National Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month

ZANESVILLE, OH – May is National Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month and the Ohio State Highway Patrol is reminding motorcyclists to ride trained and sober.

According to the Patrol, from 2019 to 2023 there were 19,544 traffic crashes involving motorcycles here in Ohio; of those crashes, 1,045 resulted in the death of a motorcyclist.

The Patrol said here locally in Muskingum County there have been 214 crashes over that same 5 year period.

Sergeant Jeff Jirles of the Zanesville Post of the State Highway Patrol says the first place to start is having the proper endorsement to ride a motorcycle.

“At least half of the incidents we’ve had recently involved motorcyclists who do not have the proper endorsement,” Sgt. Jirles said. “We’ve also established a training program through Zane State, if you need a little refresher in getting ready to go out for the season.”

Sgt. Jirles says they also encourage wearing the proper safety equipment and driving sober.

He says it’s also important for passenger cars to be watchful of motorcyclists.

“It’s a shared responsibility,” Sgt. Jirles said. “People that are riding motorcycles have a responsibility, folks that are driving passenger cars or commercial motor vehicles have that same shared responsibility and watch out for motorcycles.”

For more information on motorcycle safety or refresher courses, you can head to www.motorcycle.ohio.gov.