Armed Forces Off-duty Riding
The US armed forces has responded to an increase in off-duty motorcycling accidents and deaths by strengthening existing requirements that service members take a motorcycle safety course and wear helmets even if not required locally if they wish to ride, as well as by offering rider training tailored to military motorcyclists. In response to the popularity of sport bikes among younger military riders, and the disproportionate representation of sports bikes in accident deaths, courses focusing on sport bike riding have been created at military installations around the world. These courses have been designed in cooperation with the MSF, and a conference on motorcycle safety with the MSF and high level military leadership was held at The Pentagon. The Marine Corps devoted a half day in conference with the top brass and the MSF in recognition of the seriousness of the problem. The military has also adopted new technology such as the Honda Smart Trainer, in Qatar and elsewhere.
The courses offered go beyond basic riding skills necessary to become licensed and focus on the specific arenas identified as posing the greatest risk to the military riders. Another focus is military riders who wear uncertified "novelty" helmets or go without other protective gear required by regulations above and beyond local laws.
Read more about this topic: Motorcycle Training
Famous quotes containing the words armed, forces, off-duty and/or riding:
“The peace conference must not adjourn without the establishment of some ordered system of international government, backed by power enough to give authority to its decrees. ... Unless a league something like this results at our peace conference, we shall merely drop back into armed hostility and international anarchy. The war will have been fought in vain ...”
—Virginia Crocheron Gildersleeve (1877–1965)
“The vice named surrealism is the immoderate and impassioned use of the stupefacient image or rather of the uncontrolled provocation of the image for its own sake and for the element of unpredictable perturbation and of metamorphosis which it introduces into the domain of representation; for each image on each occasion forces you to revise the entire Universe.”
—Louis Aragon (1897–1982)
“Parenting can be established as a time-share job, but mothers are less good “switching off” their parent identity and turning to something else. Many women envy the father’s ability to set clear boundaries between home and work, between being an on-duty and an off-duty parent.... Women work very hard to maintain a closeness to their child. Father’s value intimacy with a child, but often do not know how to work to maintain it.”
—Terri Apter (20th century)
“With its frame of shaking curls all in disarray,
earrings swinging,
make-up smudged by beads of sweat,
eyes languid at the end of lovemaking,
may the face of the slim girl
who’s riding on top of you
protect you long.
What’s the use
of Vi.s».n»u, iva, Skanda,
and all those other gods?”
—Amaru (c. seventh century A.D.)