Ohio Traffic Safety Office to promote motorcycle training and safety in Ohio

COLUMBUS — Ohio Traffic Safety Office Director Felice Moretti announced Tuesday that Motorcycle Ohio, the state’s motorcycle training and safety program, will now operate as a division of the OTSO, according to a media release.

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“The training programs under Motorcycle Ohio are a great fit with the existing programs under OTSO,” Moretti said. “Motorcycle operators in Ohio won’t notice anything different after this transition.”

Motorcycle Ohio had previously been under OTSO until 2011 when it moved under the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV), the release said. Both OTSO and the BMV are divisions with the Ohio Department of Public Safety.

“The change will be seamless,” Moretti said. “Both OTSO and Motorcycle Ohio work together with a renewed focus on safety to keep riders and all motorists safe on Ohio’s roadways.”

Ohio is the fifth largest state in the union for motorcycle ridership with over 498,000 registered motorcycles, 600,000 endorsed riders, and issues 40,000 motorcycle permits per year, OTSO said.

There were 215 motorcycle fatalities in Ohio in 2021 with over 2,600 injury crashes on the roadways, the release said.

The goal is to help Ohioans learn how to ride a motorcycle safely and engage in a fun, rewarding hobby, OTSO said.

OTSO awarded over $31 million in grants last year to be used for projects such as traffic safety education, enforcement and engineering, according to the release.

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