20,518 accidents involving motorcycles occurred in the year 2010 in Metro Manila alone. That figure has almost been equaled this year and is expected to be exceeded if steps are not taken to arrest the situation.
Philippine motorists, especially those from Metro Manila, have continually bewailed the lack of discipline and enforcement among the two-wheeled denizens of our highways resulting in crippling if not fatal accidents.
This is why Safe-T-Ryders, a safety advocacy group led by former Honda Motorcycle Safety Riding School general manager Arnel Doria, is aiming at lessening in the short term and eventually eradicating senseless motorcycle accidents on our roads in the future.
Set to open soon at the Ortigas Home Depot complex along Dona Julia Vargas Avenue in Pasig City, Safe-T-Ryders will offer basic and enrichment riding courses to train motorcyclists to become safer road users.
Safe-T-Ryders was conceptualized to deliver quality training in a controlled and fun environment, imparting defensive riding as an enjoyable experience. Training programs are designed to be affordable for average motorcycle users, while ensuring the quality of the instruction offered.
All training will be handled by LTO-certified riding instructors. The Basic Safety Riding Course, targeted at novice riders, combines both lecture inputs and practical riding exercises in a comprehensive introductory program.
The three-hour lecture has been specially designed not just to teach traffic rules and regulations, but places greater emphasis on inculcating a safety-oriented mindset that values one’s life and that of other road users.
For the practical riding exercises, learners go through a series of six basic skill sets in a 13-hour program. The theoretical knowledge covered in the lecture includes: respect for traffic rules, consequences of accidents, road usage principles, stopping and following distance, mirror, signals and blind spots, right-of-way rules, alcohol and fatigue and qualities of a good rider.
These training programs have taken into consideration that even relatively good riders do have bad riding habits coming from lack of knowledge and training. Here the center will offer two levels of Enrichment Safety Riding Courses.
Doria shared that “with the recent declaration of the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety, I believe that opening this riding center is a very timely response to the global call. Although it may be a small start, I hope to be a pioneer in this field and offer services that can actually help keep our riders safe. I am putting my money where my mouth is by investing my retirement funds into this advocacy.”
Doria, a respected marketing executive who played a key role in establishing Honda as a leading car brand in the Philippines, was also instrumental in setting up the country’s first integrated vehicle training center, the Honda Safety Driving Center in Parañaque City.
