posted by bandit
This month Bill covers motorcycle checkpoints, helmet laws, and trikes in
Louisiana, the NCOM convention, lowering the drunk driving limit, the weather
impact on accidents, Connecticut's noise fight, and more. It's never a dull
moment when folk fight to keep Freedom a priority in this country.
5/25/2013
NCOM COAST TO COAST BIKER NEWS
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.
Coast to Coast Legislative Report from AIM and Bill Bish for May 2013
Check Points, Three-Wheelers and Helmets, Poker Runs, Traffic Cameras, Weather, and Drunk Driving Limits
By Bill Bish, thanks to Richard Lester and NCOM, with photos from the Bob T. collection5/25/2013
NCOM COAST TO COAST BIKER NEWS
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.
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.”
