MINNEAPOLIS — The days between Memorial Day and Labor Day are called the '100 Deadliest Days of Summer.'
On Monday morning, westbound Highway 610 in Maple Grove was shut down near Highway 169 due to a crash involving a motorcycle. The driver of that crash was taken to the hospital and is expected to survive their injuries.
With more motorcyclists on the road, as well as regular motorists, we thought a motorcycle refresher would be helpful.
In the state of Minnesota, all motorcycle operators must either have a permit or endorsement and need to be 16 years or older.
When it comes to wearing a helmet, Jon Fernholz, from American Bikers for Awareness Training and Education (ABATE) said rules differ.
"If you're under 18 you have to wear a helmet, if you're riding on a motorcycle permit you have to wear a helmet," he said. "If you're over 18 and you have your endorsement, you do have the choice in the state whether or not to wear a DOT-approved helmet when you're operating a motorcycle."
According to this report from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, in 2021, 998 motorcyclists were injured and 69 motorcyclists were killed in crashes.
Of the 69 killed, 46 were not wearing helmets of the 998 injured, 574 weren't wearing helmets.
"Keep your distance, away from the vehicles best you can, and you never know what the vehicle is going to do, hanging out in their blind spot is a very poor choice, for the motorcyclist's point of view," he said. "But rider training is above all what we push."
With motorcycle fatalities trending up, Fernholz said his group is hoping to educate more riders.
"I believe it was somewhere around 40 percent of the fatalities last year the rider did not have a valid permit, or a valid motorcycle endorsement," Fernholz said. "Why this is trending, we can theorize all we want-- but the fact of the matter is a lot of the people getting killed have no form of education."
A.B.A.T.E. MN is pledging to pay for young people's basic rider training class. Those classes come highly recommended by the Department of Public Safety but are not required.