The Marine Corps Community Service organization will be sponsoring and hosting a Semper Ride event to promote motorcycle safety for service members, their families, DoD civilian employees and retirees Thursday on Marine Corps Base Quantico.

The event will consist of freestyle motocross demonstrations, a poker run, motorcycle exposition and safety awareness presentations. While the event is being held at a Marine Base, organizers want to reiterate its open to a broad audience across the DoD, including Sailors and their families.

“While Semper Ride is a Marine Corps program, motorcycle safety has the same importance throughout the DOD and the messages and lessons to be learned at the event are relevant to all riders, no matter the branch,” said Jeff Tilton, organizer and owner of TNT Action Sports. “At the end of the day it’s one team, one fight. So we welcome all members of the DoD.” 

Training service members on the correct way to be safe on a motorcycle is the main mission of Semper Ride gatherings. The Semper Ride “Motorcycling the Right Way” presentation features top level videos and subject matter experts talking about different ways to safely ride motorcycles. The presenters include 10-time X Games Gold Medalist Ronnie Renner and World Sportbike racing champion and the owner of JP43 training, Jason Pridmore. 

“I think our approach is what makes Semper Ride unique. The use of the sport’s top professional riders and instructors is the cornerstone of the program,” said Tilton. “While our mission is very simple, reduce crashes that result in injury or death, we want these events to be a part of the solution and at the same time be impactful while having fun.”

The program has been successful in educating service members on what motorcycle is right for them. Education and hands-on training goes hand-in-hand with the Semper Ride organization. It’s no secret that the Navy and Marine Corps services are losing their personnel to motorcycle mishaps with 11 sailors and 12 Marines killed so far in FY 18. This is just one way the services are looking to educate and help mitigate the risks associated with motorcycle riding. 

“From a human stand point, we don’t want people to die or get injured in motorcycle crashes that are preventable. From a military stand point, maintaining readiness is always a focus and losing service members to motorcycle crashes affects that” said Tilton. “We have proven that with proper education combined with increased opportunities for advanced on-bike training, we can move the needle and reduce fatalities.”

To register for the Poker Run in advance (not required) visit https://esams.cnic.navy.mil/esams_gen_2/loginesams.aspx or to learn more about the Semper Ride Program visit http://www.marinecorpsroi.com/SemperRide.html.  For more news from Naval Safety Center, visit http://www.navy.mil/local/nsc/.

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For more news from Naval Safety Center, visit www.navy.mil/.