‘Back to Basics’ - Sandals and bikers club to stage motorcyclists workshop today

Motorcycle riders in western Jamaica will get a chance to sharpen their skills today when Sandals Resort International (SRI) sponsors the Shango Bikers to host another in a series of Back to Basics Motorcycle Safety Workshops.

According to SRI, the alarming statistics of motorcycle fatalities has prompted it to extend support to the Jamaican motorcycling community by sponsoring the workshops, with today's session to be staged at the Sandals Whitehouse in Westmoreland.

The workshops are aimed at motorcycle riders in western Jamaica, the region that currently accounts for 30-40 per cent of the island's motorcycle-related road fatalities.

"Road accidents claimed the lives of more than 110 motorcyclists in 2015," noted Tarik Zawdie Kiddoe, a member and spokesperson of the Kingston-based riding group, the Shango Bikers.

Kiddoe, who has been championing the call for greater focus on motorcycle safety in Jamaica, developed this series of workshops in an effort to meaningfully curb the high instances of road fatalities through targeted training for riders.

ROAD-SAFETY SESSIONS

These strategic workshops provide 'in-class' road-safety sessions as well as practical field exercises, focusing on the importance of safety gear, risk awareness, visibility and manoeuvring skills, including proper braking and strategies for maintaining the rider's personal safety limit.

"Statistics show that for the first time in 2015, motorcycle fatalities topped any other group in Jamaica, with Westmoreland registering the highest count. This is alarming as it indicates an underlying safety issue," said Sandals Group public relations manager, Sheryl McGaw-Douse.