ABATE

By Don Enninga, ASMI Instructor/ABATE of Colorado Northeast Coordinator

Summer is about half over! Already! Even more than half if you consider kids going back to school in mid-August, the Broncos starting their camp and Sturgis almost here!

The news has had a lot of motorcycle crashes and injury and death, unfortunately. After experiencing an incident while driving back from the ABATE state board meeting in Gunnison recently, it’s a wonder that there aren’t more tragedies involving motorcycles and vehicles.

We were not riding this time, too much stuff to take, but it didn’t stop the crazy drivers out there from almost causing us to have a crash! Case in point, a Cadillac SUV from Texas went flying around us, immediately swerved into our lane and hit the brakes to make a right turn. Between a quick, and loud, warning from Kristi and an instant reaction on my part (didn’t have time to think about it) we were able to take evasive action to the left without hitting this idiot, having a head on with other traffic or getting rear ended by the person behind us. God was guiding this situation. This may or may not have had a bad outcome if we were riding instead of driving. People driving do stupid things which can be made much worse on a bike. I hope and pray that all riders are safe and able to avoid those who may not see us or who cause crashes by their careless actions.

Accident Scene Management

That takes me to a familiar theme: Accident Scene Management and the Bystander Assistance Course that teaches motorcyclists how to safely manage a motorcycle crash scene, assess and treat the injured and interact with EMS when they arrive. This one-day class is based on the national First Responder curriculum and prepares students to handle the unexpected when riding. It’s amazing how a person can react with the proper training and education to provide safe and effective first aid. Don’t let yourself be in the situation when something happens that you don’t know what to do. Take an ASMI class through ABATE of Colorado!

Scheduling for Fall 2018 – Spring 2019 for ASMI classes is ongoing, so, as you decide that this would be a huge benefit to you and your group, getting your class on the schedule sooner rather than later will ensure that your needs can be met. Generally, a Saturday works well for most people, but classes can be scheduled on the occasional Sunday, or an afternoon into an evening class.

Space considerations

The ASMI course requires a space large enough for the number of students to sit and do their skills, a place to project the course material on a screen, and related equipment. There may also be a need to provide lodging and travel expenses depending on class location and timing.

The Accident Scene Management class is $75 per student, but there may be options to help reduce the cost to students. One idea is to get a sponsor for the class to help pay part of the cost. For instance, if you could get a business or individual to sponsor $25 or $50 of each student attending, that would cut down the cost for each person. There may possibly be foundations or other entities that might be willing to provide grant funding to assist with class costs too.

Make it happen

Inquiries for setting up classes can be made at: denninga@kci.net  or by phone at 970-768-5599. ABATE of Colorado, a motorcycle rights organization, has offered many of the classes and can be reached at www.abateofcolo.org or 303-789-3264 office. Act now to get your class scheduled!