OFF THE WIRE
Congressional letter aims to suspend NHTSA program to fund discriminatory motorcycle-only checkpointsTake Action!
Urge your Representative to sign on today!
Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) is taking the lead by sending a letter to Sec. Ray LaHood urging him to suspend a grant program that would expand the highly criticized practice of creating motorcycle-only checkpoints by law enforcement agencies.
The program is the Motorcycle Law Enforcement Demonstrations Grant (DTNH22-10-R-00386), and has closed for new applicants as of August 13, 2010. However, you can view the grant notice by clicking here.
The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) supports this important letter, and seeks to have as many Representatives sign on as possible. Therefore, the AMA needs your help immediately to contact your Representative and urge them to sign onto this letter.
The AMA has formally questioned the potential discriminatory and legal nature of this program, administered by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The AMA sent a letter to Administrator Strickland on August 9 urging him to suspend the grant program until questions have been addressed. To date, Administrator Strickland has not responded. To view AMA's letter, click here.
While law enforcement officials may defend the program as a safety measure to decrease motorcycle crashes, injuries and fatalities, there is no proof of its effectiveness. The practice, first modeled in New York State, has drawn the ire of thousands of motorcyclists nationally.
NHTSA is now seeking up to five other law enforcement agencies, besides the state of New York, to participate in motorcycle-only checkpoints, and is offering $350,000 in federal funding.
The AMA believes that the best way for NHTSA to reduce motorcycle crashes is to employ proven strategies, such as rider education and motorcycle awareness programs, that decrease the likelihood of crashes from ever occurring. These strategies must be research-based, and motorcyclists would be much better served by applying the funding to the national motorcycle crash causation study that is currently underway at Oklahoma State University. This is a sentiment supported by Sensenbrenner and many of his colleagues in Congress through recently introduced H. Res. 1498.
To urge your Representative to support this important resolution, click here.
Be sure to forward this to your motorcycling friends! Ask them to contact their Representative and urge them to sign on to the Sensenbrenner letter requesting the grant offer be suspended until the concerns of the motorcycling community have been addressed. Just follow the “Take Action” option to send a pre-written e-mail directly to your Representative demanding no federal dollars be used to expand programs that discriminate against motorcyclists.
