As warm weather finally arrives, many motorcycle enthusiasts are eager to hit the open roads, and after a long winter, Shaker High School students want to remind drivers they share those roads with two-wheeled vehicles.
Members of Shaker’s Students Against Destructive Decisions Club were honored recently for winning a competition sponsored by the Albany County Stop DWI program that challenged them to come up with the best motorcycle awareness safety slogan. Their entry — “Don’t take chances, take two glances” — rose above dozens of other slogans from schools throughout the county to earn the group $250.
On Friday morning, April 11, Connor Treacy, Ashley Stewart, Brittney Sheridan, Victoria DeDominicis and Victoria Dingley represented Shaker’s SADD Club at recognition event, accepting the $250 check from Paul Harding of Martin, Harding and Mazzotti at Spitzies’s Harley Davidson Shop on Central Avenue.
SADD was originally formed as Students Against Drunk Driving but was changed in 1997 to expand the message. The group promotes good decision-making and prevention of all destructive behaviors, such as underage drinking, substance abuse, impaired driving and suicide.
Stephen Hallock, the Shaker SADD Club advisor, said the students worked very hard brainstorming and wanted to focus on the fact that other drivers need to be aware of bikers.
Tori Dingley, a junior at Shaker and member of SADD, said she got involved nearly three years ago when some of her friends asked her to join. Her father is a motorcycle rider.
“This is very close to me, knowing that we’re putting some awareness about motorcycles out,” said Dingley.
To get the ball rolling, the Albany County Sheriff’s Office called the offices of Martin, Harding and Mazotti to see if they would sponsor the contest.
“When I saw what they came up with, this is what a professional advertising agency or a governmental agency would come up. It’s fantastic and it goes to the heart of the issue,” said Harding of the winning slogan.
“What we see is the beginning of the season, and there are lots of accidents. Know the seasons, if people are paying attention they’ll see motorcycles. … We have to train ourselves to recognize that there are two-wheeled vehicles out there with us sharing the road,” said Harding.
Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple, an avid motorcycle rider, was there to talk about how important it is for drivers to be on the look out for motorcycles.
“It’s distracted driving — that’s what’s killing people. People are looking down changing radios, texting and then someone on a motorcycle is coming up on the side of them,” said Apple. “Bottom line is, if we can get everybody to slow down and pay attention to the rules of the road, you’re going to save lives. If we start targeting the young kids at a youthful age, they’ll grow into being better drivers and safer drivers and that’s what it’s all about. It’s keeping everybody safe.”