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Corps cracks down on motorcycle registration

With more Marines dying on motorcycles than ever before, the Corps has renewed efforts to collect information about the bikes leathernecks own.

Assistant Commandant Gen. James Amos said Aug. 19 in Marine administrative message 455/08 that all commanding officers and officers in charge must update the Corps’ motorcycle census, completing by Aug. 29 a profile of their Marines’ riding habits and training “to enhance understanding of the Marine motorcycle rider profile.”

The registration outlines the number of motorcycle owners in each command by age, gender and whether their motorcycles are sport bikes. The details are submitted electronically on the Naval Safety Center’s Web site.

“We can and will improve our ability to prevent future unnecessary losses of sailors and Marines,” Amos said. “Your leadership efforts in training, educating and protecting our sailors and Marines continue to be essential to taking care of our troops.”

The release of the MarAdmin came three days after a lance corporal stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., became the 23rd Marine to die while riding a motorcycle in fiscal 2008. Lance Cpl. Christopher G. Carrasquillo, of Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 361, was killed Aug. 16 while riding north of the air station, said Capt. Staci Reidinger, a 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing spokeswoman.

Carrasquillo’s death extended a Corps record for two-wheel fatalities in a fiscal year, according to the Naval Safety Center Web site. The Corps’ previous record was 19, set last year.

In a statement, the California Highway Patrol said Carrasquillo, of Jacksonville, Fla., was riding west on State Route 76 when he attempted to pass slower moving vehicles.

“He lost control of his motorcycle and went off the roadway and struck a large tree on the north shoulder and was ejected,” Highway Patrol officials said.

The accident happened at about 1 p.m. on the two-lane road, which curves and dips along the base of Palomar Mountain, east of Camp Pendleton and north of Miramar. The area’s winding roads are especially popular with motorcyclists.

Amos, meanwhile, said in the MarAdmin that the updates to the census are part of the overall effort to curb two-wheel fatalities.

“We are working hard to make additional motorcycle riding courses available to our Marines,” Amos said.

Counting Carrasquillo, 10 Marines died from injuries sustained in private motor vehicle accidents between July 1 and Aug. 16, according to the Naval Safety Center. Nine of them were riding motorcycles.

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Staff writer Gidget Fuentes contributed to this report.