FORT SILL, Okla. (Aug. 15, 2022) — Recent motorcycle safety checks led to 15% decrease in violations, ensuring safety for riders and drivers on Fort Sill streets.
If you ride a motorcycle, you most likely noticed a slightly slower process getting through the gates last week. This involved having your driver’s license checked for the proper endorsement and ensuring you are wearing the proper personal protective equipment (PPE). This was an initiative by the Director of Emergency Services and Provost Marshal Lt. Col. Michael King, to increase the safety of everyone operating a vehicle on post.
It is illegal to operate a motorcycle on or off post without having the Motorcycle endorsement on your state issued driver’s license, an “L” in Oklahoma, other states often use an “M.” Besides being a legal requirement, this endorsement assures public safety officials that you have had the minimum required safety training and that you possess the necessary skills to operate a motorcycle safely on public streets among other vehicles and pedestrians.
This is especially important when considering that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration motorcycle accidents are 27 times more likely to result in a fatality as compared to car accidents NHTSA.
The requirements to ride a motorcycle on Fort Sill are considerably more stringent than off post in the state of Oklahoma. According to Fort Sill regulation FS-385-10 Appendix K, at a minimum a motorcycle operator must be licensed, and wearing Department of Transportation approved helmet, boots or shoes that cover the ankle, long pants, long sleeves, full fingered gloves and have proper eye protection. For service members the PPE requirements in FS-385-10 apply both on and off post.
“Remember Fires Fifty #9, Trust but verify,” said Lt. Col. Michael King.
King said although inspections by DES may seem inconvenient at times, they help serve as an extra set of eyes and ears for unit commanders, especially those who are just getting their feet under them, to ensure the safety and well-being of their Soldiers.
For those who may wonder whether this extra scrutiny at the gates accomplished anything other than just slowing down the entry process for motorcycle riders, according to Fort Sill Department of Emergency Services, within the six days that they conducted these enhanced checks, 91 motorcycle operators were inspected of those 14 violations to policy were found and one citation was issued for operating a motorcycle without a license.
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