| Capitol Hill Update
A Meeting at HQ
With the help of MRF Vice President Jay Jackson, our Washington team secured a meeting this week at the headquarters of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Tiffany and Rocky sat down with Michael Fox, Highway Accident Investigator and Eric Emery, Chief of the Safety Research Division.
Michael is the lead investigator for motorcycle-related crashes in the United States. Michael travels around the country investigating motorcycle-related crashes and determining the cause of the accident and crafting proposals for preventing future accidents. Michael himself is a motorcyclist and is passionate about protecting motorcyclists.
Eric is the author of the 2018 NTSB safety report titled, “Select Risk Factors Associated with Causes of Motorcycle Crashes.” Eric asked what the MRF believed were some of the biggest future safety challenges facing motorcyclists. We discussed the rise of autonomous vehicles and the need for autonomous vehicle technology to recognize and react to motorcyclists.
What was most satisfying about the 2-hour long conversation was the willingness of the NTSB to work with the MRF on areas we have common ground. Both gentlemen understand that there are issues where the MRF and the NTSB may not be in agreement. However, they stressed their desire to find issues we can agree on and not get hung up on our differences.
The NTSB is eager to participate in our May Bikers Inside the Beltway program on Capitol Hill and offered a myriad of ways that the NTSB could raise the profile of our event. We hope that partnering with the NTSB on common ground issues will not only help raise the profile of our event on Capitol Hill but will also raise the overall profile of the MRF with lawmakers. As we get closer to May, we will have details on how this partnership will work.
Both Sides of the Aisle
Last year the MRF made a concerted effort to have both anti-profiling bills bipartisan. In both the Senate and House versions, we had both Republican and Democrat cosponsors. This year with our focus strictly on passing a House version we are taking the same approach.
This week the MRF met with Congressman Peterson of Minnesota’s office to ask if he will once again cosponsor the anti-profiling legislation. Congressman Peterson is a Democrat and member of the House Motorcycle Caucus. His office is scheduled to meet with Congressman Walberg’s office soon and finalize the anti-profiling bill for this Congress. When the bill is officially introduced, we will let you know.
MRF News & Events
Bikers Inside the Beltway 2019
The 11th Annual Bikers Inside the Beltway is just two months away! We hope you will join us and other freedom fighters from around the country while we embark on our journey in the halls of the Capitol to advance our legislative priorities with our elected representatives. We will kick off the event on the evening on Monday, May 20th with a prep session to get everyone up to speed on the legislation that we are working on this year and to pass out the leave behind packets for your meetings. On Tuesday, May 21st, we will head to the Capitol to lobby our legislators. If you are planning to attend this year’s event, we ask that you sign up online at www.mrf.org/events and encourage you to book your hotel accommodations before April 19, 2019, to receive our special event rate. You can download the flyer here: 2019 Bikers Inside the Beltway Flyer
Read the whole tamale this week in the Bikernet Weekly New.–Bandit |
