OFF THE WIRE
COAST TO COAST BIKER NEWS
Compiled & Edited by Bill Bish
FEDERAL HELMET LEGISLATION NARROWLY AVERTED
Due to the quick actions of concerned motorcyclists across the country, a
major federal transportation measure narrowly avoided becoming a bill to
encourage states to enact helmet laws nationwide.
On Monday, December 12 Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) filed an amendment to
S.1449 the "Motor Vehicle and Highway Safety Improvement Act of 2011” that
would call for mandatory helmet laws nationwide and could jeopardize funding
for Motorcycle Safety programs across America.
By Tuesday the motorcycle community was alerted to Lautenburg’s efforts by
national and state motorcyclists’ rights organizations, including the
National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM), the AMA and MRF, and riders were
urgently urged to contact their U.S. Senators to oppose the amendment -- and
time was of the essence because a Senate committee was to vote on the bill
the following day!
Wednesday, Dec 14, during the hearing held by the U.S. Senate Commerce,
Science & Transportation Committee to “mark-up” the bill, Senator Lautenburg
decided not to introduce his amendment.
Not only did motorcyclists’ prompt response help avoid another federal
helmet law battle and preserve federal funding for motorcycle safety
programs, but the committee also voted to accept two amendments by Senator
Jim DeMint (R-SC) that removed language in the bill that would have lifted
the current ban on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA) from lobbying states to enact universal helmet laws for all riders.
S.1449 passed the committee by voice vote and now goes to the Senate floor
for further action, while riders remain ever vigilant.
JUDGE UPHOLDS N.Y. MOTORCYCLE-ONLY CHECKPOINTS
A federal judge rejected motorcyclists' claims that their Constitutional
rights were violated by New York State Police motorcycle-only “safety
checkpoints” that detained thousands of riders en route to large N.Y.
Rallies and ticketed many of them for mostly non-safety violations.
Aid to Injured Motorcyclists (A.I.M.) Attorney Mitch Proner of NYC sued
troopers on behalf of four motorcyclists who claimed that safety was a mere
pretext in looking for criminals and that the practice was intrusive and
unfair to motorcycle riders as a group.
But Judge Gary Sharpe concluded that safety was indeed the main focus of the
initiative, which distinguishes the checkpoints from "a general interest in
crime control" that could have amounted to unconstitutional seizures when
there’s no "individualized suspicion of wrongdoing."
"The court concludes the checkpoints were enacted to promote motorcycle
safety, a manifest public interest; they were effective in addressing this
interest; and that any interference with individual liberties was not only
minimal, but also grossly outweighed by the interest advanced," Sharpe wrote
in his ruling.
"The intrusion on civil liberties is something that shouldn’t be
countenanced," Proner told the Associated Press, adding that the
discriminatory roadblocks have been ongoing since 2008 even though
motorcycles, like other vehicles in New York, are already subject to annual
safety inspections, and no other vehicles are stopped for roadside safety
checks.
"It’s obvious just from their own internal documents they’re looking for
criminal activity," said Attorney Proner, citing a checkpoint near Buffalo’s
Peace Bridge that included border patrol agents, and one in central New York
near a rally sponsored by a motorcycle club included gang task force
officers.
"The fact they didn’t find crime doesn’t mean that wasn’t what they’re
fishing for," he said. "That just shows you’ve got law abiding citizens on
motorcycles primarily being inconvenienced."
Proner told the AP news agency that motorcyclists across the country are
interested in this case, the only such federal lawsuit nationally though
some other states have similar checkpoint programs, and that he will appeal.
SAFETY BOARD SEEKS BAN ON CELL PHONE USE WHILE DRIVING
States should ban all driver use of cell phones and other portable
electronic devices (PEDs), except in emergencies, urges the National
Transportation Board. The NTSB recommendation, unanimously agreed to by the
five-member board, applies to both hands-free and hand-held phones and
significantly exceeds any existing state laws restricting texting and
cellphone use by drivers.
The board made the safety recommendation in connection with their
investigation of a deadly highway pileup in Missouri last year that was
caused by the inattention of a 19 year-old-pickup driver who sent or
received 11 texts in the 11 minutes immediately before the tragic crash that
involved a semi and two school busses.
The accident is a "big red flag for all drivers," NTSB chairman Deborah
Hersman said at a meeting to determine the cause of the accident and make
safety recommendations. "No call, no text, no update is worth a human life."
The board has previously recommended bans on texting and cell phone use by
commercial truck and bus drivers and beginning drivers, but it has stopped
short of calling for a ban on the use of the devices by adults behind the
wheel of passenger cars. While the NTSB doesn't have the power to impose
restrictions, its recommendations carry significant weight with federal
regulators and congressional and state lawmakers.
In November, Pennsylvania became the 35th state to forbid texting while
driving, but despite such laws the problem is continuing to get worse
according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that
reports nearly 20% of drivers admit to texting or e-mailing, and at any
given moment last year almost 1 in every 100 car drivers was texting,
emailing, surfing the Web or otherwise using a handheld electronic device,
up 50% over the previous year.
Joining in the campaign to curb distracted driving, Aid to Injured
Motorcyclists (A.I.M.) has produced a color vinyl bumper sticker that reads;
‘HANG UP AND DRIVE!” that is available free by calling A.I.M. at 1-(800)
ON-A-BIKE.
US TRAFFIC DEATHS HIT LOWEST LEVEL SINCE 1949
Annual traffic deaths in the U.S. have fallen to their lowest level in six
decades, reports the U.S. Department of Transportation. Despite the fact
that Americans drove almost 46 billion more miles during the year, highway
deaths fell by nearly a thousand to 32,885 in 2010, representing a 2.9% drop
from 2009 (33,883) and the lowest number of fatalities since 1949.
"While we have more work to do to continue to protect American motorists,
these numbers show we're making historic progress when it comes to improving
safety on our nation's roadways," said DOT Secretary Ray LaHood.
According to DOT statistics, deaths in crashes involving drunk drivers
dropped 4.9% in 2010, resulting in 10,228 fatalities compared to 10,759 in
2009. Fatalities declined in most categories in 2010, including for
occupants of passenger cars and light trucks, but fatalities rose among
motorcycle riders (4,469 in 2009 to 4,502 in 2010, an increase of 33, or
less than 1%), pedestrians (up 4% from 4,109 to 4,280), occupants in medium
and heavy trucks (499 to 529, +6%) and buses (26 to 44, +41%).
The latest figures also include a new measure of fatalities caused by
distracted driving, essentially a refinement of existing data that focuses
more directly on situations where dialing a phone, sending a text or the
activities of another person or event are likely to lead to a crash. The DOT
reports that 3,092 fatalities were the result of such “distraction-affected
crashes.”
FEDS PROPOSE ADDITIONAL MOTORCYCLE SAFETY STUDY
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is proposing to
launch a study program equipping 160 motorcycle riders with cameras, GPS,
and other data recording devices in order to track riding behavior and how
riders avoid -- or fail to avoid -- crashes.
"Knowledge of both how riders successfully avoid crashes and of behaviors
that correlate with and contribute to crash risk is crucial to developing
effective countermeasures to reduce motorcycle crashes and fatalities," says
the NHTSA study proposal.
The federal agency is currently seeking comments on their proposed
motorcycle safety study, which is very similar to a “naturalistic study”
being conducted by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) tracking 100
specially-equipped motorcycles for one year to compile data on rider
behavior.
NOISE CAMERA TO MUFFLE LOUD VEHICLES
First came red-light cameras, followed closely by speed-cameras, and now
Calgary will soon become the first municipality to introduce noise cameras
to the motoring public.
“Motorcycle riders and hotrod enthusiasts beware: the Noise Snare is one
step closer to squelching your high-decibel expressions of mechanical
masculinity,” reported the Calgary Herald about the pilot project that pairs
a noise-reader with a camera to catch law breakers.
The $112,500 device was offered to Calgary for free as the first city to
test the gadget, and if all goes well the city expects to be handing out
$200 tickets by summer.
"This is something that will allow municipalities across North America to
start enforcing (noise) bylaws. The fact that now it's been proven to be an
accurate test is very, very important," said Bill Bruce, the city's director
of bylaw services.
Electrical engineer Mark Nesdoly invented the “Noise Snare” after a loud
motorcycle awoke his sleeping daughter one night.
SHOOTINGS PROMPT HONDURAN CONGRESS TO BAN MOTORCYCLE PASSENGERS
Following two recent high-profile killings, legislators in Honduras approved
a decree banning motorcyclists from carrying passengers. It took the deaths
of a radio journalist and a former government advisor to convince the
National Congress of the need to restrict the number of riders on a
motorcycle to one -- the driver. Suspects in both cases were passengers on
motorcycles, who got away.
The legislation is being hailed as a common sense approach to fighting crime
that will help discourage drive-by shootings, which have been one of the
most common murder tactics in this Central American country because it makes
it nearly impossible to identify and catch the helmeted killers who quickly
flee the crime scene. Now, any motorcycle with two people will be suspect
and can be pulled over by the police.
NIGERIA RESTRICTS MOTORCYCLES TO CURB BOMBINGS
Restrictions have been imposed on the operations of commercial motorcycles
in Nigeria to check bombing incidences. The restrictions on the motorcycles,
popularly called okada, were announced by the Special Task Force (STF) after
a deadly triple bomb blast rocked three television viewing centers was
attributed to the Islamic sect Boko Haram.
"The general public should be informed that no motorcycle will be allowed to
operate beyond 7pm within the Jos-Bukuru metropolis. Riding of motorcycles
is only permitted from 6am - 7pm, the enforcement of this ban will be
strictly enforced,'' said Ikemefuna Okafor, an officer of STF.
WEIRD NEWS: MOTORCYCLISTS TAKE BITE OUT OF SNAKE VENOM DEATHS
In rural Nepal, volunteer motorcyclists are getting snakebite victims to
help soon enough to cut deaths by 95%, reports Scientific American.
Snake bites are still a big concern for much of the world’s population, and
the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that about 100,000 people die
from poisonous snakebites each year. Many more people become paralyzed or
permanently disabled.
Most victims live too far from clinics that could provide them with
anti-venom. In Nepal, where more than 10% of bite victims die, an
experimental program uses volunteer motorcyclists to save residents. Since
the program launched 2003, only about 5% of victims who got a ride died.
These findings were presented at the annual meeting of the American Society
of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
QUOTABLE QUOTE: "To sin by silence, when they should protest, makes cowards
of men."
~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850–1919), American author & poet
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