U.S. Transportation Secretary Peters Announces Broad New Effort to Reduce Motorcycle Fatalities – Releases a Public Service Announcement on Her Personal Crash Survival

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- To combat the alarming trend of rising motorcycle injuries and fatalities, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters today announced a comprehensive new federal initiative to improve motorcycle safety with more rider education and training, tougher standards for helmet certification labeling, law enforcement training, and road designs that consider motorcycle dynamics.

Secretary Peters – an avid motorcyclist – also released a television public service announcement where she credits her riding gear for saving her life during a 2005 motorcycle crash.

“Take it from a motorcycle enthusiast who also happens to be the U.S. Secretary of Transportation,” Secretary Peters says in the PSA. “Check your bike before each ride, wear all your safety equipment and ride with others so you’re more visible. If I hadn’t taken those safety precautions, I wouldn’t be standing here today.”

Peters said the motorcycle safety initiative will create new national safety and training standards for novice riders, curb counterfeit helmet labeling so that consumers can be certain they are buying DOT-certified helmets, place new focus on motorcycle-specific road improvements, and provide training to law enforcement officers on how to spot unsafe motorcyclists. In addition, Peters said, the plan includes a broad public awareness campaign – including the PSA - on safe riding techniques.

Secretary Peters said she is one of the many “baby-boomers” who have recently returned to riding after years of shelving their bikes in lieu of family and careers. In August 2005, she suffered a broken collar bone after a crash on a two-lane highway just north of Tucson, Arizona.