Compiled & Edited by Bill Bish,
National Coalition of Motorcyclists
FEDERAL HIGHWAY FUNDING BILL ON THE MOVE AGAIN — Following six deadline extensions since October 2003, the massive federal highway funding bill is on the move again, this time passing the House on March 10th by an overwhelming 417-9 vote.
The House version, H.R.3, the Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (TEA-LU), contains several motorcycle safety provisions including providing federal grant money to promote rider training and motorcycle awareness.
With the current extension expiring on May 31st, the Senate has yet to introduce their version of the comprehensive highway funding bill. Once the Senate passes their own highway bill, both measures will go to a conference committee to iron out any differences and then would go to the President for his signature or veto.
In other news from the Capital, Senate Bill S.577, the HIPAA Recreational Injury Technical Correction Act (Senators Susan Collins R-Maine and Russ Feingold D-WI) “To promote health care coverage parity for individuals participating in legal recreational activities or legal transportation activities” was re-introduced on March 9 and is essentially the same bill as last year. S.577 would close a loophole that allows health insurance providers to deny medical coverage to insureds who are injured while participating in so-called “risky activities” such as motorcycling, snowmobiling, skiing, horseback riding and other legal activities. The Senate passed similar legislation last session, but time ran out before the House of Representatives could act on it.
MOTORCYCLE CLUBS OPPOSE PATRIOT ACT– Sacramento, April 9, 2005 (AP) — The Northern California Confederation of Clubs, representing 41 motorcycle clubs – including the Hells Angels and the Vagos – is asking its members to send letters to their senators opposing the USA Patriot Act. They also oppose California’s Gang Abatement Act and a similar measure now before Congress (S 155, HR 970), according to an article appearing in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
According to Nick Vales, a Vagos member and founder of the Sacramento Bill of Rights Society, the California Justice Department classifies Hells Angels and Vagos as “motorcycle gangs” and treats them the same as street gangs. Critics call this a form of group profiling.
“We are not a gang,” said Vales. “Last year we raised money for Christmas presents for the kids at the Sacramento Children’s Receiving Home and donated $1,000 to a school for disabled children in Auburn. In August we sponsor a campout for our own kids.”
The federal legislation contains several provisions similar to the Patriot Act, but unlike the Patriot Act, these provisions don’t have a “sunset clause,” i.e. they are not subject to periodic review and possible expiration. “If they lose those parts of the Patriot Act, they will still have them in the gang law,” Vales said.
Under the California Gang Abatement Act, a misdemeanor charge (“like spitting on the sidewalk,” said Vales) automatically becomes a felony if you are identified as a gang member, and a six-month sentence can be increased to five or 10 years. It also becomes a strike against you under California’s Three-Strike law.
People are being coerced by the threat of long sentences to sign a statement admitting to being a gang member. “This would make me a ‘person of interest’ under the Patriot Act,” Vales said.
“Because of the vagueness of the legislation, if I go to see my brother in Chicago, I can be charged with money laundering because I take cash across a state line and am identified with a motorcycle club.”
“Our club also has ties in other countries, such as Mexico and Japan,” Vales said. “If I give a club brother in Mexico $100, I could be charged with supporting terrorism in another country. Even collecting dues for any club or association can be called money laundering.
“As a young man I volunteered for the military,” he said. “Now they are trying to tell me what to wear, who I can associate with, what causes I can fight for. We’re trying to educate all our people that they have rights and should stand up for their rights.”
BIKERS LOBBY AGAINST NEVADA HELMET LAW– Motorcyclists showed up in force in Carson City to back a bill that would let them ride without helmets if they’re at least 21 years old. Senate Bill 151, sponsored by Sen. Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, would remove the helmet requirement for adults who have been riding for at least a year and who have completed a state-approved motorcycle safety course. Also, passengers over 21 wouldn’t have to wear helmets.
“We believe that the real issue is freedom of choice, and there is a double standard,” said Rick Eckhardt, a Reno-area resident who questioned why skiers, horseback riders and rock climbers don’t have helmet requirements. Eckhardt of the Northern Nevada Coalition of Motorcyclists told the Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Committee he would still wear his helmet 95 percent of the time, but would like the option not to “when it’s 114 degrees in Las Vegas.”
Beers said 26 states have some sort of helmet law depending on the age of riders, four have no law, and 20 states and the District of Columbia require helmets of all riders.
“I’m not a motorcycle rider. To me this is not about obviously having the wind blow through my hair, but instead about personal freedom and liberty,” said Beers who doesn’t have a full head of hair. “My concern is that when the government mandates a helmet, it propagates the myth that government can be your parent.”
“Education is the key, not helmets or insurance,” said Donald Boyer, senior director of Motorcyclists for Nevada. “Let me ask you: If we took all of the motorcycles off the road today, could we close down just one hospital? I wouldn’t think s
AUSTRALIAN POLICE WANT TO BAN BIKER PATCHES — Police Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan wants laws toughened to crack down further on outlaw “bikie gangs”. The police legal services team is reviewing possible legislation, including that affecting bikers, and Commissioner O’Callaghan will take his proposals to Police Minister Michelle Roberts within weeks, according to March 13 The Sunday Times.
South-West district Supt. Ron Randall wants the reforms to include a ban on bikers wearing their colors in public. And they should be stopped from riding in groups bigger than four when moving between towns, he said.
“All I’m saying is that the environment may now be conducive to some debate on this issue, whether or not there is a need for reforms and separate legislation, and whether or not this is viable,” he said.
Reforms that might result from such debate would benefit the community because police resources now used to deal with “bikies” could be used elsewhere, he said.
TROOPER TELLS 911 CALLER “TOO BAD” — A Connecticut state trooper was suspended for 15 days without pay after he was recorded on a 911 tape saying “too bad” to a caller seeking help for a man injured in a motorcycle accident, reported the Associated Press on March 22, 2005.
State police said the dismissive answer caught on tape by Trooper Robert Peasley did not affect the response time to the accident involving Justin Sawyer, 21, who died of a severe head injury a week after the accident last August.
Russell Shepard, a friend of Sawyer’s, called 911, which was routed to the state police barracks in Montville, CT. When he reported the accident, officer Peasley said, “Yeah … too bad,” and hung up, according to the audio tape obtained by WTNH-TV.
Shepard said he was shocked, believing he had reached a wrong number. So another friend made a second call. “Yeah,” the officer responded. “Help will get there. Shouldn’t be playing games.”
A third emergency call was finally answered by a different dispatcher, who asked about Sawyer’s condition and advised those nearby not to touch him.
“I am absolutely outraged every time I hear that ‘too bad’ and then click,” said Sawyer’s father, Jim Sawyer. “I only know that I would have felt a whole lot more comfortable if I had heard people responding on the end of that 911 call with some heart and caring.”
State police said the comments by Peasley, an 18-year-veteran, were unprofessional, and the agency apologized if “our actions added to the family’s pain.”
WEIRD NEWS: HYDROGEN-POWERED MOTORCYCLE IS TOO QUIET– The world’s first hydrogen-powered motorcycle has been launched in Britain. It can reach 50mph in 12 seconds, produces no emissions and is as quiet as a laptop computer – but that could be a problem. While anti-noise groups welcome the prospect of a quiet motorcycle, engineers are considering adding an artificial “vroom” as they worry its silence might be dangerous.
Harry Bradbury, chief executive of manufacturer Intelligent Energy, said: “There has never been a silent bike produced, so no one is used to it.” As it goes forward towards production, we’re going to give thought to some light noise modulation.” He is planning to introduce an artificial engine noise which could be used in an urban setting to alert other road users but switched off in the countryside to allow for a peaceful ride. The bike is powered by a briefcase-sized cell filled with high-pressure hydrogen, which needs to be refilled every 100 miles.
MAY IS MOTORCYCLE AWARENESS MONTH —and a member of ABATE of California has suggested a new driving game to promote awareness of motorcycles sharing the road with other vehicles.
Most of us grew up in the back of mom and dad’s car playing driving games such as “slug bug” or “punch buggy” when you’re the first to spot a VW “bug” on the road, or more recently “Cruiser Bruiser” for kids who see a PT Cruiser cruising alongside the family sedan.
Cathryne Darmer of ABATE of California suggests a new twist on the old road games with “Chopper Chop”; where the first one to notice a motorcycle gets to render a harmless karate chop to the leg of their traveling companion. The idea is to teach kids to play the game and instill awareness of motorcycles in traffic. Adds a new meaning to “Look Out For Motorcycles!”
MUSICAL “THE RIDE” DEPICTS RUN FOR THE WALL– As Memorial Day looms closer and riders across the country plan their annual trek to Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. on May 29 for Rolling Thunder, perhaps a side trip to West Springfield, Massachusetts is in order. A musical that portrays the emotional aftershocks of the Vietnam War will be presented by the Theater Project at the Majestic Theater entitled “The Ride,” an original work by Theater Project founder Danny Eaton and Majestic Theater Music Director Mitch Chakour, which will run April 21 – May 29 at the 230-seat theater.
Described as “a patriotic love story – with motorcycles!” the story focuses on a successful engineer who decides to take his first Memorial Day weekend journey to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. Eaton, a Marine Corp veteran who served from 1965 to 1970, participated in his first Run for the Wall in 2003. He acknowledges what he calls “the unquestioning sense of brotherhood among all military vets,” but notes that Vietnam veterans “kept P.O.W./M.I.A. issues top-of-mind more than any other group of vets. This play is a tip of the hat to their nobility.”
“The Ride” will be directed by Zoya Kachadurian. Mitch Chakour composed the score. Eaton and Chakour wrote the lyrics. Tickets for the play range from $17 – $25 and can be ordered by calling the box office at (413) 747-7797.
(NOT SO) QUOTABLE QUOTES:– “They are the scourge on our highway. They are an epidemic..They continue to clog the trauma centers of America.”
Dr. Jeffery W. Runge, Administrator
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)Referring to motorcyclists in a speech during the Safety Awards Luncheon at the annual Lifesavers Convention in Charlotte, NC
– March 14, 2005
