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. NCOM COAST TO COAST BIKER NEWS
Compiled & Edited by Bill Bish
National Coalition of Motorcyclists
UNITY IN THE COMMUNITY ?Speeding Into The Future? was the theme for this year?s NCOM Convention, held in Charlotte, North Carolina, over Mother?s Day weekend, May 10-13, 2007 at the University Hilton. Another near-record crowd attended the National Coalition of Motorcyclists? 22nd Annual Convention, converging from virtually every state and representing most Motorcyclists? Rights Organizations and Confederations of Clubs across the country.
Hosted by the Concerned Bikers Association/ABATE of North Carolina and the Confederation of Clubs of North Carolina, this annual conference draws prominent leaders in the bikers? rights movement to a different location each year to discuss topics of concern to all riders. Meetings, seminars and group discussions focus on safety issues, legal rights, legislative efforts and litigation techniques to benefit our right to ride.
This year?s agenda was packed with informative and thought provoking meetings such as the NCOM Board of Directors Meeting, NCOM Legislative Task Force Meeting, A.I.M. Attorney Conference, A.I.M. Chiefs of Staff Meeting, Christian Unity Conference, Clean and Sober Roundtable, Women In Motorcycling, SMRO President?s Meeting, Minority Outreach, and the ever popular and always inspiring Confederations of Clubs General Patch Holder Meeting.
Seminars and workshops included ?Government Grants ? How To Write & Obtain?, ?EPA Effects On Shops & Riders?, ?Freedom of the Road & Use of the Courts?, ?Loud Pipes?, ?Fourth Amendment ? And Other Rights Under The Constitution?, ?National Transportation Safety Board?, ?5 Steps To Freedom?, and ?NAFTA Superhighway?.
Keith Ball, former editor of Easyriders magazine and founder of Bikernet.com, was entertaining and informative with his historical perspective on the roots of the bikers rights movement as the featured dinner speaker during the Silver Spoke Awards Banquet on Saturday evening. He also gave a presentation on the Bikernet Independent noise study, which is being used right now to fight the new harsh Denver Noise Ordinance. It?s available on Bikernet for anyone dealing with noise issues.Bikernet Independent Noise Study
Silver Spoke Award recipients honored during the banquet were: MEDIA: Brian & Toni Shearon of Thunder Roads Magazine; GOVERNMENT: Tommy Thompson, former Secretary of Health & Human Services/former Governor of Wisconsin and Presidential hopeful; LEGAL: Mitch Proner, A.I.M. Attorney for New York & Connecticut; MERITORIOUS: Bill ?Snap? Lines of the Patriot Guard Riders; and SPECIAL RECOGNITION: Barbara Alvar of ABATE of New Mexico; Carmaletta Lara of ABATE of Oklahoma; and Patti Nasrallah of ABATE of Florida.
Receiving the Ron Roloff Lifetime Achievement Award was Rick Nail, past President of CBA/ABATE of NC and former member of the NCOM Board of Directors.
The National Coalition of Motorcyclists was happy to welcome the following as new NCOM Member Groups: ??The Patriot Guard Riders, ABATE of the Garden State (NJ), BikePAC of Idaho, Freemasons Riding Club ? National, Sovereign Riders MC, American Cruisers MC Chapters #56, #150, and #55, and the Southern California Biker Alliance.
The 2007 Convention was dedicated to the memory of Karen Bolin of the Motorcycle Riders Foundation, KC Mallady of ABATE of Florida, Marty Shultz of ABATE of Maryland and ?Tank? of His Laboring Few Motorcycle Ministry.
Next year?s NCOM Convention will be held May 8-11, 2008 in Houston, Texas at the Sheraton North at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport. Call NCOM for further details at (800) 525-5355 or visit www.On-A-Bike.com.
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION LABELS MOTORCYCLE DEATHS ?EPIDEMIC? The World Health Organization (WHO) recently expressed alarm over the growing number of accidents involving young people on motorcycles in Asia, warning that the situation has become a public health epidemic.
The WHO noted that young motorcyclists make up a significant percentage of injuries and fatalities among road users in many Asian countries, such as Cambodia and Malaysia. “Factors such as speed, no helmets, risk-taking behavior and drunk-driving contribute to the rising trend,” according to the WHO regional office, which is based in Manila, Philippines.
It suggested “simple measures” that could be taken to help make roads safer as the WHO marked observance of the first United Nations Global Road Safety Week, April 23-29. These measures include setting and enforcing appropriate speed and blood alcohol limits, as well as introducing and enforcing mandatory seat belt, helmet and child restraint laws.
SAFETY CHIEF SAYS HELMETS & RIDER TRAINING SHOULD BE PROVIDED It’s time to make helmets and training standard equipment for motorcyclists, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters said during remarks to the Motorcycle Industry Council in Indianapolis on February 19th. Peters called on motorcycle manufacturers to provide free or heavily discounted DOT-certified helmets or rider safety training with the purchase of every new motorcycle sold in the United States.
“Helmets and proper training are just as important as brakes or headlights when it comes to the well-being of motorcyclists,” Secretary Peters said. “We shouldn’t be letting any customer take a bike out of the store without a helmet as part of the package. Safety shouldn’t have to be an option when purchasing a motorcycle.”
Secretary Peters also said the Department of Transportation was “attacking” the challenge of motorcycle safety on several fronts. Last September, the Department awarded over $6 million in safety grants to states to support motorcycle safety. In addition, the Federal Highway Administration has established a Motorcycle Advisory Council to focus on making roads safer for motorcyclists and will continue work begun by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on a Motorcycle Crash Causation Study to identify why motorcycle crashes occur and find ways to reduce the fatality and injury rates.
MOTORCYCLE SAFETY STUDY BEING CONDUCTED The Motorcycle Safety Foundation has launched a milestone 3-year study to determine the effectiveness of periodic involvement in a series of motorcycle rider education and training courses.
“The Longitudinal Study to Improve Crash Avoidance Skills” will study the crash-avoidance skills of motorcyclists who have taken a series of rider training courses, beginning with the MSF Basic RiderCourse, which is the learn-to-ride course, and graduates will be offered, via random sampling, three additional training opportunities at periodic intervals throughout the study.
“The MSF’s rider education and training system used in this study is built upon the principle of safety training renewal,” said Dean Thompson, MSF director of communications. “We believe a rider’s decision-making and crash-avoidance skills can benefit from being refreshed over time. It is important for riders to regularly refresh their knowledge, skills and risk management strategies. We’re strong advocates of lifelong learning.”
Rider knowledge, skills, attitudes and experiences will be evaluated and measured over time. The University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center will provide an independent evaluation of research that will for the first time take a comprehensive, field-based look at the benefits of ongoing participation in a rider education and training system, and its subsequent effect on crash avoidance skills and real-world outcomes.
MOTORCYCLE AWARENESS — COMING TO A STREET NEAR YOU Several cities in Massachusetts are working to keep motorcycle drivers safe on the roads in their communities.
Last year, the Massachusetts Motorcycle Association (MMA) requested a grant from the Auto Insurer?s Bureau to help fund the erection of motorcycle awareness signs, and Plymouth Rock Assurance Corporation awarded a $15,000 grant to the MMA to purchase and install 500 2-by-8-foot signs, which read ?Check twice – Save a life, MOTORCYCLES ARE EVERYWHERE!!!!!?
Representatives of MMA are seeking permission to install at least one sign per community. Over a hundred communities are participating.
According to Wendell Davis, MMA District II Coordinator, Massachusetts is on the cutting edge of motorcycle safety programs. ?This sign will help not just motorcyclists, but pedestrians, bicyclists, etc., by making people more aware overall,? he said.
Davis added that Massachusetts is unique in promoting such an active awareness program and that ?Massachusetts is one of the few states where (motorcycle) registrations have gone up and deaths have gone down.?
SAUDIS BAN BIKES Earlier this year, Saudi Arabian officials increased security in the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah for the annual Hajj by banning motorcycles. In an article titled ?Reckless Bikers Risk Losing Rides?, the Orlando Sentinel reported that Saudi officials impounded 350 motorbikes during heightened security operations, telling Arabnews.com that the motorcycle ban was a response to problems related to hit-and-run accidents as well as thefts where criminals used motorcycles to navigate crowds and escape quickly.
Motorcycles have also been banned because riders in past years have used them as unsafe, unlicensed, one-passenger taxis. Transportation services are in high demand during the Hajj, causing a problem with taxis and buses. Noise and pollution caused by motorcycles and scooters was also cited as a concern.
AFRICAN COUNTRY BANS WOMEN FROM BIKES The Nigerian state of Kano has banned women from riding commercial motorcycles, according to the official News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), which warned that women who ride risk being arrested.
“The sharia police, otherwise known as Hisbah committee, have concluded arrangements to commence enforcement of some aspects of the state’s sharia law as passed by the state House of Assembly,” the NAN said. The law bans women from riding commercial motorcycles, commonly known as Okada in Nigeria, and also bars Muslim Okada operators from carrying women on their motorcycles.
Other aspects of the sharia law that would be implemented include the ban on alcohol consumption, hard drugs and prostitution, the commander said. Kano, one of 12 states in Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim north that adopted the strict Islamic law in 2000, is the first to introduce segregated public transport.
INDIA MAKES HELMETS COMPULSORY IN CITIES Wearing helmets is now mandatory within the city limits of six city corporation areas in the state of Bangalore, India, though one large city was exempted from the rule in view of the high daytime temperatures there.
Passengers, or so-called pillion riders, are also exempted from the helmet requirement.
The Karnataka High Court issued a directive to the Government in 2003 to make the wearing of helmets mandatory for two-wheeler riders, and wearing of helmets by two-wheeler riders is now mandatory under the Motor Vehicles Act of the Centre.
NEWS OF THE WEIRD: WOMAN CRASHES WHILE TEACHING DOG TO DRIVE A woman in Hohhot, the capital of north China’s Inner Mongolia region, crashed her car while giving her dog a driving lesson, the official Xinhua News Agency announced.
The woman, identified only be her surname, Li, said her dog “was fond of crouching on the steering wheel and often watched her drive,” according to Xinhua. “She thought she would let the dog ‘have a try’ while she operated the accelerator and brake,” the report said. “They did not make it far before crashing into an oncoming car.”
No injuries were reported although both vehicles were slightly damaged.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but the following explanation may help put that figure in perspective:
A billion seconds ago it was 1975, and the Vietnam War was grinding down.
A billion minutes ago was nearly 2,000 years, during the time of Christ.
A billion hours ago was over 112 thousand years, and our ancestors were still living in the Stone Age.
A billion days ago it was 2.7 million BC, and hominids were learning to walk upright.
A billion years ago earth?s ecosystem became fully formed, and the first multi-cellular organisms appeared.
A billion dollars ago was only 3 hours and 53 minutes, at the rate Washington spends it.
QUOTABLE QUOTE: “There is no slavery but ignorance. Liberty is the child of intelligence.”
Robert G. Ingersoll, US Lawyer & Orator (1833 – 1899)
