Mike has been involved in the motorcycle legislative process since he was a small child. Here's some of his credits:
ABATEPAC Chairman '91 to '01
ABATE of California Board Member '91 to '01
Technical Editor Easyriders Magazine '95 to '99
Editor Quick Throttle Magazine '95 to '99
Defeated bills to outlaw lane splitting '92 and '94
Veterans and Purple Heart License Plates for Motorcycles
Defeated bill to make helmet law violations a misdemeanor
Helped pass legislation authorizing California Motorcycle Safety Program
Worked with AMA and MRF on Federal Transportation issues
These five little words are the summation describing the most terrifying event most bikers will ever face. The specter of the car turning left, as we travel at speed, with nowhere else to go but down. Sure there are a myriad of suggestions. You hear them in every biker bar, in every city, in the country: Crash jump! Turn the opposite way the car is turning! Lay the bike down! None, however, guarantees a safe escape from the uncaring, unaware, or preoccupied cage driver. Most of these terrifying meetings end with the biker stuck like a spear in the side of the cage, with the car driver uttering those five little words.
So what do we do about it?
Many state MROs (Motorcycle Rights Organizations), the American Motorcyclist Association, and the Motorcyclist Rights Foundation have a legislative plan, one that will work, and one that Bikernet endorses. The plans call for the enactment of “Right of Way” laws that will significantly increase the penalties for these striking motorcyclists. To give you an idea of how these traffic violations are treated now, in California the penalty for what is called “Failure to yield” can be as little as $103, with any injury cost left to the car driver's insurance, if he has any. This is hardly a deterrent to what has become an epidemic in our lifestyle. In fact the AMA writes:
Over two-thirds of car-motorcycle crashes, and nearly half of all motorcycle crashes are caused by drivers, not by motorcyclists. Of the 1,319 fatal car-motorcycle crashes in 1999, 38 percent involved another vehicle violating the motorcyclist's right-of-way by turning left while the motorcycle was going straight, passing, or overtaking the vehicle.
What makes it worse is that the courts and cops don't seem to care if a biker goes down, even when it results in the serious injury or death. The inattentive left turn driver, red light runner, or cell phone user, after mowing down a biker, is usually given a slap on the wrist and a point on their license. In many states the unimportant point will be removed if the driver attends traffic school! This attitude is compounded by the anti-motorcyclist bias that runs rampant throughout many of our courts and police agencies. The indifferent motorists, unconcerned courts, bad cops, and ineffective laws, coupled with increase of bikes and bikers on the roadway, cell phones, computers, video players, gps locaters, mpg players, floating crap games and whatever else we may find in cars, in the future, is only going to cause more crashes. It must change! To quote the AMA again:
In general, right-of-way laws do not take into account the considerable vulnerability of road users such as motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians. Consequently, the penalty for a right-of-way violator who dings a car, is generally the same as the penalty for a right-of-way violator that sends a more vulnerable road user, such as a motorcyclist, to the hospital or grave; a misdemeanor or summary offense with a small fine from $25 to $100.
We can do all the PSAs, billboards, radio and TV ads we want but legislation giving teeth to the right-of-way laws is the only real answer. It is up to us to make it painful enough to slap the inattentive car driver out of his unconscious habits and into being a thoughtful motor vehicle operator, so painful it will keep our brothers and sisters from being killed on a daily basis.
A sample of possible vehicle code language is provided to us by the AMA:
1) Whoever is convicted of or pleads guilty to a right-of-way violation (or a violation of section xxxx, xxxx, xxxx, etc.,.) in which the offender is found to have caused injury, in addition to any other penalties, shall be fined $200 and shall have their driver's or commercial driver's license or permit or nonresident operating privilege suspended for 30 days.
2) Whoever is convicted of or pleads guilty to a right-of-way violation (or a violation of section xxxx, xxxx, xxxx, etc.,.) in which the offender is found to have caused serious bodily injury, in addition to any other penalties, shall be fined $500 and shall have their driver's or commercial driver's license or permit or nonresident operating privilege suspended for 90 days.
3) Whoever is convicted of or pleads guilty to a right-of-way violation (or a violation of section xxxx, xxxx, xxxx, etc.,.) in which the offender is found to have caused a fatality, in addition to any other penalties, shall be fined $1,000 and shall have their driver's or commercial driver's license or permit or nonresident operating privilege suspended for 6 months.
Fines should be credited to state motorcycle safety program funds. Alternatively, if an offender's education program exists or is established, funding could be provided in part from these right-of-way violation fines as well.
The AMA further recommends that priority be given to incorporating these enhanced penalties with the right-of-way violations most often associated with motorcycle injuries and fatalities…those occurring in intersections, while turning left, at stop signs and yield signs.
Each state must gear these laws to their own particular way of doing things. A perfect example was the state of Washington, where the bikers changed the definition of vehicular manslaughter to include right-of-way language.
This is where we start. We at Bikernet encourage you to take on this legislative goal, but you need to understand that incremental changes in state laws will take time before the ultimate goal is reached. If we stick to our guns and refuse to take no for an answer we can make the roads safer.
Ride safe, Oz
Bikernet will continue to follow this life-saving legislative effort and keep you informed.
