Lawmakers want NHTSA to focus on crash prevention, not lobbying

OFF THE WIRE
In a congressional resolution introduced today, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) is urging the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to concentrate on motorcycle crash prevention and rider education instead of lobbying state lawmakers to enact mandatory helmet laws.

The resolution is in response to statements made earlier this year by NHTSA administrator David Strickland, in which he maintained that the core component of the agency’s motorcycle safety plan is to increase helmet use, and “anything the Congress does that would support the movement of riders into helmets would be efficacious of safety.”

On April 2 AMA senior vice president for government relations Ed Moreland sought a clarification of Strickland’s comments. The letter can be read here. Strickland’s response can be read here.

Today’s resolution supports efforts to keep the agency from using taxpayer dollars to lobby state and local legislators. Reps. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.), Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.), Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Tom Petri (R-Wis.) co-sponsored the measure. Anti-lobbying language was originally written into the Transportation Equity Act approved by Congress in 1998.

“It is the job of Congress to protect the rights of the states and also the freedom and individual responsibilities that motorcycle riders across the nation enjoy as they travel the open roads of America,” Sensenbrenner said.

“The key to reducing motorcycle injuries and fatalities is found in the implementation of strategies that prevent the likelihood of a crash from happening in the first place,” commented AMA’s Moreland. “We are pleased to see that Rep. Sensenbrenner and his colleagues who back his resolution are mindful of the importance of motorcycle crash prevention, and the pursuit of rider education as a primary means to reduce injuries and save lives.”

Sensenbrenner’s resolution notes that federal law states “no funds appropriated to the secretary for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shall be available for any activity specifically designed to urge a state or local legislator to favor or oppose the adoption of any specific legislative proposal pending before any state or local legislative body.”

The resolution also states that federal lawmakers support efforts to retain the lobbying ban, encourages continued growth in motorcycling, recognizes the importance of motorcycle crash prevention, and encourages the traffic safety agency to focus on crash prevention and rider education “as the most significant priorities in motorcycle safety.”

Source: American Motorcyclist Association