In the eight years since he founded the Muncie Motorcycle School, James Yaney says he has had 3,000 students and not one fatality.
Yaney's school holds 36 motorcycle safety training classes each season with 12 people in each class.
"[People] don't realize how much is involved in riding a motorcycle," Yaney said.
He said if more people knew about safety on motorcycles, there would be fewer motorcyclist fatalities each year.
The federal government agrees.
In August, President George W. Bush signed a bill that created a Motorcycle Advisory Council. The new law provides a total of $25 million over a four-year period to be used for motorcycle safety training expansion and public awareness campaigns.
The law also allocated more than $2 million for in-depth research on motorcycle accidents.
According to the Motorcycle Accident Cause Factors and Identification of Countermeasures study, also know as the Hurt Report, motorcycle safety training reduces accident involvement and injuries in accidents.
The Hurt Report, a study conducted by the University of Southern California in the 1970s, analyzed 3,600 motorcycle accident reports. The results were published in 1981, but the report is still used as a resource for motorcycle accident analysis today. The Hurt Report also concludes that wearing a safety helmet is the most critical factor in preventing head injuries.
However, a study done in response to the Hurt Report concluded that the use of motorcycle helmets has no effect on the probability of death during an accident.
"What matters is which numbers you want to believe," Alan Leduc, associate professor of industry and technology, said. "I wear a helmet, but I respect the rights of the people who believe otherwise."
Leduc, who has been riding a motorcycle for five years and 250,000 miles, has been in three accidents.
He said riders should dress for an accident.
"The helmet is an easy thing to pick on," he said as he showed off his jacket and pants made of KEVLAR, a brand fabric used to make protective gear.
A five-year European study of 4,000 motorcycle riders done from 1998-2003 showed that when the majority of riders get into an accident, the first part of the body to hit the ground is the rider's left hand, and second is the rider's head.
"The bottom line on it is they are going to hit their head," Yaney said.
He said a motorcyclist's chances of survival during an accident increase 30 percent if the person is wearing a helmet.
The Muncie Motorcycle School requires students to wear helmets, protective eye wear, pants, a long-sleeved shirt and shoes that protect the ankle.
"Nothing's more distracting than trying to dig a bug out of your eye," Jerry "J.R." Romine, an instructor for the Muncie Motorcycle School, said.
According to the Hurt Report, most motorcycle accidents occur at low speeds and during short trips.
"If you get through your life without being in a car accident, you're lucky," Leduc said. "The same goes with motorcycles."
Yaney said 2005 is the sixth consecutive year in which motorcyclist fatalities have increased.
The largest segment of fatalities in motorcycle accidents is middle-aged men, Romine said. He said middle-aged riders pick up bad habits, and they stop driving as safely as they should.
"Even though you can do wheelies and those kind of skills, doesn't mean you know about defensive driving," Leduc said.
The Muncie Motorcycle School holds three-day classes that teach students motorcycle safety. Most insurance companies give discounts to motorcyclists who take a safety class, Yaney said.
"We teach students to make more time to react," Yaney said.
He said the normal reaction time during an accident is two seconds. Instructors at the school teach students to stay four seconds behind a vehicle. In undesirable conditions, such as tiredness, weather and darkness, riders should make that gap larger.
Why Ride?
Yaney said he has seen an increase in motorcycle registrations during the last five years.
He said he believes there are three reasons for the increase.
"First, they're fun," he said. "The fun doubles every time you ride."
Yaney said motorcycles generally go 50 miles on a gallon of gas, and he thinks more people will start riding because of rising gas prices.
"Without mass transportation, you've got to get to work. Motorcycles are the best thing," he said.
According to the Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics, in 2003, passenger cars averaged 22.3 miles per gallon and motorcycles averaged 50.
"You can get motorcycles that go from the 40 to 60 miles per gallon range," Ty van Hooydonk, director of product communications at the Motorcycle Industry Council, said.
Hooydonk said dealers have told him that more people are coming in to their shops and asking about motorcycles' gas mileage.
The final reason Yaney gave for the increase is the image of the motorcycle.
"Motorcycles are cool," he said.
Hooydonk said motorcycles are more prevalent in American pop culture nowadays.
"Motorcycle imagery is everywhere," he said. "In general, motorcycles and scooters are becoming much a part of the fabric of American life."
Romine said a large number of women take the courses the school offers.
"It's not unusual for eight out of a class of 12 to be women," he said.
Kelley Wells, one of Romine's students, said she had no knowledge of motorcycles before she took the class.
"I am more aware of motorcyclists when I drive now," she said. "Because I am one too."
"More and more new scooters are coming out to meet the market," Hooydonk said. "Whatever kind of rider you are, you can buy a motorcycle or scooter to really, really fit your needs."
Wells, like many of the students in the Muncie Motorcycle School, said she plans to take the class again in April to refresh her memory on some safety aspects of driving a motorcycle.
"You can always learn something new," she said. "Because we all tend to forget."
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