State Troopers partner with riders for motorcycle safety month

ZANESVILLE, Ohio- For National Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month state troopers have teamed up with one familiar name.

The Zanesville Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol partnered with Fink’s Harley-Davidson to raise awareness that riders and drivers should do their part on the road.

“Enforcement works a lot of the times, but most of the time we look for voluntary compliance. We look to get the message out to educate people because if they’re educated, we presume that they’re going to do the right thing, and they’re going to obey the traffic laws, they’re going to wear their safety equipment,” said Sgt. Kevin Kelley with the Zanesville Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

State troopers want to stress the importance of wearing safety gear stating that motorcycles are the smallest vehicles on the roadway, with the least protection.

“When you look at what cars offer you in the way of protection they’ve got seat belts, they’ve got airbags, they’ve got crush zones, they’ve got all this wonderful engineering into it to save the human riders when they’re involved in a crash,” Trooper Bill Duerson, Zanesville Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

Safety gear should include gloves, long-sleeved shirt, long pants, over the calf boots and a helmet, according to Kelley.

“The only thing that bikes have is what you put on your body, [with] helmets being the major portion of that,” said Duerson.

As a result of their partnership and an added incentive, state troopers will be distributing coupon cards with discounts on Fink’s Harley-Davidson safety gear merchandise to motorcyclists they witness displaying proper riding etiquette.