agingrebel.com
Best figures indicate that last year, 5010 motorcyclists died on American roads.
That represented about 13 percent of all
traffic deaths; which was a slight percentage decrease over the
previous two years when motorcycle fatalities amounted to about 14
percent of all traffic deaths.
According to the federal Fatality
Analysis Reporting System 424 more bikers died last year than in 2014.
Exact statistics are difficult to find but the National Safety Council
loudly thinks that 38.300 people died on the roads last year and “4.4
million were seriously injured.” In 2002 43.500 people died on the roads
and 3,270 of them were motorcyclists. And, at the risk of overloading
readers with numbers, it might lend context to know that in 1990, 44,599
people died in highway accidents and 3,244 of them were sitting on
motorcycles.
All of that, undeniably, represents far
too many buckets of blood. So yesterday a coalition of concerned
bureaucracies including the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Motor
Carrier Safety Administration and the National Safety Council announced
the launching of a hot air balloon called the “Road to Zero Initiative”
which proposes to end all road fatalities within 30 years.
Creamy Filling
From far off, the idea tastes great. The
devil is in the smooth, creamy filling. As Wayne Allard, who is vice
president of government relations for the American Motorcyclist
Association, noticed in a press release yesterday, “During the
announcement of this major initiative, no mention was made of
motorcycles or motorcyclists, even though the safety of other vulnerable
road users – including pedestrians, bicyclists, even joggers – was
specifically highlighted.”
Wonder why? Anyone? Bueller? Anyone? Raise your hands when you get it.
Don’t panic if you are quick. So far
this initiative only has $3 million with which to experiment. Initially,
your federal government hopes to increase seat belt use, install rumble
strips, develop more effective ways to spy on truck drivers and keep
them from speeding. The Road to Zero Initiative will also implement
“behavior change campaigns” and support “data driven enforcement.”
The strategies enclosed in quotes may need some explanation.Behavior Change Campaign
A behavior change campaign is a
propaganda blitz that is something more than standard public service
announcements. Like, imagine a commercial that starts with sunny film
footage of a Bobo, a member of the bohemian bourgeoisie –
Harley-Davidson’s emerging core demographic – sedately riding a Harley
Street 500 to the grocery store while a voice over announcer intones:
“Brad Brandywine, a beloved husband, father, raconteur and
philanthropist should have lived!”
Next, a stripper in a darkened club explains: “He helped me pay off my student loans.”
Then several, small, multicultural children weep: “He bought us a dog.”
After a quick edit, viewers see a very angry pitbull going: “Snarl. Muff! Fuff! Bark! Bark!”
That is quickly followed by a medium
wide shot of many grieving people intercut with a lock off of a mangled
Harley-Davidson Street 500 spotted with either red paint or blood: “But
he had to get on that damn motorcycle!”
Concerned policemen: “Motorcycle!”
Doctor: “Bad!”
Then quick cuts of many, pretty, stupid,
television newz casters saying:
“motorcycle…bad…motorcycle…risk…motorcycle…stupid risk…motorcycle…common
sense…motorcycle.”
Imagine you, your woman, your children,
your dog and your elderly parents all seeing that 400 times a day. A
behavior change campaign bombards everybody with a television, a
computer, a tablet or a smart phone with many messages like that.
DDACTS
Data driven enforcement would be the
bastard child of “Data-Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety
(DDACTS)” which “is a law enforcement operational model supported by a
partnership among the Department of Transportation’s National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration and two agencies of the Department of
Justice: the Bureau of Justice Assistance and the National Institute of
Justice.”
“Using geo-mapping to identify “hot
spots” – areas of high incidence of crimes and crashes – DDACTS uses
targeted traffic enforcement strategies that play two roles in fighting
crime and reducing crashes and traffic violations. The model responds to
the competing demands for police services that law enforcement
executives face every day.”
The government boilerplate seems to be
an oblique way of saying “more speed traps,” “more sobriety checkpoints
near entertainment districts,” and “more courtesy motorcycle safety
inspections.” It might mean more business for the companies that make,
install and monitor traffic enforcement cameras.
HAVs
The heart of the plan to end all traffic
deaths is the proliferation of self driving cars and trucks. Towards
the goal of keeping everything the government does as obtuse as
possible, the U.S. Department of Transportation calls them “Highly
Automated Vehicles” or “HAVs.”
HAVs, get used to hearing that, will
eliminate crashes caused by fallible humans who drink and drive, exceed
the posted speed limit, talk on the phone and glance at the Google map
on the little television screen built into their dashboard. Don’t blame
Google. Google is working on its own autonomous vehicle. Blame human
beings.
The AMA seems to be the only
organization in America which has questions about this inevitable march
of progress that will transform America into a risk-free Borg hive.
AMA
In yesterday’s testy press release, the
AMA’s Allard said, “The questions we have for the coalition and the DOT
are ‘Was the exclusion of motorcycles intentional?’ and ‘Is a ban on
motorcycles part of the plan to get to zero road deaths? It is hard to
imagine how you could eliminate all human decision making from the
operation of a vehicle, especially a motorcycle. If autonomous
motorcycles were ever developed, no one would ride them. We also are
particularly concerned that highly automated vehicles are not being
developed in a manner that takes into account the detection of
motorcycles.”
“Motorcyclists should have been included
in this project from the beginning, either through direct interaction
with the AMA or through the Motorcycle Advisory Council,” the AMA
groused. “Let’s not let another moment slip by without considering the
safety of this important segment of road users and taking steps to
secure the future of this popular form of transportation.”
Virtually all national print-news
outlets covered the announcement of the “Road to Zero Initiative.” None
of them seemed to care what motorcyclists thought about it. It wasn’t
much of a TV story. At least not yet. Not until it’s time to introduce
America to poor Brad Brandywine.
