Motorcycle safety - make it a priority Published July 29, 2009 By Master Sgt. Brad Hinkle 126th Air Refuelilng Wing Ground Safety Scott AFB, Ill. -- Motorcycle safety has become a hot topic in the safety community lately and for good reason. There have been 15 motorcycle related fatalities so far this fiscal year throughout the Air Force, Air Force Reserve, and Air National Guard. That's the same amount of motorcycle related fatalities that we had in the entire FY 08 and we still have a quarter of the year to go. Losing an Airman about every two weeks from a motorcycle mishap is unacceptable, so the safety community is looking for ways to stop this trend. Here at the 126th Air Refueling Wing, we would like to encourage all of our motorcycle riders to participate in one of the three motorcycle courses available on Scott AFB. All three motorcycle courses are free to 126 ARW members and you may be in either civilian or military status. The first course is the Basic Riders Course (BRC). The BRC is designed for motorcycle riders with less than a year of riding experience. The course is two days long and spends half of the time in a classroom and half of the time on the motorcycle course. The second course is the experienced riders course (ERC). The ERC is designed for motorcycle riders with more than a year of riding experience. The course takes one full day with most of the time spent on the motorcycle course and very little time in the classroom. You do not have to take the BRC to attend the ERC. The third motorcycle course is the sport bike course (SBC). The SBC is something that is new and unique to Air Mobility Command. This course was developed because of the amount of fatalities of members who ride sport bikes. The SBC is also one full day and you must have completed either the BRC or ERC before taking the SBC. Normally, motorcycle safety courses on Scott AFB are scheduled on an as needed basis. The 375th Airlift Wing safety office will not schedule a class until there are eight people who request a class. However, there are exceptions to this rule. Request forms can be found in the safety folder on the 126th Community of Practice (CoP). Please feel free to contact the 126 ARW Safety Office with any motorcycle related safety questions you may have. We don't want you to stop riding your motorcycle; we just want you to ride safely.