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 www.ON-A-BIKE.com.
COAST TO COAST BIKER NEWS
Compiled & Edited by Bill Bish,
National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM)
MISSOURI GOVERNOR VETOES HELMET REPEAL BILL
As most bikers across America were celebrating Independence Day weekend, riders in Missouri were reeling from their governor?s veto of a bill to partially repeal the Show-Me state?s 42-year old mandatory helmet law to allow freedom of choice for adult motorcyclists. Despite overwhelming approval from both the State Senate and House earlier this summer, on July 2nd, Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed Senate Bill 202, denying riders 21 and older the right to ride without a helmet. In 30 other states, most adult motorcyclists have the right to make wearing a helmet a personal choice.
The legislation also would have prohibited insurance companies from reducing claims from injured motorcycle riders, deeming them at-fault solely on the basis that a motorcycle is a hazardous vehicle.
In 1999, Freedom of the Road Riders for Missouri (FORR-MO) and other concerned riders and groups succeeded in lobbying a helmet repeal bill through the legislature and onto the desk of then-Gov. Mel Carnahan, who vetoed it.
“It’s a basic freedom of choice,” said FORR-MO chairman Mark Chapman, ?Another human being should be not be able to make a choice for someone else.”
HIGH COURT TO HEAR CASE AGAINST MYRTLE BEACH
Tom McGrath, the Virginia-based AIM Attorney (Aid to Injured Motorcyclists) who is personally representing Myrtle Beach, S.C. residents William and Carol O’Day and 47 other motorcyclists who received tickets for not wearing helmets in protest of the city?s new helmet law, told The Sun News that he is awaiting a decision from the state’s high court involving their case.
McGrath, on behalf of the O’Days, filed the first constitutional challenge against Myrtle Beach seeking a court order to stop the city from enforcing two of the myriad new ordinances it passed last fall to dissuade bikers from attending the spring and fall rallies held there for decades, including the mandatory helmet requirement and noise law.
But the O’Days were also among 47 others who received tickets during a Feb. 28 protest ride when the new law took effect, so they are now part of the helmet lawsuits the Supreme Court has agreed to hear. McGrath said there might be little point in moving forward with the Circuit Court lawsuit now that the high court is going to issue a ruling.
The South Carolina Supreme Court became involved after attorney Thad Viers, representing his brother Bart in a helmet lawsuit, and the group Business Owners Organized to Support Tourism appealed directly to the state’s highest court for a ruling.
The two cases have been combined for the sake of oral arguments before the Supreme Court, and McGrath’s and Viers’ helmet arguments will be heard at the same time. So far, no court date has been set, but McGrath speculated about a hearing in November.
Another case involving business owners suing the city to stop it from enforcing some rally ordinances, including the helmet law, is still pending in federal court. The lawsuit claims some of the 15 new municipal ordinances are unconstitutional because they are vague, chill freedom of speech or infringe on interstate business rights.
SOUTH CAROLINA CONSIDERS LEGALIZING POKER RUNS
Not all of the news coming out of the Palmetto State is as controversial as Myrtle Beach?s anti-biker ordinances, and recent actions by the State Senate could eventually legitimize poker runs.
The S.C. Senate Judiciary Committee approved legislation in May that would have revised the state’s 207-year-old gambling laws which ban “any game with cards or dice.” Although the bill died at the end of the legislative session, bikers were able to educate some legislators that banning all such games is not in the best interest of charities.
Currently, the state’s centuries-old gaming laws are enforced at the discretion of the local law enforcement agency and typically only when someone complains. South Carolina’s Lions clubs have lost roughly $500,000 since last year when state law enforcement officers – responding to a complaint – threatened a club that was raffling off a motorcycle.
Traditional motorcycle poker runs, which have historically raised tens of thousands of dollars for local and statewide charities have been severely curtailed as a result of an Attorney General’s ruling that the events were illegal under the current State statute.
A separate proposal would ask voters whether the state constitution should be changed to allow nonprofit groups to hold a limited number of raffles yearly. Currently, the only legal raffle is the state lottery.
GOVERNMENT MAY MAKE ANTI-LOCK BRAKES MANDATORY ON MOTORCYCLES
Citing spiraling motorcycle accident statistics, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration may require new safety features on bikes. For example, the federal agency plans to decide by next year whether or not anti-lock brakes should be mandatory equipment on motorcycles.
The government report also mentions an insurance industry study that shows that the rate of fatal crashes are 28% lower for bikes equipped with optional ABS braking systems than for those same motorcycles without them.
Though NHTSA frequently enforces the implementation of safety technology into automobiles, their involvement in motorcycling tends to focus more on helmet usage and the prevention of drunk riding.
Anti-lock brakes are now standard on some Harley-Davidsons and optional across a variety of manufacturers on everything from dual purpose bikes to scooters — and in many cases, they can be disabled if the rider chooses.
ENGINE REVVING MAY BECOME A CRIME IN ALBUQUERQUE
Revving your engine in downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico, may soon be a crime punishable by a fine of up to $500, imprisonment and seizure of your bike or car. Mayor Martin Chavez (D) proposed adding a blip of the throttle to the city ordinance listing “nuisances” that the city uses as a justification to seize automobiles. The city council is expected to vote on the idea soon, and may expand ticketing to the entire city.
“It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in exhibition driving in the Downtown Quiet Zone by operating a vehicle in a manner that willfully creates excessive engine noise because of revving the engine to magnify the engine noise,” the proposed ordinance states.
At first, Chavez will ask police set up traps to ticket motorcyclists before going after other motorists.
CALIFORNIA SMOG CHECK BILL HELD OVER
ABATE of California would like to thank everyone who helped lobby against Senate Bill 435, which would establish biennial emissions testing for motorcycles.
According to Tim Tennimon, ABATE Executive Director, SB 435 is now a two year bill and will be held over until next session….no amendments have been submitted, so it still appears as a smog check bill. ?Despite the promise by Senator Pavley to amend the bill to be more about catalytic converter inspections, rather than smog check…there have been no amendments to the bill,? explains Tennimon, adding that the bill won’t be eligible to be heard again until January 2010. ?Stopping this bill for this legislative session is a huge victory for us…and a testament to Jim Lombardo’s (ABATE lobbyist) hard work…we really weren’t sure we could stop this bill once it hit the Senate floor…but you guys did it!?
However, Tennimon cautions, there are plenty of reasons to be concerned; ?The smog debate ended up being a noise debate on the Senate floor…and there was much discussion about loud pipes…and, not coincidentally, the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) has just released a new standard for sound tests on motorcycles which will make it easy and consistent to test bikes…in addition, the MIC has called for a focus more on noise than emissions…all of which means that we will have to look at all new legislation because it is very possible that there will be attempts at new sound standards and emission standards…and they could pop up anywhere…Unfortunately, this is the message you have heard from us for over a decade…we must police ourselves…we know you love the sound…but not everyone feels the same way…and as much as I hate booming cars and loud trucks, etc…we are an easy target and those behaviors are coming back to get us now.?
U.S. MOTORCYCLE CRASH STUDY STALLS: EUROPEAN MAIDS 2.0 STUDY RELEASED
The bikes crashed. The data was collected. And the information from the 53 accidents investigated in the Southern California pilot phase of the U.S. motorcycle crash causation study are now sitting — waiting for an assessment of its efficacy and, more importantly, a huge infusion of cash. According to an article in the Los Angeles Times newspaper, ?The long-awaited follow-up to the 1981 Hurt Study is short at least $2 million, and it’s unclear whether that funding will come through any time soon. Or ever.?
So while the first nationwide motorcycle-crash study to be conducted in the United States in almost 30 years languishes in limbo due to differences in focus and funding between government entities and advocacy groups, filling the void is MAIDS 2.0: An update of the Motorcycle Accident In-Depth Study of 921 accidents investigated from 1999-2000 in five sampling areas located in France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Spain. Among other things, the European study found that just over 50% of the motorcycle accidents in the subject cities were caused by drivers, with 69% of those resulting from ?perception failure? which can include not seeing the rider, misjudging distances and space on the road.
MAIDS 2.0 focuses on the 100 crashes out of those 921 accidents that resulted in death — 25 of which occurred on bikes under 50 cc and 75 of which happened on motorcycles 50 cc and larger.
Of the under-50 cc bikes, the rider, not another vehicle, was responsible for his or her own death in 64% of the fatal crashes; most often, the rider failed to perceive a road hazard and, as a result, failed to react to avoid that hazard. Most of the fatalities occurred in urban areas.
For motorcycles 50 cc and up, the most fatality-prone class was sport bikes. A bike’s displacement and maximum velocity were not significant factors in predicting a rider’s death. As with bikes under 50 cc, the rider, not another vehicle, was at fault in most crashes that ended in death. The most common rider error for motorcyclists was making the wrong decision in reaction to a road hazard; 44% of motorcyclists also lost control in their avoidance maneuver. Most of these fatalities occurred in rural areas.
?How applicable the MAIDS 2.0 data is to the American market is a subject of debate, not only because the study is dated, but also because the European market is so different,? wrote Susan Carpenter in the LA Times article. ?Its riders are more commuter-oriented than those in the leisure-minded U.S. and the bikes are, on average, smaller. Still, the MAIDS update points to some intriguing findings that, at the very least, could serve as cautionary advice as the U.S. motorcycle market becomes more transportation-oriented.?
Some of the more relevant takeaway messages for riders of bikes both big and small:
accidents in the MAIDS report happened during the day, fatal accidents were significantly higher at night.
– Major roads are hazardous. The majority of fatalities occurred on straight roadways and “major arterials.”
– Get a license. Riders who weren’t properly licensed were more likely to crash.
– Wear protective gear. The 921 accidents in the study resulted in 3,417 injuries — 31.8% of which were to the lower extremities, 24.3% to the upper extremities and 18.4% to the head.
ON THE ROAD TO ROMANCEMotorcycling opens the road to romance, love and sex appeal. Famous faces increase their x-factor when they get onto two wheels on the big screen, and Hollywood has provided us with many cool biking images — remember Quadrophenia? The Great Escape? Easy Rider? And they?ve recognized that girls like to ride too, from stylish Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday to more recently the modern Charlie?s Angels and glamorous Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft.
Plenty of celebrities like to pull on a pair of leathers and enjoy the freedom of riding on two wheels, from actors and musicians to politicians, comedians, and chefs have all joined the growing numbers of people who like to ride.
But at least in Britain, romantic bikers would rather ride with their other half than movie megastars like Kate Winslet, or Tom Cruise. In a Motorcycle Industry Association survey, when asked to name who they would most like to take a fantasy ride with, twice as many bikers nominated their partners than petite pop star Kylie, Star Wars? Ewan McGregor, or Bond?s Pierce Brosnan.
So if your partner doesn?t already ride, why not get them onto two wheels so you can ?Get More Out of Life? together, as promoted during National Motorcycle Week in England, held July 12-18??More freedom, more fun, more friends, more action and more opportunities.?
QUOTABLE QUOTE: ?Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.?
–Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 – 1968) civil rights leader & clergyman
