NCOM BIKER
NEWSBYTES
Compiled & Edited by
Bill Bish,
National Coalition of
Motorcyclists (NCOM)
NCOM CONVENTION HITS JACKPOT
IN RENO
Freedom is an ongoing
gamble, with bikers’ rights activists wagering to win against an often stacked
deck, always in favor of the House, but everyone came away a winner at this
year’s 28th annual NCOM Convention over Mother’s Day weekend, May 9-12, 2013 at
the posh Silver Legacy Resort-Casino in Reno, Nevada.
But it was work, not play,
on the agenda for hundreds of attendees from across the country there to discuss
topics of concern to all riders; such as biker profiling and discrimination,
motorcycle-only roadblocks, knowing your rights, and mobilizing motorcyclists to
advocate motorcycle-friendly legislation and defeat anti-biking
bills.
The traditional “Ringing of
the Bell” ceremony paid homage to those freedom fighters who have gone before
us, while for the first time a Veterans’ Rights seminar was conducted by NCOM’s
newly-formed Veteran Affairs Special Committee in an effort to reach out to true
defenders of Freedom.
The National Coalition of
Motorcyclists (NCOM) is solely sponsored by the Aid to Injured Motorcyclists
(A.I.M.) nationwide legal services program and serves as an umbrella
organization for more than 2,000 NCOM Member clubs, organizations and
associations worldwide, representing well over a quarter of a million
politically active motorcyclists. NCOM has successfully outreached to numerous
segments of the motorcycling community in an effort to unite for our rights,
both legal and legislatively, and has become a unifying voice amongst North
America’s motorcycle rights organizations (MROs), motorcycle clubs, women
riders, religious riding organizations, touring groups, trikers, sportbikers,
and minority motorcyclists.
This year’s NCOM Convention
was hosted by the Northern Nevada Confederation of Clubs, and all motorcyclists
were welcomed and encouraged to participate in the many meetings, seminars and
group discussions that focused on legislative efforts and litigation techniques
to protect our riders’ rights and preserve Freedom of the Road.
During the Silver Spoke
Awards Banquet on Saturday evening, several honorees were recognized for their
contributions to “Improving The Image of Motorcycling”, including; GOVERNMENT:
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker; MEDIA: Becky Cakes – Classic Parts Hotline;
COMMERCE: Chris McIntyre – Eagle Rider Motorcycle Rentals; LEGAL: Boyd Spencer –
AIM Attorney for Pennsylvania & New Jersey; ENTERTAINMENT: Max “Pitstop”
Martini – Actor/Boozefighters MC; SPECIAL RECOGNITION: Christine Paige – Sturgis
Motorcycle Museum & Hall of Fame, and Suzanne “Baglady Sue” Austin –
Comedian; and NCOM’s highest honor, the Ron Roloff Lifetime Achievement Award,
was presented to Frank Ernst of ABATE of Minnesota and a member of the NCOM
Board of Directors.
Next year’s 29th Annual NCOM
Convention will be held May 8-11, 2014 at The Intercontinental Hotel in Dallas,
Texas. For further information, contact NCOM at (800) ON-A-BIKE or visit
www.ON-A-BIKE.com.
“STOP MOTORCYCLE CHECKPOINT
FUNDING ACT” INTRODUCED IN CONGRESS
Congressman Jim
Sensenbrenner (R-WI) has introduced “a bill to prohibit the U.S. Department of
Transportation (DOT) from providing funds to state and local authorities for the
purpose of creating motorcycle only checkpoints.”
Filed on May 7, the Stop
Motorcycle Checkpoint Funding Act, H.R. 1861, “also contains language to force
the DOT to focus motorcycle safety efforts on crash prevention programs, not
national helmet mandates,” according to Rep. Sensenbrenner. “This will stop the
DOT from manipulating State policies with federal money.”
Contact your federal
representatives and request they support H.R. 1861, and that they sign on as a
co-sponsor of Sensenbrenner’s bill. You can call members of Congress through
the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.
NTSB RECOMMENDS
LOWERING DRUNK-DRIVING LIMIT TO .05
The National
Transportation Safety Board has issued a recommendation that states lower their
drunk-driving thresholds from a 0.08 blood-alcohol content to 0.05 BAC. The
recommendation is one of several the NTSB made to curtail drunk driving, which
the federal investigative agency claims is involved in a third of America’s
34,000 traffic deaths each year. The agency acknowledged in its report there is
no one "silver bullet," but estimated that 500 to 800 lives per year could be
saved with the proposed lower limit.
Chairman Deborah
Hersman admitted the NTSB is aiming even higher; "Reaching zero deaths from
alcohol-impaired driving.”
Not everyone
agrees.
"This
recommendation is ludicrous," said Sarah Longwell, managing director of the
American Beverage Institute. "Moving from 0.08 to 0.05 would criminalize
perfectly responsible behavior.
Currently, all 50
states have set a BAC level of .08, though most countries in Europe including
Russia, most of South America and Australia, have set BAC levels at .05 to
constitute drunken driving.
The NTSB only makes
recommendations on transportation safety issues, and has little actual
regulatory power. It will be up to federal agencies, Congress and state
lawmakers to take action. The last move from .10 to .08 BAC levels took 21 years
for each state to implement.
WEATHER & ECONOMY DRIVE
UP TRAFFIC FATALITIES
For the first time in nearly
a decade, the number of traffic deaths went up last year according to the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which cited warmer
weather and an improving economy for the 5.3% increase in fatalities to 34,080,
the highest since 2008.
The rise follows a steady
decline in fatal accidents since 2005 when 43,510 people died, culminating in a
60-year-low of 32,367 in 2011, but NHTSA Administrator David Strickland said,
“With a rebounding economy there’s increased discretionary driving, which is
clearly always the leader in terms of dangerous driving scenarios.”
U.S. motorcyclist deaths
outpaced the overall national numbers with a projected 9% more fatalities in
2012, up to more than 5,000, and in addition to climatic and economic factors
the agency also blames a long-term decline in helmet laws with only 19 states
requiring usage, down from 26 states in 1997.
"The most notable thing was
the warm weather," said Dr. James Hedlund, a former NHTSA official and the
author of the report by the Governors Highway Safety Association, as thirty-four
states east of the Rocky Mountains notched record average temperatures from
March to May 2012, and forty-eight states recorded their warmest average
temperatures on record.
The report also cited two
economic factors that may have contributed to an increase in the number of miles
traveled via motorcycle in 2012 and thus a higher probability of accidents: a
better economy and high gas prices. "An improving economy produces more
discretionary income with which to buy and ride motorcycles," said the study.
Several states reported an increase in the number of registrations in 2012, and
Hedlund has found that over the past three decades, the number of registrations
tracks closely with the number of deaths.
GHSA's recommendations for
cutting motorcyclist deaths include reducing alcohol impairment, reducing
speeding, increasing driver awareness, and ensuring that motorcyclists are
licensed. According to GHSA, NHTSA data shows that in 2010, nearly a quarter of
riders involved in fatal accidents did not have valid licenses.
CONNECTICUT RIDERS DECRY
PROPOSAL TO REGULATE EXHAUST SYSTEMS
An unexpected effort in the
General Assembly to crack down on noisy motorcycles is being met by opposition
from the motorcycle industry. Under language added last week to a bill involving
off-road ATVs, the sale, registration or operation of a street motorcycle having
non-stock pipes would become a fineable offense. Most after-market exhaust
systems are not EPA-certified.
The new provisions, if
approved, would require federal Environmental Protection Agency noise emission
control labels to be displayed on all motorcycles, and would institute fines of
up to $250 per offense for non-compliance.
OHIO LAWMAKERS CALL FOR BAN
ON TRAFFIC CAMERAS
Following a biting ruling by
a judge who called traffic cameras a scam, legislation was introduced on
February 20th in Columbus, Ohio by Representative
Ron Maag (R-Lebanon) to eliminate the use of photo monitoring devices to detect
speed and traffic signal violations. He and Rep. Dale Mallory (D-Cincinnati),
one of many bipartisan co-sponsors, believe the removal of “speed-trap” cameras
is necessary and must be addressed immediately since there is no existing state
law regulating traffic enforcement cameras, so communities operate their
programs under local ordinances.
Their hard-line stance
against the cameras comes on the heels of Hamilton County Common Pleas Court
Judge Robert Ruehlman’s permanent injunction, which prohibits the further use of
speed cameras in Elmwood Place, a Cincinnati suburb. Ruehlman granted the
injunction citing there was a lack of due process for alleged
violators.
Judge Ruehlman's
decision was unequivocal. He made national news headlines when he called the
speed camera system in Elmwood Place "a high-tech game of Three-card Monty....
It is a scam the motorist cannot win." Between the camera enforcement, the lack
of proper signage, and the fees for administrative hearings, Ruehlman declared
that the town of Elmwood Place had violated drivers' due-process rights, and may
be the first case in the U.S. that specifically addresses the constitutionality
of traffic cams.
In Ohio, there are at least
16 municipalities that use some kind of red light or speed camera, according to
the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. In the United States, there are more
than 650 municipalities operating either red-light or speed
cameras.
Nine states have passed laws
prohibiting the use of red-light cameras, and 12 outlaw speed cameras, according
to the Governors Highway Safety Association, while 29 states have no law on the
books. Some Ohio legislators hope to make the Buckeye State the Lucky 13th
state, and House Bill 69 has been assigned to the House's Transportation, Public
Safety and Homeland Security Committee for further discussion and
vote.
POKER RUN LEGALIZATION BILL
IN ILLINOIS
Companion bills SB 1960 and
HB 2520; the “Poker Run Act,” have been introduced in Illinois to legalize poker
runs for the charities that bikers do and for Not For Profit
organizations.
“No segment in our society
raises more money for charities and local citizens that are down and out on
their luck than bikers,” said Bob Myers, State Legislative Coordinator for ABATE
of Illinois, who went on to explain; “Since ‘Land Based Gaming’ has become law,
the Illinois liquor and Gaming agents have been tearing down our fliers in
restaurants and bars claiming they are illegal as they use poker cards,
spinners, dice, and marble spinners to complete the run.”
ABATE intends to use the
legislation to correct problems with "poker" runs and other events that the
Gaming commission and Liquor Control Board are treating as gambling. Poker runs
shall include "dice runs", "marble runs" or other events where the object is to
build or obtain some matter of a score with which the participants use in a
competition. Poker runs shall not constitute a game of chance under the Illinois
Gaming Act or Liquor controls Act and shall not be regulated under those
Acts.
THREE-WHEELERS MAY BE
EXEMPTED FROM LOUISIANA HELMET LAW
Louisiana was the most
recent state to (re)impose a mandatory helmet law for all motorcyclists back in
2004, but the House Transportation committee recently advanced legislation that
would exempt a new concept vehicle from the legal category that requires drivers
to wear helmets.
HB 218’s exemption would
apply to the three-wheeled Elio Motors vehicle, which is preparing for
production at the Shreveport plant that once made pickups for General Motors.
Because the Elio has three wheels, it’s considered a motorcycle under federal
and state safety regulations.
“It definitely affects our
sales because a lot of people don’t want to order the car if it requires wearing
helmets,” said Joel Sheltrown, vice president for governmental affairs at Elio
Motors, adding that “We’re not bound by automotive standards, but that is our
goal.”
QUOTABLE QUOTE: “It’s a
world with 20,000 television channels...get as far away from it
as you can.”
as you can.”
~ Honda
ad
