A multidisciplinary motorcycle safety initiative

Motorcycle registrations are on the rise in the United States, especially among riders over 40 years of age. While motorcycle popularity has been increasing, so have injuries and fatalities. Unfortunately, motorcycle crashes have been increasing at a disproportionately high rate. In 2007, motorcycle fatalities reached the highest level since the Department of Transportation began collecting data in 1975. Because of the increasing number of motorcycle crashes in Ohio and Central Ohio, a multidisciplinary team consisting of the Grant Medical Center's trauma program, Franklin County Safe Communities (a Columbus Public Health program), the American Motorcyclist Association, and Columbusbiker.com applied for and received a $5,000 motorcycle safety mini-grant from the American Public Health Association, Public Health Traffic Safety Institute. The mini-grant provided funding from October 2008 to September 2009. The 3 goals of the mini-grant were to promote "sharing the road" with motorcycles, inform the reentry riding community on the necessity of proper rider training, and train the Ohio injury prevention workforce on motorcycle safety and the motorcycling culture. However, the ultimate goal is to prevent death and reduce injury due to motorcycle crashes.