Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month is a good time to remind drivers of vehicles with four wheels to be cautious sharing the road with those driving on two.

As the weather warms, more people are getting on their motorcycles for short- and long-distance rides.

“I know a lot of riders,” Eric Montano, a former law enforcement officer, told KOB 4 recently. “They put their bikes away during the winter time and then they come out in the summer and they just want to ride 100 miles, 200 miles. Sometimes in those 200 miles, things happen.”

With more motorcycles on the road comes the potential for more accidents. Montano, a former New Mexico State police officer after serving as a Bernalillo County deputy, has been at the scene of many motorcycle crashes. Lives have been lost. Families have been damaged.

Montano now dedicates most of his time to providing safety training to riders and ultimately saving lives. He does this through his business called ProRider Albuquerque.

“We took skills from the police motor skills, that police officers use and we condensed them into a course for civilians,” Montano said. “We thought that was just a great idea since we have so many riders here in New Mexico. This would be a great idea, a great safety course.”

Certified instructors and former law enforcement officers instruct the courses—which are divided into advanced riding, precision and control, and defensive riding.

“These skills are perishable,” Montano said. “You need to practice them.”

Montano believes that many accidents can be prevented by minimizing distracted driving and poor road safety. A renewed effort to increase helmet use is also needed to change a disturbing trend. The U.S. Department of Transportation reported that helmet use was down from 69% in 2020 to 64.9% in 2021.

More about the ProRider safety courses can be found at prorideralbuquerque.com.