Compiled & Edited by Bill Bish,
National Coalition of Motorcyclists
LOUISIANA REINSTATES HELMET LAW All motorcyclists will be required by law to wear helmets when traveling Louisiana’s roads beginning August 15, under a bill that won final passage through the state legislature with the backing of Governor Kathleen Blanco, who has said that she will soon sign the measure.
With time running out on this year’s legislative session, the Senate voted 26-12 on June 17 to send the House-passed measure to the governor, despite the bill’s defeat in the House just weeks earlier. With Governor Blanco’s support in reviving the bill, it passed the House by a vote of 57-27 and was sent to the Senate just one week before adjourning.
Backed by the new governor, the bill effectively repeals a 1999 law pushed by former Governor Mike Foster, an avid motorcyclist. The Foster-backed law allowed anyone over 18 to ride without a helmet if they had at least $10,000 of bodily injury insurance. Louisiana has 95,000 registered motorcycle riders.
Foster blasted passage of House Bill 109 by Rep. Clara Baudoin, D-Carencro. “It’s Big Brother rearing its ugly head — or Big Sister,” he told the Baton Rouge Advocate after the Senate vote. Foster said passage puts the state out of line with most of the rest of the nation. “Most states have a choice in their law,” said Foster, referring to the fact that 31 states currently allow adult riders to decide whether to or not to wear a helmet. He also said there are no death or injury statistics to justify the mandatory helmet law.
NORTH CAROLINA INCREASES PENALTIES FOR RIGHT OF WAY VIOLATORS In the waning days of session on July 13, the North Carolina House of Representatives voted 113-3 to concur with the Senate-passed version HB – 965, which increases penalties for people who fail to yield the right-of-way if the violation causes serious bodily injury in a wreck.
“This bill does not have to go to the governor, so it’s now law,” said Sam Nobles, Legislative Coordinator for the Concerned Bikers Association. “It becomes effective December 1st.”
The bill requires a $500 fine and 90-day suspension of a driver’s license if serious bodily injury occurs from wreck where a motorist did not yield the right-of-way.
“We not only scored the first win for the bikers of North Carolina,” said Nobles, “we left a network in place and built relationships that will continue to serve us well.”
BIKERS NOT TO BLAME, SAY INSURERS Two-thirds of motorcycle accidents involving other vehicles in Victoria, Australia are not caused by the motorcyclists, new insurance figures show.
Data from insurance claims showed drivers caused 68 per cent of the multiple-vehicle crashes involving motorcycles in Victoria between 2001 and 2003, according to national motorcycle insurer Swann Insurance.
The figures, reported on July 5, 2004, also showed that during the same period drivers were responsible for more than 70 per cent of the accidents involving motorbikes in New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, South Australia and Western Australia.
Swann Insurance general manager Duncan Brain said: “These figures confirm what motorcycle riders have been saying for some time — that motorcyclists generally are not to blame for multiple-vehicle crashes.
JUST YOUR AVERAGE MOTORCYCLIST According to the Motorcycle Industry Council, a typical motorcyclist is a 38-year-old man with a wife, kids, college degree and $44,250 annual income.
The MIC reports more than 4.3 million women operated motorcycles last year, up 34 percent from 1998.
According to the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, one out of every three new riders enrolling in training school is female.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, motorcycle fatalities remain a largely male phenomenon. After five years of declining rates, motorcycle deaths began rising again in 1997 along with increased popularity of motorcycles — and 90 percent of the deaths are among men.
NEW POLITICAL PARTY AIMS TO SERVE BIKERS If you believe that the existing political parties don’t reflect your views as a motorcyclist, maybe the ABP is for you! Neenah, Wisconsin businessman Steve “Mad” Erato has formed the American Biker Party to serve as a grassroots alternative to the Republican and Democratic parties.
The American Biker Party will be geared toward motorcyclists, but the party is open to anyone. “If your grandmother wants to come, she is welcome,” said Erato, who owns Eagle Nation Cycles where the party’s organizational meeting was held on June 23rd to shape the party platform and agenda.
Erato told the local newspaper, the Post-Crescent, that the party will emphasize less government than either the Republican or Democratic parties and will fight against laws requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets.
“We believe in freedom of choice,” he said. “We believe there is way too much government involved in everybody’s life. We are the ones paying for all of this government intervention.”
Erato said the American Biker Party would be marketed to motorcycle groups throughout the United States. He said bikers in Wisconsin share many of the same concerns as bikers elsewhere. “We need something to tie it all together,” Erato said. “That’s what we want to be.”
$50 GRAND AWARDED FOR ARIZONA SAFETY CAMPAIGN ABATE of Arizona was recently awarded $50,000 from the Motorcycle Safety Fund to be earmarked for a billboard campaign to heighten the awareness of passenger vehicle operators to be more observant of motorcycles.
“It’s official,” exclaimed Bobbi Hartmann, ABATE Lobbyist, “I signed the contract today (June 15, 2004) and the lobbyists will be meeting with Viacom to determine specific locations for the 35 – 12′ x 24′ billboards in the Phoenix and metropolitan areas.”
According to Viacom, these billboards should be up and running by the end of July for an eight week contract period, though many billboard messages stay visible until the board is sold again and printed over.
NEW YORK AMENDS HANDLEBAR HEIGHT LIMIT Companion bills to modify New York’s current handlebar height limit (A08237 and S1997) have passed through the Senate and Assembly and have been sent to the governor’s desk.
Current law regulates that all handle bars on motorcycles be no higher than fifteen inches above the seat. The new amended law “Prohibits a person from operating on a public highway a motorcycle on which the handle bars or grips are more than the height of the operator’s shoulders.”
REFLECTIVE VESTS REQUIRED FOR MILITARY MOTORCYCLISTS Military safety regulations for motorcycle riders have long been the strictest in the world, requiring such personal protective equipment (PPE) as helmets, eye protection, full-fingered gloves, over the ankle boots, long sleeve shirts and long pants, both on and off base, and for both military and civilians who operate motorcycles on military installations.
Now, according to the military newspaper Stars and Stripes in their July 13th Pacific edition, Pacific Air Force bases (PACAF) have released stricter new rules for motorcyclists set forth in the service’s traffic safety program.
Besides a requirement for motorcycle safety training, and a refresher course every three years, the most noticeable change is the requirement that all motorcycle riders wear an international orange or lime-green safety vest with 90 square inches of reflective material.
The PACAF supplement was released May 17 and already is being enforced at most bases, according to military officials.
The Air Force requires that riders wear a brightly-colored and contrasting long-sleeve shirt or jacket. A spokesman from PACAF’s safety office said that the vest was adopted to “clarify the wide array of possibilities left open” by the Air Force instruction.
“Each installation interpreted this standard differently and enforced it differently,” the spokesman said. “The colors chosen reflect the most internationally recognized safety colors. They are highly visible and signify ‘Safety’ or ‘Attention’ around the globe.”
Most PACAF bases have adopted former Commander General William Begert’s zero-tolerance policy to enforce the vest rule: First-time violators lose motorcycle-driving privileges for 15 days; a second citation within 12 months results in a 30-day suspension; and a third ticket in a year equals no riding for 12 months.
But some motorcyclists feel that it cramps their style since it doesn’t allow them to show off their club colors. Others voiced their concern that the bright vest might make any military member off base a target to would-be terrorists.
“Wearing the vest makes the motorcycle no more safe,” added one rider.
What a bunch of bullshit. –Bandit
ITALIANS OFFER FREE HELMETS TO INCREASE USAGE Officials in a southern Italian town are handing out free motorcycle helmets following a series of accidents in the region in recent months. The initiative is being undertaken in Sant Anastasia under the slogan: “It’s better to wear a helmet, than be a dead man without a helmet.” More than a hundred helmets have been given out so far. Mayor Vincenzo Lervolino said: “As far as we know this campaign is unique.”
HARLEY “U” With the backing of Harley-Davidson Inc., Fort Scott Community College in Kansas will begin offering a degree program this fall that teaches the applied science of motorcycles.
The Milwaukee-based motorcycle manufacturer said it is supporting the formal degree program because it needs people who are trained in both technical and management skills.
The degree program will be the first of its kind at Kansas public colleges, although Butler Community College’s computer-aided design and drafting program works closely with Big Dog Motorcycles.
The city of Frontenac is spending $400,000 to build a training facility modeled after a dealership, and Harley-Davidson will provide 10 motorcycles in the first year.
The college worked with Harley to design the curriculum, which will include technical courses on engines, diagnostics and shop practices. Students will also have to take English, science and public speaking, and serve a paid internship as a dealership technician after their first year.
So far, 40 students have registered for Fort Scott’s Harley classes, and the program has a waiting list. Harley-Davidson Motor Co. has more than 650 dealerships in the United States.
WEIRD NEWS: STRETCHED AND RAKED Rick Dozier of Georgetown, Kentucky, and three friends have broken the record for the longest motorcycle in the world, stretching 29 feet 11 inches, and built from scratch. The previous record was held by an Australian man whose motorcycle was 24 feet 11 inches long.
QUOTABLE QUOTES: “We have given away far too many freedoms in order to be free. Now it’s time to take some back.”John le Carre (1931- ), English novelist, author of “The Spy Who Came In From The Cold”
