May is Motorcycle Awareness Month. Kendall County advocacy group urging motorists to ‘stay off the phone and don’t text’

Cliff Oleson of Plano is an avid motorcyclist who wants to make sure cars and trucks share the road with their fellow two-wheeled travelers and keep an eye out for them.

As president of the Open Roads Chapter of the motorcycle advocacy group ABATE, Oleson has a simple message for drivers.

“Stay off the phone and don’t text,” Oleson said.

ABATE, which stands for A Brotherhood Aimed Toward Education, is a well-known and influential group in Illinois.

“We lobby for motorcycle rights and teach safety in driver’s education classes,” Oleson said.

The Open Roads Chapter of ABATE covers Kendall County along with southern DeKalb and northern LaSalle counties. The group holds meetings at the Plano American Legion Post 395.

Oleson looks the part of a real easy rider, wearing a vest festooned with metal and fabric motorcycle badges and emblems, including commemoratives from his visits to the famed Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota.

“Stay off the phone and don’t text.”

—  Cliff Oleson, president of Open Roads Chapter of ABATE

May is Motorcycle Awareness Month, and Oleson brought his safety campaign to Yorkville on May 9, accepting a proclamation from Mayor John Purcell.

“Motorcycles are a common and economical means of transportation that reduces fuel consumption and road wear, and contributes in a significant way to the relief of traffic and parking congestion,” Purcell read from the official proclamation.

Purcell said ABATE continually promotes motorcycle safety through education and awareness in high school driver education programs and with the general public.

The organization has presented motorcycle awareness programs to over 120,000 participants in Illinois over the past seven years.

Oleson recently returned from a motorcycle rally in Springfield, where riders gathered at the Capitol to promote Motorcycle Awareness Month.