes to the open road. Last May, the NHTSA, with the activo support of the Mo torcy cle Safe ty Foundatio n , awarded two contracts: one, to develo p a new k nowledge test and a co mpanion mo t o rcv cle operator manual, tho other, to develop a now on-cycle skill test. In Jwte, the NHTSA awarded a contract to the California Division of Motor Vehicles, to evaluate tho tests by u sin g than on an experimen tal basis at several licensing stations. The objective o f this new program is to establish tests of knowledge and riding skill, th at will tum ou t safer rider s who have rower accidents. Some spinoffs will be that the knowledge and skill tests can be used in rider education co u rses b y schools, civic organizations, and even de al ers. Tho experimen tal California program will cover 36,0 0 0 ap plican ts for motorcycle drivers licenses , wh o will be drawn randomly from six counties, throe in tho Sa cramento are a, and throe in the San Diogo are a. The Sacramen to driving population will supply 16,000 applicants, and San Diogo, 20,0 0 0. These two regions of the west coast cover th e extremes of driving con d iti ons fo und in tho state. Applicants will be se lected over a one-year period, starting January 19 76. Appli can ts will be r andomly d ivided in to one of three gro u ps : A, B, o r C. Those in gro up A will take the presen t Ca lifo rn ia writtc-i an d d riving te sts; aft er p assing, they ar e issued licenses. The on es in gro u ps B and C ge t an o rien ta t ion o n th o project, a copy of an improved N HTSA Mo torcy cle Opera t or Manual, and appointment to appear at a ' cen tr ally located test range. At the range, they are given an improved knowlodge test. Those who pass are then given a "Mini-Skill" te st, which is co n du cted in a motorcycle simulator, (a motorcycle mounted o n a treadmill). The sim uiator tests the I ap plicant's ability to perform the baSlc bike operations, such as: starting, stopping, sh ifting, etc. Those who fail can practice, and re-take th e test on th e I same day . Af ter passin g, the applicant takes the Improved Skill Test, This is a n in e-step ,' p rogressively mo re di fficu lt, o n-cycletest, co nduc ted on a special ran ge , before sp ecially traine d examiners. Tho nine p hases are : start and accelerate on ) a h ill ; sharp turns: turning co ntro l to th e' righ t at 20 m ph ; turning control to th e lef t at 20 m p h ; stopping judge ment; tu rning speed ju dgement; quick sto p on the straight at 18-22 mp h ; obstacle avoi dance at 20 mph; quick stop on a curve at 20 mph. A failure on any one item is a failure on the test, An applicant who passes this test gets his license. If he fails , and is in group B, he will receive a three-hour, hands-on, training co u rse right a t the site , then re-take the tes t. If he fails and is in group C, he is to ld where he failed, and req u es ted to return when he feels he is ' ready for a re-test. Any applicant who fail s on tho Improved Skill Test three times in a row must repea t tho complete program . The performance of the 36,000 riders will be wat ched over a period of ab out two years. The n u mber and types of acciden ts, an d their driving habits, as they are reflected in traffic vio latio ns, will -be noted. The collected data will show if the program has prod uced any im pro vem en t in driving skills and safety, and wh at the degree of imp rovement has been, T ho res ults co u ld pave th e way to examination procedures that wifl on sure a prac ti cal level of skill and safety fo r th e ride r, without harsh req ui remen ts th at co uld h urt the in dustry. It is too ear ly to say wi th assura nce th at a program of th is size and comp lexity wi ll be successful. It is: however, aimed at the gu ts or the problem ; ge tting the bike rider co m pe ten t bef or e he ge ts o n th e ro ad . If it su cc ee ds, the sp o r t , and the in d u stry . will have re ap ed so me major, far -reaching benefit s, Opi nion by Lou is Nees

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