Friday, October 7, 2016

Sharing: Agenda and notes from yesterday's California Motorcycle Safety Program Advisory Committee Meeting at CHP HQ, Sacramento.

OFF THE WIRE
Sharing: Agenda and notes from yesterday's California Motorcycle Safety Program Advisory Committee Meeting at CHP HQ, Sacramento.
Note: Although the below materials are not available through the internet, all materials and information presented in this meeting are public. Also, the notes are based on the previous meeting in May. I should get the minutes of yesterday's meeting at some point in the future.
Credit to Surj Gish and CityBike Magazine for the picture of the meeting. Also, this Saturday, CityBike and BARF is throwing down a big party in downtown San Francisco to celebrate the passing of AB51 (Lane Splitting Education Guidelines). See the post below for their event info..
https://www.facebook.com/events/918874851569080/permalink/952081234915108/
See the link below for the handout in PDF format.
https://drive.google.com/…/0BwARyffUmq8DaVBac01nUnNhT…/view…
Good to see familiar faces from the AMA, BARF, ABATE of CA, CA OTS, MMA of CA, CityBike, DMV and CalTrans.
With the exception of the CHP Special Projects Coord, J Likes, I've never met the current CMSP Staff, but thought it was good that Asst Chief Costigan (CHP Enforcement and Planning Div Chair) attended in person and made himself available for QA.
My main objective was to determine...
1) Current or future plans by the CHP to publish a new version of their Lane Splitting guidelines and whether or not a) members of the committee will be allowed to work with them on their development, b) whether considerations will be based on Dr. Tom Rice's (UC Berkeley) most recent Lane Splitting study results. c) timeline for publication
According to the CHP, they need to wait for 1/17 for the law to go into effect. Jan is also when they can work to allocate funds towards resources into guideline development and other programs like media to support it when they are published. As for participation, although AB51 provides the CHP the avenue to work with several specific groups on these "Lane Splitting Educational Guidelines", all of the groups are either members of or connected to the CMSP advisory committee. Therefore, everyone agreed that it will be the CMSP advisory committed that will be the group the CHP will work with to develop the new guidelines.
2) Update on their outreach programs
- As it relates to Lane Splitting, will learn more at the next meeting on April 12, 2017.
3) Update on the Strategic Highway Safety Plan - Phase I & II
- too big a program for this post, will address separately in the future. More than likely in April 2017 during phase II.
4) Their fiscal budget, allocation process, programs and areas of distribution, spending decision limitations.
- Interesting to me, but wasn't going to post everything here. However, there is $250k allocated for CMSP approved projects.
There were three proposed projects submitted.
- BARF proposed developing specific Lane Splitting tools, such as online awareness videos and instruction on the right way and wrong way to Lane Split safely
- AMA proposed developing a way to determine the value and effectiveness of these programs are to NEW riders and provide additional rider safety considerations for them.
- CHP wants to introduce and or reinforce CMSP students and the public through outreach programs, the importance of wearing high visibility, reflective gear. Note: Desires for Rider Conspicuity programs have been pushed by the NHTSA in the past. Recently, a State Governors meeting was held (reported by MRF) regarding a need to push greater rider conspicuity throughout the country.
5) Latest DMV and other Statistics of note
As of 2015
- 884,665 : number of DMV registered (street legal) motorcycles
- 1,439,501 : number of DMV Class M licenses issued in CA
Top 3 reasons for crashes
1) Driving under the influence
2) Unsafe speed (for road conditions at the time)
3) Unsafe turning moves
Motorcycle Involved Collisions - posting only 2015
Fatalities : 505 (down 25 from 2014)
Injuries : 14,580
6) What connections exist, if any, between CA's Highway Strategic Plan and the Vision Zero programs that San Francisco and other cities in the state are adopting as they relate to motorcycles
- Not enough time to explore this topic.
7) As part of recently passed legislation, CA AB 1932 (Motorcycle Safety Training), what is their implementation plan?
- will report on this separately...or...may wait and see if ABATE of CA publishes this later since they formally supported this bill.
8) Whether the Chief or Commissioner would be open to adding the CA Confederation of Clubs (COC) to the committee.
In a post meeting conversation, according the Chief Costigan, with respect to motorcycle clubs, Buffalo Soldiers MC was there to represent MC's. I explained to him that for the same reasons the current committee has several state Motorcycle Rights Organizations, for broader participation and representation, he should consider adding at least one new seat for the California Confederation of Clubs or US Defenders. As a 30 year CHP vet, he was a motorcycle officer and worked in motorcycle specific gang task force teams and claimed he understood my request and why I thought it was important, ending our talk saying he would consider it for next year.
Other items of interest
The CHP is concerned about the possibility CA Proposition 64 (Marijuana Legalization) passing and its affect on riders/drivers under the influence. Apparently, they have talked with other states where Marijuana is legal, like Colorado and supposably, those state's highway agencies claim that Marijuana influenced accidents are more frequent and more severe than alcohol related accidents.
The CHP (and most likely local law enforcement agencies across the state) will be expanding their Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Expert (ARIDE) certification to help officers in the field determine if riders/drivers are....stoned. Akin to today's existing field sobriety test.