Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Biker Civics 101



OFF THE WIRE
http://www.bikernation.net/bikercivics_04_07.htm
Over the years, I've read many articles about helmet laws, listened to may so-called rights leaders tell us what it's all about, but only a select few have the gift of telling it like it really is. Splatt is one of those. Read this entertaining 2007 article about California's helmet law reinstatement and enjoy a fresh commentary on an old subject.
Biker Civics 101...
April 2007


I Dressed Myself Today

In 1991, the California legislature endorsed what is, essentially, a 'dress code" for motorcyclists. The idea was to keep people from riding, and it worked. In 1991, PRE-Helmet Law, there were 639,388 motorcycle registrations in California. By 1997, there were only 391,080 motorcycle registrations in California. Within 6 years, California LOST 248,308 motorcycle registrations. To put that into perspective, California LOST more registrations than 44 other states had on record in 2003, the latest year I can find complete stats for. That number would have placed 7th in the nation for registrations in 2003. Yet, when I visit www.chp.ca.gov, they're telling me that "the number of motorcycle registrations has remained about the same." Somebody flunked second grade math, and now they're callin' the shots at CHP headquarters.
 
These retreads from the Gleichschaltung era like to dress it up pretty as something designed to save us from ourselves, but any second grade student doin' an essay on the injustices of nanny-crat government or, what I liken to Goebbels' "Big Lie Theory", pushed by the Socialist Third Reich, can utilize the California Highway Patrol's very own Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS) to quickly refute the lies and misinformation our public officials hide behind to keep YOU from dressing the way you choose.
 
It's clear, they want something on your head to keep you from, ta-da; RIDING. As to what sorta device it is they want on your head, well, that's where it gets a bit fuzzy. See, they tell you to wear a "safety helmet", but they keep it vague and they don't exactly explain what a safety helmet is. They tell you it's gotta be DOT Approved, but the DOT doesn't approve helmets. Ask the authorities for a simple list of approved helmets, and they can't provide one. Well, without the CHP's help in navigating the narrow straits of what is and what isn't "approved headgear", many of us have become good stewards of the government, and we've begun manufacturing our OWN helmets. As clearly evident on www.nolistnolaw.com, you can't just "look" at a helmet and assume it's passed DOT compliance testing.
 

The problem here isn't the officers in the field, so don't take it out on them. There are some pretty cool guys and gals out there on the beat. The problem is their brainwashed superiors that tell them what to do. Moreover, it's the ones with the cushy desk jobs, the ones with a political agenda or some secret vendetta to further that just don't make sense. Do a Wikipedia.com search on Goebbels, and you tell me he doesn't have a corner office with a window at CHP headquarters. Goebbels' primary rules were: Never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it.

But it's not only public officials on tax paid salaries that are divvying up the bologna slices of your leftover rights, there are private corporations entrenched in the battle as well. If you look at who lobbies against freedom, it's mostly the big insurance companies who have something to lose that's far more valuable than your freedom; MONEY. You might not like it, but if you're interested in preserving the last of your essential liberties, you might consider canceling your membership with the American Automobile Association (AAA) who's really in business to peddle insurance to an unwitting public under the auspices of travel. They were there again, this year, sticking their nose where it doesn't belong, lobbying against Californian rider attempts to at least partially restore lost freedoms with our common sense modification to the helmet law, AB 425. They were there years ago.   I remember reading the letter from a woman, an executive at AAA, when she espoused the virtues of all the lives that would be saved by an oppressive lid law. Well, with time under the bridge we now know how wrong she was. Dead wrong.
 
According to the CHP's very own statistics, more people are dying now WITH helmets than ever died WITHOUT helmets. Go figure. So why would AAA be so adamant about takin' us off the road if they didn't have a vested interest here somewhere? Well, they do. They care about losing money when one of their insured, Gramma Blue-Hair, runs over one of us, and they KNOW less of us ride when a lid law is in place. To them, it's simple math. The more bikes you get off the road, the less maiming they have to pay for at the wheel of their policy holders. The bottom line is, you need to decide which is more precious to you; free maps or freedom of choice, because what makes you believe they'll stop with motorcycles? If it makes money for AAA, they're gonna buy into it. Your rights be damned.  

Look, this is simple. If you stick a monkey on a bike, without any skills, he's gonna crash or get run over. These people honestly think that a monkey rides BETTER if you stick a helmet on his head. They honestly think the helmet will miraculously do the driving for him, and he'll live a happy, productive life. WRONG. The monkey still crashes, or becomes a hood ornament because he doesn't know how to ride. People!  It's skills and training that keep you alive. If the helmet comes into play, it means you've already screwed the pooch.

So, utilizing our skills and training, a little group of us went on a ride to the state capitol today. We were on our way to the California Freedom Rally, and we took a scenic ride through the Sacramento Delta to get there. It's clear that California lawmakers want us to wear "something" on our head, so we did. Many of us donned what we consider to be "street legal headgear", or, our perception thereof, taking into account the confusion the CHP has left us with. There were soft helmets with straps, there were bandanas with poke-a-dots (DOT, get it?) and then there was mine, the self certified and to the best of my engineering know how, "DOT compliant" soft helmet I manufactured for myself back in 1993. We had a wonderful ride, the authorities left us alone, and it reminded me of the good old days back before the oppression began. Ya know what I discovered today? Th e state didn't need to get out of bed to protect me from myself. I made a choice, all by myself!  I rode. I survived. And it makes me feel like a grown-up now to know that I dressed myself today. I'm gonna start doing that more often.