THE AIM/NCOM MOTORCYCLE E-NEWS SERVICE is brought to you by Aid to Injured Motorcyclists (A.I.M.) and the National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM), and is sponsored by the Law Offices of Richard M. Lester. For more information, call us at 1-(800) ON-A-BIKE or visit us on our website at http://www.ON-A-BIKE.com.
COAST TO COAST BIKER NEWS
Compiled & Edited by Bill Bish
National Coalition of Motorcyclists
CHINESE CITIES CONTINUE TO BAN MOTORCYCLES China, the world?s leading producer of motorcycles with more than 13 million units manufactured annually, has been systematically banning or limiting the use of motorcycles. Most recently, the large Chinese city of Guangzhou, formerly known as Canton, will join over 100 other cities in banning all motorized two-wheelers. As of January 1, the city?s 260,000 registered motorcycles in the city will be forced off the roads, as well as an additional 100,000 unregistered ones and 100,000 electric bicycles, and tens of thousands of people who use the vehicles to earn a living and make deliveries must turn them in for scrap or move them out of the city.
After six decades of control, Communist officials are accustomed to issuing sweeping draconian edicts such as this, confident that they unfailingly act for the benefit of all citizens, while individual rights are ignored and citizens simply must accept what the one-party state decides is best and are helpless to act on their frustrations.
In 2002, Guangzhou shortened the service life of motorbikes to 8 or 10 years from the previous 13 years, and offered cash rewards to owners who discarded their bikes before their ?end of life? expired. The city began phasing out motorcycles, leading up to a total ban by 2007. But after motorcycle and scooter prices plunged, throngs of residents eagerly turned to two-wheel transportation, jamming up the roads, contributing to air pollution and increasing snatch-and-run crimes committed by motorcycle-riding thieves. Motorcycles were involved in half of the city?s accidents last year.
Since 1994, cities like Shanghai, Tianjin and Nantong have stopped issuing licenses to new motorcycles. In Shanghai, many motorcycle shops were even shut down recently. Motorcycles are not replacing cars in Chinese cities, they are replacing bicycles so whereas the environmental impact of a shift to motorcycles in Western cities would lead to cleaner air, in China it’s the other way around.
Analysts estimate that China will not have an urban market for motorcycles by 2010 if more cities continue to ban their use. Nowadays, the Chinese government is following a “no encouragement and no support” policy towards the motorcycle industry.
SALT LAKE CITY PLAYING HEAD GAMES The Mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah has proposed a municipal ordinance that would implement a city-wide helmet law for all motorcyclists and bicyclists, though the state of Utah does not mandate helmets for adult riders.
The proposed ordinance reads in part: 12.24.130 Motorcycle or motor-driven cycle — Protective headgear — Closed cab excepted — Electric assisted bicycles, motor assisted scooters, personal motorized mobility devices.
A. A person may not operate or ride on a motorcycle or motor-driven cycle on a street, highway or public park unless the person is wearing protective headgear which complies with specifications adopted under Subsection (C).
The Salt Lake City Weekly newspaper had this to say about the helmet law: ?City Hall is on the verge of proposing a helmet law that would make Salt Lake City one of the few cities in the country requiring that all bicycle-riding adults don a safety helmet.
?The proposal also applies to motorcycles; small, motorized scooters and the Segway, that two-wheeled platform President George W. Bush fell off. Skateboarders, however, would be spared.
?The city?s smokers rolled over for the ban on lighting up on golf courses and in public squares, but bike riders might not be so complacent.?
ABATE of Utah is requesting that riders contact Mayor Rocky Anderson and voice your opposition to this legislation. You can contact Mayor Anderson by phone: (801) 535-7704, by e-mail: mayor@slcgov.com or by letter: 451 South State St., Room 306, SLC, UT 84111.
U.S. DOT ANNOUNCES SEATBELT USE DOWN, HELMET USE UP According to a new study recently released by the National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOPUS), seat belt use in the U.S. is currently at a rate of 81 percent, down slightly from the use rate of 82 percent in 2005.
Citing the new report, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters also noted the latest data shows that 51 percent of U.S. motorcyclists now wear helmets, up from 48 percent in 2005. She pointed out that in the West, motorcycle helmet use rose from 50 to 72 percent between 2005 and 2006; and from 42 to 47 percent in the Northeast. However, the use rate fell from 53 to 50 percent in the Midwest and from 49 to 45 percent in the South. Only helmets that comply with DOT standards were included in the survey.
According to Administrator Nicole R. Nason, the NHTSA recently started offering federal grants to states for programs that help reduce the number of motorcyclist accidents. For example, this year the agency will make available $6 million in grant funding to states for motorcycle safety training and motorist awareness programs.
NO EMISSIONS TESTING FOR PIMA COUNTY, ARIZONA MOTORCYCLES Owners of more than 6,200 motorcycles in Pima County, in which Tucson is located, will soon no longer have to worry about whether their vehicles can pass the state’s emissions tests, but the 22,000 motorcycles registered in Maricopa County, where the city of Phoenix is located, remains one of the only places in the U.S. where motorcycles must pass emission testing.
Both areas of the state have had testing programs for years to comply with federal air-quality rules, particularly as they relate to carbon monoxide and ozone pollution. State legislators voted for the exemption in 2005, but the law was contingent on getting the required approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — that order came December 15th as the EPA agreed that exempting the motorcycles from the testing in Pima County will not harm air quality in the Tucson region.
“This is a big step in the right direction,” said Bobbi Hartmann, a lobbyist for the motorcyclist groups in Arizona and a member of the National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM) Legislative Task Force.
Motorcycle groups such as ABATE of Arizona, the Modified Motorcycle Association (MMA) of Arizona and the Arizona Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs had backed the legislation, hoping to get their vehicles exempted from what they call unfair and unnecessary emissions regulation. State records had shown that 26 percent of the motorcycles taking the test failed while cars flunked at the rate of 16 percent.
MSF AND TEAM OREGON EMBROILED IN LAWSUITS The Motorcycle Safety Foundation has filed a lawsuit against Team Oregon Motorcycle Safety Program of Oregon State University alleging the parties infringed on MSF copyrights, and charging that they ?willfully misappropriated the MSF’s motorcycle safety and training curriculum materials in connection with the development and publication of Team Oregon’s Basic Rider Training (BRT) curriculum materials, and prepared derivative works based on the MSF’s copyrighted curricula,? and other charges.
The suit seeks to permanently enjoin the defendants from using the Team Oregon BRT, as well as from marketing or offering the Team Oregon BRT to other states or entities.
“The MSF has worked with the state of Oregon in connection with motorcycle safety training and policy for more than 20 years, and continues to support Oregon motorcyclists,” said Dean Thompson, director, communications of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation. “The MSF currently works with the Oregon Division of Driver and Motor Vehicle Services on licensing issues.?
“This is the first time in its history that the MSF has initiated legal action,” Thompson said. “We would prefer to focus on our mission of making motorcycling safer and more enjoyable. But if an organization does not protect its intellectual property rights, it can lose them. The MSF does not object to another entity developing a different basic riding curriculum. However, the MSF does take issue with any entity that takes a shortcut by misappropriating the MSF’s curriculum and misrepresenting it as its own.”
BikePAC of Oregon Executive Director Ken Ray responded to the lawsuit, stating in part, ?We are disappointed that MSF has chosen to file a lawsuit after their curriculum was deemed inadequate for Oregon. Although BikePAC is not involved in this legally, all motorcyclists in Oregon will suffer when money and energy that should go to rider training is having to be used to defend Team Oregon against MSF attorneys.?
Ray went on to explain that the ?MSF has implied or threatened legal action for several years ever since Team Oregon began phasing out the MSF curriculum and began using one developed by Steve Garets and other Team Oregon instructors. MSF has maintained that printed material dealing with motorcycle training is their intellectual property. Most recently the Motorcycle Safety Foundation attempted to have their motorcycle-training curriculum certified to meet Oregon standards to replace a DMV skills test for motorcycle endorsements. Although a final decision has not been reached by the Oregon Traffic Safety Commission on the MSF proposal, the Governor?s Advisory Board on Motorcycle Safety after a year of analysis and testimony unanimously voted to recommend disapproval by OTSC.?
PELOSI TARGETS GRASSROOTS LOBBYING House Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) has pledged to take up a lobbying reform proposal that would impose new regulations on speech by grassroots organizations (such as motorcycle rights organizations), while providing a loophole in the rules for large corporations and labor unions.
The legislation would make changes to the legal definition of ?grassroots lobbying? and require any organization that encourages 500 or more members of the general public to contact their elected representatives to file a report with detailed information about their organization to the government on a quarterly basis.
The report would include identifying the organization?s expenditures, the issues focused on and the members of Congress and other federal officials who are the subject of the advocacy efforts. A separate report would be required for each policy issue the group is active on.
?Right now, grassroots groups don?t have to report at all if they are communicating with the public,? said Dick Dingman of the Free Speech Coalition, Inc. ?This is an effort that would become a major attack on the 1st Amendment.?
The Lobbying Transparency and Accountability Act, which made some of these changes, was actually approved by both the House and the Senate in the 109th Congress, but failed to make it through a conference committee.
OKLAHOMA BILL WOULD REDUCE MOTORCYCLE TOLLS An Oklahoma state lawmaker is proposing giving a break to motorcycle riders on the state’s turnpikes. State Representative Paul Wesselhoft says it’s not fair for motorcyclists to pay the same price as a car on the toll roads because motorcycles cause less wear and tear on the roadway. And he says the bikes cause less pollution and are more fuel-efficient.
His proposal calls for motorcycles to be charged half the toll currently charged to two-axle vehicles such as cars and SUVs. Rep. Wesselhoft says he doubts the state would lose any revenue by reducing the toll because he believes more bikers would drive the turnpikes if the toll were lower.
Rep. Paul Wesselhoft (R-Moore, OK) has been coordinating with ABATE of Oklahoma regarding advancing this legislation, which ABATE of Oklahoma’s State Board has voted to fully support. ABATE contacted the Central Oklahoma HOG Chapter to provide a Harley for a photo-op for Rep. Wesselhoft, who has prior motorcycling experience, to introduce his proposal to the media.
?We appreciate Representative Wesselhoft?s decision to introduce this measure, which will be beneficial both to our state and to improving motorcycling Quality of Life in Oklahoma,? said Tiger Mike Revere, State Coordinator of ABATE of Oklahoma and a member of the National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM) Board of Directors.
UK LICENSING PLAN FOR ALL MOTORCYCLES A plan to crackdown on teenage motorcyclists plaguing estates and shopping centers was unveiled by Labour MP Chris Bryant, who wants to bring in a new law calling for all bikes – including off-road scramblers and mini-motorbikes – to be forced to have license plates.
Many of the bikes used by hooligans to terrorize others are unlicensed as they are officially classified as off-road machines, he said. Police are reluctant to chase them fearing riders could be thrown off and be killed or injured. But Mr Bryant believes by putting number plates on bikes officers would know who owns the vehicles and track them down.
He told the London Mirror that, “Unlicensed so-called ‘off-road’ bikes are a lethal nuisance. The racket they make and the danger they pose to pedestrians and drivers means it’s time we licensed them.”
Sales of mini-motorcycles, which can go up to 60mph, have soared ten-fold since 2002, to 100,000 last year.
WEIRD NEWS: Bees mistake motorcycle cushion for real flowers. Vivid flowers on a cushion used by a woman for her motorcycle were so lifelike that hundreds of bees attempted to collect honey from it, the China Daily newspaper reported. Seeing so many bees flying over the motorcycle, parked at a village near Shenyang of Liaoning Province, the rider was scared out of her wits and cried for help. She was rescued from the spot only after fire fighters were called in to drive the bees away.
CNN POLL REVEALS MOST AMERICANS THINK GOVERNMENT IS DOING TOO MUCH A quarter century after the Reagan revolution, a CNN poll found that most Americans still agree with the Gipper; “Government is not the answer to our problems — government is the problem.”
The poll showed that an overwhelming majority of Americans perceive, correctly, that the size and cost of government have gone up: discretionary spending grew from $649 billion in fiscal year 2001 to $968 billion in fiscal year 2005, an increase of $319 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Queried about their views on the role of government, 54 percent of the 1,013 adults polled said they thought it was trying to do too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses. Only 37 percent said they thought the government should do more to solve the country’s problems.
QUOTABLE QUOTE: “The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”
Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) 40th President of the United States & 33rd Governor of California
