We've already mentioned last week the high number of fatalities for the US armed forces stationed in Europe (link). But in the USA, things are even more grim.

Since October 2007, 32 Navy and Marines have died on their motorcycles. 30 out of the 32 were riding sports motorcycles!

This has caused the upper echelons of the Navy to mandate a training course for any sailor or marine riding a sports bike. The one day course teaches them safety on their motorcycles, from cornering and emergency braking to looking in their mirrors at the traffic lights.

The training course is mandatory for all Navy personnel riding a sports bike, and it's held on top of the mandatory one day basic rider course for all US military personnel, uniformed or civilian.

The training course, developed together with the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF), is held in the US, Japan and Europe. 12,500 participants will be trained this year.

However, if you have a look at the this video (link), you'll notice several riders riding in the training course without adequate protection, apart from a helmet. Doing emergency braking without proper protection doesn't seem like a smart move.

Will the mandatory training course help? Who knows, but it's a start. Let's see what the statistics will say next year.