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Drinking and motorcycle riding: avoidance is the best policy
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The Motorcycle Safety Foundation recommends that you plan ahead for a safe ride:
• Riders should never mix alcohol with riding. Even low, legal limits of BAC increase your risk while riding a motorcycle.
• Riders who are away from home and decide to drink should either (1) wait until their BAC has returned to zero before riding, even if it means staying overnight, or (2) leave the motorcycle in a secure location and find alternate transportation home.
The Harley Owners Group (H.O.G.) has specific recommendations regarding Chapter functions:- No alcohol before or during a riding event
- Chapter is not to furnish alcohol
- Announce prior to any rides that if you have been drinking before the ride, you can’t ride
- Announce prior to any rides that if drink while on a group ride, you may be asked to leave
Some intervention techniques to dissuade someone who has had too much to drink from driving from the Oklahoma University Police under their “Get The Keys” promotion:
1. If it is a close friend, try to use a soft, calm approach. Suggest it would be better if they took a cab.
2. Be calm. Joke about it. Make light of it.
3. Try to make it sound like you are doing them a favor.
4. If it is somebody you don’t know well, speak to their friends and have them make an attempt to persuade them to hand over the keys. Usually they will listen.
5. If it’s a good friend, spouse, or significant other, tell them that if they insist on driving (riding), you are not going with them.
6. Locate their keys while they are preoccupied and take them away. Most likely, they will think they’ve lost them and will be forced to find another mode of transportation.
7. If possible, avoid embarrassing the person or being confrontational.
And finally some Common Sense advice from this writer:
- In a group ride, you are only as safe as your most inexperienced and most stupid rider. An impaired rider jeopardizes the entire group. If you aren’t comfortable with the actions of a person or group, don’t be afraid of either saying something or simply leaving the group ride. An live prude is better than a dead buddy.
- Know where the group is going before the ride. If this is a Poker Run and every stop is a tavern, rethink your involvement. Not every rider will be a tea-totaler or show responsibility when drinking.
- If the bikes are parked for the evening (maybe at a hotel), then by all means, enjoy the evening. Who cares when the only consequence is carrying a buddy to his room? It will be better than the EMTs carry him to the hospital or morgue.
In other words: Alcohol and Motorcycles Are Incompatible
Related Articles:
From Chris Greenleaf: Drinking and Riding: Part 1 of a series- Personal Judgement Counts
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