Louisiana Plans Motorcycle Awareness Program
Billboards promoting drivers’ awareness of motorcyclists will be placed alongside Louisiana’s interstates in May.
Col. James Champagne, head of the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission, made the announcement at a news conference with members of the state’s motorcycling groups. The 10 billboards and a statewide campaign of radio advertisements, costing $50,000, were paid for by the Highway Safety Commission.
Louisiana has 105,000 registered motorcyclists. Seventy-five motorcyclists were killed in Louisiana in highway accidents in 2004, down from 83 in 2003.
Champagne said 63% of crashes involving motorcycles in Louisiana are the fault of car and truck drivers, not bikers. He said the majority of those crashes were caused by motorists inattentive to the presence of motorcyclists on the road.
One of the ten planned billboards says: “Inattention Kills. Drive Aware. Motorcyclists Are Everywhere.”
