OFF THE WIRE
Motorcycle safety subsidy may get ax
Bikers rally to oppose helmet law
Wyoming motorcycle fatalities reach record high
Domestic use of aerial drones by law enforcement likely to prompt privacy debate
Support builds for biker anti-discrimination bill
Indianapolis police re-file DUI charges against killer cop
Bill would stop young children from riding on motorcycles
Motorcycle safety subsidy may get ax
http://www.omaha.com/article/20110126/NEWS01/701269926/209
LINCOLN — Learning to ride a motorcycle could cost would-be Nebraska bikers more in the future.
But the state could get a bit more money for road-building and agency operations under a bill advanced by state lawmakers Tuesday.
After a debate foreshadowing budget battles to come, senators gave 41-0 first-round approval to Legislative Bill 170.
The bill would eliminate a fund used to subsidize motorcycle safety education classes.
Money accumulated in the fund would be divided between the Highway Trust Fund and the Department of Motor Vehicles operations fund.
Lawmakers could tap the DMV portion to help with the state's $986 million budget gap.
State Sen. Deb Fischer of Valentine, chairwoman of the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee, called the bill a matter of money and equity.
The state does not subsidize training courses for any other class of driver, she said.
Yet it has been putting $3 of every motorcycle registration and $3.50 of every motorcycle operator's license fee into the motorcycle education fund.
“We have to decide what is the proper function of government,” Fischer said.
The money provides a $75 subsidy for each person who takes a motorcycle safety course.
Like driver education, the courses are optional for riders. However, riders who pass a training course can get a motorcycle license without having to do a driving demonstration.
Lawmakers also have to decide how to use scarce dollars, Fischer said.
About $270,000 goes into the fund each year. At least one-third of that amount is left over each year, leading to the accumulation of a $790,000 unused balance.
Sen. Steve Lathrop of Omaha argued against eliminating the subsidy, saying higher costs would mean fewer people getting training.
Already, only about one in four motorcyclists takes the courses.
Lathrop said lawmakers would be sending the wrong message about motorcycle safety, especially when coupled with a proposed repeal of the requirement for motorcyclists to wear helmets.
Scott Lucey of Omaha, state legislative coordinator for ABATE (American Bikers Aiming Toward Education), said the group opposes LB 170 because it would take money from motorcycle safety.
He suggested putting the unused balance into other efforts to promote rider safety, such as a “share the road” education effort.
Mark Amidon, another ABATE leader from Omaha, said there are not enough training courses available now for those who want them. He said some skip the training because of the waiting time to get into one.
"The world that we have made as a result of the level of thinking that we have
done so far, has created problems we cannot solve at the level of thinking at
which we created them."
-- Albert Einstein
(1879-1955) Physicist and Professor, Nobel Prize 1921
Bikers rally to oppose helmet law
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2011/jan/20/bikers-rally-to-oppose-helmet-law/
Headgear can increase injuries, group claims.
JEFFERSON CITY (AP) — A group of motorcyclists asked some state senators yesterday to repeal Missouri’s helmet law, saying they believe helmets might actually increase the dangers riders face by muffling the sounds of traffic.
Nearly two dozen riders testified to the Senate Transportation Committee in favor of a bill would repeal a law requiring all motorcycle riders to wear helmets. The bill would limit that requirement only to riders younger than 21.
Terry McNutt, a member of the motorcycle-rights group Freedom of Road Riders, told the committee he has nearly collided with emergency vehicles on the highway because he was unable to hear the approaching sirens because of his helmet.
“Helmets can cause all kinds of damage to a rider,” he told The Associated Press after he testified. “Most helmets are full-face helmets, meaning they cover most of your face and your ears. When they do that, it makes it really hard to hear.”
He said full-face helmets contain padding under their plastic shell that can make riders so warm in the summertime they have trouble controlling their motorcycle.
“Some of the helmets are so hot that they can even make you puke,” he said.
McNutt said even helmets that cover only the top of the head and ears — called “shorties” — can pull a rider’s head back when he or she is riding at a high speed, causing pain.
Gregory Dewitt Folkert, a clinical instructor of emergency medicine at Washington University in St. Louis, urged senators not to repeal the law. He said a helmet repeal would increase the number of riders who suffer serious and fatal head injuries.
Folkert said his father died at age 42 from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident, which he said had a devastating effect on his family.
“If you’re older than 42, I want you to think about where you were at 42 and if you’d have been happy leaving it there,” he said. “If you’re not yet 42, I want you to think about all the things you would leave unfulfilled, all the things you haven’t done yet.”
Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed a similar helmet-law repeal in 2009, saying it would make riders less safe and would increase the state’s medical care costs.
In September, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that motorcycle fatalities were down 16 percent in 2009 from an all-time high of 5,312 the previous year. Missouri saw a roughly 21 percent decline, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation.
Katherine Cashell, a legislative coordinator for Freedom of Road Riders, said her group feels training programs that teach techniques such as defensive riding are much more effective in preventing accident deaths than mandatory helmet laws.
“What we need to be focused on are the preventive measures, such as awareness and education,” she said. “Helmets do not save lives.”
Sponsoring Sen. Bill Stouffer, R-Napton, told the senators that repealing the law could positively affect the state’s tourism prospects. He said the current law discourages out-of-state groups from coming to Missouri because seven of the eight states surrounding Missouri do not require helmets for all riders.
“If you have a group that wants to go on a ride, they’re going to avoid Missouri,” he said. “Those folks do spend a lot of tourism dollars.”
"Honor, justice, and humanity, forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which
we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity have a
right to receive from us."
-- Thomas Jefferson
(1743-1826), US Founding Father, drafted the Declaration of Independence, 3rd US President
Wyoming motorcycle fatalities reach record high
http://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2011/01/13/news/20local_01-13-11.txt
CHEYENNE -- Wyoming motorcycle fatalities have hit an all-time high.
State Department of Transportation data show that 30 riders died in crashes in 2010, up from 13 in 2009.
The second-highest recorded number is 27 in 2007.
WYDOT spokesman Dave Kingham said it's difficult to say what caused the increase, though an overall rise in motorcycle registrations is likely a contributing factor.
About 28,200 motorcycles were registered in the state last year; there were about 14,400 in 2001.
"Part of the reason it went up, we speculate, is just because more people are out there riding," Kingham said. "But that alone wouldn't account for this much of a jump in fatalities in one year.
"To have it jump this much this year is very disappointing and a cause for concern."
Mary Cima, vice president of Wyoming ABATE (American Bikers Aimed Toward Education), agreed that the numbers are high, especially because the state funded awareness commercials that ran all last summer.
"(The commercials) were really startling," Cima said. "You would think that it would help."
Kingham said the fatalities were spread all over the state and on everything from interstates to county roads. But there was a slightly more concentrated number of deaths in the northeast corner around the time of the Sturgis Rally.
Central ABATE President Russ Reddick said many factors could play into the increase of riders, including good gas mileage and the fact that some motorcycles are inexpensive to buy and maintain.
"Or possibly people are just figuring out how much fun it is," he said. "Wyoming is a great state to ride in: open highways rolling over the grassy plains, twisty mountain roads. From Cheyenne to Cody, Jackson to Newcastle, there just isn't a better place in the world to be a motorcyclist."
But Reddick said the statistics provided are incomplete, lacking the number of motorcyclists who traveled through the state and total road miles traveled.
Kingham said the number of miles traveled should be available in a couple months.
The report also don't specify which riders died from actual head trauma.
According to WYDOT, 24 of the deceased riders, or 80 percent, were not wearing helmets at the time of their crashes.
Kingham said his agency hasn't looked at each crash individually, but overall statistics show helmets help prevent fatalities.
"Certainly the statistics in Wyoming and nationwide show that you are far more likely to die in a crash if you are not wearing a helmet than if you are," Kingham
But many motorcycle advocacy groups, including ABATE, that support the right to choose whether to wear a helmet, aren't so sure.
"A lot of us riders believe that (helmets) are more of a hindrance than they are a safety measure," Cima said.
Added Reddick, "The problem with helmets is that they only come into play during an accident. The best way to prevent fatalities is to prevent the accident from happening in the first place."
He said road conditions, weather, time of day, rider experience and riding under the influence of a substance all contribute to single-vehicle motorcycle accidents.
He added that the number of first-time riders and those returning to riding after many years could also have impacted the high number of fatalities.
"Motorcyclists must do their best to be good riders," Reddick said. "They can take the Motorcycle Rights Foundation basic and advanced rider training classes; never drink and ride; and know their limits and don't ride beyond them."
Additionally, every road user should obey traffic laws and staying off the phone, he said.
"Always wear as much protective gear as your ego allows -- just in case you are involved in an accident," Reddick said. "Dress for the slide, not the ride."
By the numbers
-- Total number of Wyoming crashes involving motorcycle: 334
-- Total fatalities: 30
-- Wyoming residents: 16
-- Gender: Seven women (three were passengers), 23 men
-- Two of the victims were minors, 18 were between the ages of 50 and 66.
-- 24, or 80 percent, of the riders were not wearing helmets; one was "improperly worn" and came off during the crash.
-- 20 crashes involved only one motorcycle. Of the remaining 10, two involved two motorcycles.
-- Five of the crashes were caused by the motorcycle operator either losing control of the vehicle, failing to yield or improperly passing.
-- Alcohol and drugs were a factor in 10 of the crashes.
-- 10 crashes involved excessive speed.
Source: Wyoming Department of Transportation
"A society that will trade
a little liberty for a little order
will lose both, and deserve neither."
-- Thomas Jefferson
(1743-1826), US Founding Father, drafted the Declaration of Independence, 3rd US President
Domestic use of aerial drones by law enforcement likely to prompt privacy debate
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/22/AR2011012204111.html
AUSTIN - The suspect's house, just west of this city, sat on a hilltop at the end of a steep, exposed driveway. Agents with the Texas Department of Public Safety believed the man inside had a large stash of drugs and a cache of weapons, including high-caliber rifles.
As dawn broke, a SWAT team waiting to execute a search warrant wanted a last-minute aerial sweep of the property, in part to check for unseen dangers. But there was a problem: The department's aircraft section feared that if it put up a helicopter, the suspect might try to shoot it down.
So the Texas agents did what no state or local law enforcement agency had done before in a high-risk operation: They launched a drone. A bird-size device called a Wasp floated hundreds of feet into the sky and instantly beamed live video to agents on the ground. The SWAT team stormed the house and arrested the suspect.
"The nice thing is it's covert," said Bill C. Nabors Jr., chief pilot with the Texas DPS, who in a recent interview described the 2009 operation for the first time publicly. "You don't hear it, and unless you know what you're looking for, you can't see it."
The drone technology that has revolutionized warfare in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan is entering the national airspace: Unmanned aircraft are patrolling the border with Mexico, searching for missing persons over difficult terrain, flying into hurricanes to collect weather data, photographing traffic accident scenes and tracking the spread of forest fires.
But the operation outside Austin presaged what could prove to be one of the most far-reaching and potentially controversial uses of drones: as a new and relatively cheap surveillance tool in domestic law enforcement.
Support builds for biker anti-discrimination bill (Washington)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/01/19/v-printerfriendly/1508772/support-builds-for-biker-anti.html
Rep. Steve Kirby has revived a bill that aims to prevent police discrimination against motorcycle riders.
Motorcyclists descended on Olympia last year, complaining that police pull them over and search them for no reason except for their choice of clothing and vehicles.
It's profiling, they say. So Kirby modeled his bill on one that cracked down on racial profiling. It requires police departments to have policies and training in place to prevent discrimination.
Indianapolis police re-file DUI charges against killer cop
http://hellforleathermagazine.com/2011/01/indianapolis-police-re-file-dui-charges-against-killer-cop/
In a case which has created widespread concerns of corruption in the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, DUI charges have been re-filed against a cop who crashed into four motorcyclists in August, killing one and injuring two others. The riders were stopped behind traffic at a red light when David Bisard, allegedly distracted while conducting a personal text conversation despite driving at high speed with sirens and lights on, plowed into them. Police initially bungled the investigation, failing to properly protect evidence and the blood test which revealed Bisard to be over twice the legal limit nearly two hours after the crash was ruled inadmissible.
"The Jury has a right to judge both the law as well as the fact in controversy."
-- John Jay
(1745-1829) first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, First President of the united States after the American Revolution - preceding George Washington, one of three men most responsible for the US Constitution 1789
Bill would stop young children from riding on motorcycles
http://hamptonroads.com/print/584959
Some of Keith Lindgren's best memories with his children were made on long road trips with them straddling the back of his motorcycle.
They'd start riding as young as 5 and were always outfitted in protective gear and taught how to hold on, said Lindgren, president of the Motorcycle Safety League of Virginia Inc. and a chief instructor with the Virginia Rider Training Program.
But local police say it isn't safe for small children to ride and have proposed a change in state law that would ban it. Del. Chris Stolle, a Republican who represents Virginia Beach, has taken up the cause, sponsoring House Bill 1850, which would make it illegal for children younger than 8 to travel by motorcycle.
The bill has got motorcyclists like Lindgren revved up for a battle over who should decide when a child is ready to ride.
"I don't look at this as a governmental issue. I look at this as a parental issue," said Matt Danielson, legal counsel for the Virginia Coalition of Motorcyclists, a political action committee that represents motorcyclists' interests in the General Assembly. "I think the parent can make a better decision about whether their child is ready to ride than can some legislator in Richmond."
But Sgt. Scott Wichtendahl, head of the Police Department's Traffic Safety Unit, said officers have seen too many small children clinging onto motorcycles, often with insufficient protection, especially as more drivers turn to the fuel-efficient rides. The number of motorcycles registered in Virginia grew about 93 percent from 2001 to 2008, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles.
While there haven't been any local casualties or serious injuries to children riding on motorcycles, the Police Department wants to prevent any from occurring, Wichtendahl said.
"The child's uncomfortable and unsafe and can't hold on effectively, even just sitting at the stoplight," Wichtendahl said. "We're not trying to prevent parents from transporting their children, we just want it to be safe."
He said he'd support an exemption for parades.
Between 2005 and 2009, 23 children age 9 and younger were injured while riding motorcycles in Virginia, according to DMV statistics provided by Danielson. None died. However, in October, a 9-year-old boy died in Orange County, about 75 miles northwest of Richmond, when his father's motorcycle collided with a pickup.
Far more children are hurt or killed riding bicycles, Danielson said. From 2005 to 2009, three children ages 9 and younger died from bicycle accidents, and 238 injuries were reported, he said.
"It's not a problem in the commonwealth of Virginia," he said. "What these numbers say is that motorcycling parents in Virginia are doing a very good job of making this decision for themselves."
Only about 5 percent of the customers at Cycle World on Virginia Beach Boulevard take their children with them on their motorcycles, sales manager Robb Eldredge said. But those who do typically stock up on child-size helmets, body armor and gloves, he said.
He said he wouldn't recommend putting a child on a motorcycle who can't reach the foot pedals and doesn't see a problem with the proposed age limit.
"I think all our customers who have children sit on back make sure they fit," he said. "But I think having a law in place would be a very positive thing."
"Taxation of earnings from labor is on a par with forced labor. Seizing the results of someone’s labor is equivalent to seizing hours from him and directing him to carry on various activities."
-- Robert Nozick
Harvard Philosopher
