2004 Annual Report

About our program:

To minimize the risk and maximize the fun of motorcycling, the Registry of Motor Vehicles sponsors the Massachusetts Riders Education Program (MREP). MREP provides training motorcycles, and / or promotional and technical assistance to a statewide network of training sites. This support enables these sites to keep their tuitions for rider education courses affordable. The RiderCoaches who teach these courses are MSF certified with additional MREP approval.

Mission:

The mission of this program is to reduce the number of motorcycle related fatalities and injuries in the Commonwealth by increasing the statewide availability of Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) approved rider education courses.

Sites, State Contractors and Locations:

As of the 2004 season, seven contractors operated 9 sites:

Pioneer Valley Rider Training – Westfield, MA
SM Motorcycle School - Orange Central MA.
Safety Council – West Boylston, MA
Ironstone Ventures – Acton / Ayer,
Seekonk and Hanscom AFB (military only)
Motorcycle Riding School – Beverly, MA
Training Wheels of New England – Brockton and Bourne, MA.
Riders Edge – Auburn, MA

Training:

2004 season:

We had a 95 percent pass rate in the BRC and a 96 percent. The program has trained approximately 53,044 motorcyclist since 1990.

MREP Staffing:

• 1 MREP Program Manager
• 1 MREP Program Coordinator
• 7 Site Coordinators
• 2 RiderCoach Trainers
• 107 RiderCoaches (12 of them newly trained in 2004)

MA. numbers at a glance:

Total number of registered motorcycles for 2004 = 142,883

Total number of motorcycle licenses issued for 2004 = 11,376 new and 63,719 renewals

Total number of motorcycle permits issued for 2004 = 29,413

Active Motorcycle Registrations:

June 2000 = 106,571
June 2001 = 117,681 (Up almost 10 percent from 2000) June 2002 = 127,739 (Up almost 8 percent from 2001) June 2003 = 135,058 (Up almost 6 Percent from 2002) June 2004= 142,883 (Up 5 percent from 2003)

MREP Budget

The MREP funding comes from Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 90, Section 34: …”$2.00 from each motorcycle registration fee shall be paid by the Registrar or by the person collecting the registration fee into the general fund and shall be appropriated solely for the purpose of promoting and advancing motorcycle safety.” The MREP also applies for and typically receives an annual federal highway safety grant through the Governor’s Highway Safety Bureau. The program's state and federal budget for the 2004 training season totaled approximately $184,000.

Licensing:
The first step in the pursuit of a motorcycle license is the securing of a motorcycle permit. This is accomplished by passing a knowledge test administered by the Registry of Motor Vehicles. Riding evaluations and licensure can be obtained in two ways; passing an RMV road test, or successfully passing an MREP rider education course (in which case the RMV road test requirement is waived). To pass an MREP course the student must attend all classroom sessions, all on-cycle sessions, pass a written knowledge test and a skill evaluation. Once this is accomplished the Site Coordinators will submit the student’s name to the RMV and a license is mailed to the student, provided no outstanding driving issues exist. Approximately 80 percent of the students who passed a motorcycle course received their license without incident. The 20 percent that had to have a certificate mailed to them could have been because of issues with the RMV or failure to pre-pay the license fee to the RMV.

2004 Highlight

• One hundred RiderCoaches, administrators and guests attended the MREP Annual Update. The guest speaker addressed BRC Creative Teaching Techniques. Other topics included Mentoring Initiative, BRC range discussion, MREP Policy Guide, and the RiderCoach Survey Results. Awards were given out to Site RiderCoaches of the Year and an MREP RiderCoach of the Year. Awards were also given out to Committee members for volunteering their time and to the Site Coordinators that were instrumental in assisting the MREP staff
• 60,000 2004 MREP brochures were printed and distributed to legislative district offices, RMV branches, insurance agencies, motorcycle dealers, motorcycle clubs, police departments and individuals from phone and web inquiries
• A RiderCoach Preparation Workshops were conducted, training 12 New RiderCoaches
• Check twice, save a life campaign / awareness included but was not limited to
• Radio
• Posters
• Bumper stickers
• Movie Theatres
• MA Turnpike Toll Booths
• Magazines
• Participated in Two Motorcycle Expo's in which 2000 MREP pens and 4 motorcycle courses were given away.
• Discussed and implemented new policy and procedures for new RiderCoach Candidates
• Quality Assurance Program utilizing RMV personnel
• Tabled, discussed and approved a MA version of the MSF ERC Suite
• Program Manager, Program Coordinator and Trainer attended SMSA in Ohio
• Trainer was trained as an Alt MOST trainer in VT
• Conducted 3 Modified Range Mini Updates