skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Wednesday, February 12, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

As Elon Musk looks on, Trump says he's giving DOGE even more power; Officials monitor latest AR bird flu outbreak; NV lawmaker proposes new date for Indigenous Peoples Day; NM lawmaker says journalists of all stripes need protection; Closure of EPA branch would harm VA environment.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

A court weighs the right of New York City noncitizens to vote in local elections, Vice President Vance suggests courts can't overrule a president, and states increasingly challenge the validity of student IDs at the ballot box.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Medical debt, which tops $90 billion has an outsized impact on rural communities, a new photography book shares the story of 5,000 schools built for Black students between 1912 and 1937, and anti-hunger advocates champion SNAP.

Rallying Cry for Motorcycle Safety Featured on NM License Plate

play audio
Play

Thursday, August 31, 2023   

Motorcyclists are the most vulnerable drivers on the road. That's why a New Mexico man started a campaign that led the state to issue the first license plate meant to help boost their safety.

In 2015, Richard Sturgeon was asked by his employers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory to start a Motorcycle Safety Committee.

Eight years later, New Mexico has a specialty license plate designed by Sturgeon and approved by lawmakers that encourages drivers to pay more attention to motorcyclists.

Sturgeon - now officially the chair of the Los Alamos National Laboratory Motorcycle Safety Committee - said he landed on the proposal while brainstorming ideas about how to reduce accidents.

"If I could get a message of 'Look Twice for Motorcycles' and have a picture of a motorcycle on a New Mexico license plate," said Sturgeon, "then people would see it and think about motorcycles in real time while they were driving."

Per vehicle miles traveled in 2021, motorcyclists were about 24 times more likely than those in other vehicles to die in a crash, and were four times more likely to be injured - according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The initial fee for the plates includes a portion designated for an education training fund administered by the state's Department of Transportation.

Forty-percent of all vehicle-and-motorcycle accidents occur at intersections, because - as Sturgeon explained - their smaller profile keeps them hidden, or drivers misjudge how fast a motorcyclist is traveling and turn into their path, causing an accident.

"So, in that time that they've looked left and then looked right, a motorcycle will have made a lot of ground that that car is not aware of," said Sturgeon. "The car pulls out, and that T-bone is 42% of accidents like that."

Sturgeon says the standard yellow license plate includes the state's distinctive "Zia" sun symbol - used with permission by the Zia Pueblo.

There are roughly 67,000 registered motorcycles in New Mexico, well behind Montana - which has the most motorcycle registrations per 100,0000 people.




get more stories like this via email
more stories
With the inclusion of workforce certificates and certifications, Ohio's overall rate of educational attainment has increased by 18.1% since 2009. (Adobe Stock)

play sound

According to research from Lumina Foundation, the rate of U.S. high school seniors seeking higher education is on the upswing. Although Ohio student …


play sound

Lawmakers in Michigan have introduced a package of bills designed to lower costs and expand health care access. Senate Bill 3 would create a …

Health and Wellness

play sound

As winter drags on with a recent rare burst of snow across North Florida, many Floridians struggle with seasonal affective disorder. It is a form of …


Southern sea otters only inhabit about 13% of their former range and remain absent from the Oregon coast. (Dhayes/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

The push to reintroduce southern sea otters to greater sections of the California and Oregon coast is getting a big boost from a $1.56 million grant f…

Social Issues

play sound

By Nina B. Elkadi for Sentient.Broadcast version by Judith Ruiz-Branch for Illinois News Connection reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service …

The Environmental Protection Agency said excess nitrogen and phosphorus cause an overgrowth of algae in lakes and if algal blooms occur, the toxins they produce can be harmful to human health and aquatic life. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

Minnesota is giving its water quality standards a fresh look. With public input in their hands, officials are under pressure to add language about …

Social Issues

play sound

Nevada's only sitting Indigenous legislator has introduced a bill to recognize Indigenous Peoples' Day on what she calls the "correct day," the second…

Environment

play sound

The Trump administration has started dismantling the Environmental Protection Agency's office dealing with reducing environmental harms to minority an…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021