Over the past three years, seven people have lost their lives to motorcycle accidents in Taranaki according to Ministry of Transport data
Ride Forever is an on-road coaching program, conducted by professional motorcycle instructors, to educate riders on how to control their vehicle with greater precision and reduce the injury and death toll we have on our roads.
Prior to 2020, the promotion of Ride Forever was done primarily via events – the national Shiny Side Up events and smaller Motorcycle Awareness Month (MAM) events were held around the country to encourage riders to sign up for a course. However, with COVID-19 making events difficult to hold, exploring different promotional methods has been the main priority.
This year ACC was able to proceed with an online version of the Shiny Side Up event. This went ahead on Sunday the 10th of April with presenters Jay Reeve and Ray Herron, as well as special guest speakers, Carl Fogarty, Sam McCafferty, and Amber Uhrle (aka Chaotic Blonde), Dr Chris Hurren, Kevin Williams, Avalon Biddle, and Sgt Peter Sowter.
The event was a great success with over 2,100 tuning in on either Facebook Live or Live on YouTube.
On a local level, ACC has teamed up with Access Radio Taranaki to create a five-show podcast series called “Kickstart Your Ride with Ride Forever”.
The show consists of local ACC Injury Prevention Partner Riley McGregor interviewing riders about their experiences with motorcycles and the Ride Forever program. Three of the shows are interviews with the local Taranaki providers – Caron Bedwell from Carz n Bikes Ltd, Ross Gratton from Two Bald Bikers, and Lance Munroe from Road Safe – as well as two other interviews with local riders who have also been on the Ride Forever course.
The show will be aired on Access Radio Taranaki 104.4 FM between 16 April 2022 and 19 June 2022, as well as being available on Spotify and iTunes.
If you know of anybody interested in motorcycles, please encourage them to tune in, or download and have a listen.
