Center pushes motorcycle safety awareness - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Center pushes motorcycle safety awareness

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — Cookouts. A game of volleyball on a sand court. Sunbathing.

With summer around the corner and Marines dreaming about warm-weather activities, the Marine Corps Center for Lessons Learned is giving leathernecks something else to think about — motorcycle safety.

“The weather’s getting nicer,” said Lt. Col. Donald Hawkins, operations officer for the center. “Bikes are being brought out and put on the road. Motorcycle safety is a serious issue. We lose Marines in unacceptable numbers.”

MCCLL opened a forum on its Web site March 2 about motorcycle safety. According to safety records, nearly 350 U.S. troops have been killed in motorcycle accidents since September 2001. That’s more than the 259 troops killed in Afghanistan during that same time frame, according to the center’s Web site. Military computer users can access the site at https://www.mccll.usmc.mil.

“This issue reinforces the need for the Navy and Marine Corps Critical Days of Summer program. Tax-free salaries, adrenaline, testosterone, boredom and high-powered motorcycles can be a volatile mix without training. Get trained, be safe and obey the rules of the road,” the Web site states.

The topic was so popular, the center posted a second forum about motorcycle safety April 6.

“The flood of response that we got back from the motorcycle riders was significant,” Hawkins said. “What we realized was here is an interest group in the Marine Corps. We created motorcycle safety as a community of interest.”

Marines have discussed their personal views on everything from vests and reflective belts to training issues and base motorcycle regulations, he said.

Motorcycle enthusiasts who visit the site are asked to fill out a survey, which will be posted through next week. Feedback on improving the motorcycle safety program will be forwarded to Marine Corps policy-makers, Hawkins said.

One of the most recent motorcycle fatalities involving a Marine occurred Friday in Garden City Beach, S.C., according to a report in The Sun News, a newspaper based in Myrtle Beach.

Staff Sgt. Michael Delamere, 37, died following a crash in which a minivan turned left in front him, according to the report.

Delamere was assigned to the Marine Special Operations School at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Further details were unavailable as of Wednesday afternoon.