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Every year, the Minnesota Motorcycle Safety Center conducts an advertising campaign - radio ads, billboards, television commercials, posters - you name it. Rider training is important, but we also believe that getting the information out - motorist awareness, impaired riding, protective gear, proper licensing, etc.- is important, as well. Here you can look at (and listen to) the current ad concepts, learn about the who, what, where, why, when, and how of the campaigns, check out our free safety materials, and learn about other safety-related events and organizations.
Six-foot two. Three hundred and two pounds. And still fits in your blind spot.
The campaign concepts, originally developed by Harley-Davidson (with help from eight other motorcycle manufacturers) and unveiled at Daytona Bike Week last year, were donated to the Motorcycle Safety Foundation so that individual states could use them for their own motorist-awareness campaigns. The goal of the ads is to raise both the awareness of motorcyclists in traffic and the awareness that motorcyclists are human beings. According to Pat Hahn of the Minnesota Motorcycle Safety Center (MMSC), "It’s easy to forget when you’re driving that you’re not surrounded just by other vehicles, but by people. Sure, you don’t know them, you can’t talk to them, but they’re human beings with lives, and jobs, and families, and places to be, just like the rest of us." About 10% of the licensed drivers in Minnesota are also licensed motorcycle riders. Because motorcycles are smaller than cars and the riders are not protected by seat belts and air bags, motorcyclists are extremely vulnerable to death and injury in a crash. All the training and protective gear in the world is not much defense when cut off in traffic by a vehicle that is three to six times the motorcycle’s size. "There are far too many cases of motorists simply not looking closely enough for motorcyclists in traffic," Hahn says. "Intersections are particularly dangerous places. In 2000, forty-four percent of all the motorcycle crashes involved another vehicle. Of those, about sixty percent were attributed to the other driver’s inattention, distraction, or simply the failure to yield the right-of-way." These and other factors resulted in a total of 36 deaths and 1,084 injuries to motorcyclists. In the past, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety has run campaigns about rider training, protective gear, and impaired riding, as well as motorist awareness. The traditional tagline of "Start Seeing Motorcycles" has been replaced with "Start Seeing Motorcyclists," a subtle distinction but one that’s important, according to Mr. Hahn. "What I’d most like people to remember is that when they see a motorcycle, it’s not just a bike. See that guy on the Harley? That’s somebody’s husband, or dad, or grandpa. See that kid on the sport bike? That’s somebody’s daughter, or son. That person has a life and a family, just like you, so I’m asking you to watch out for them. Help them get home safely." Past campaigns
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Motorist
Awareness PSAs
Motorcycle
Safety PSAs
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Public Relations Activities and Materials | Calendar of Events | Safety Organizations | Public Service Announcements Motorcycle Facts | Minnesota Motorcycle Safety Center Facts | News Release, 5.5.00 | News Release, 6.1.01 |
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The Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) is politely asking motorists to "Take It Easy" on motorcyclists this summer with a new ad campaign. The four different ads depict ordinary people - motorcycle enthusiasts - in a car’s rear-view mirror with the tag line, "Please Start Seeing Motorcyclists." Each ad also contains a wry message on the mirror instead of the usual, "OBJECTS MAY BE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR." 
